View - Display Options

The View - Display Options dialog specifies parameters used to control the appearance of components. When used with labels, the dialog allows us to specify how labels will be displayed or clipped from display. With surfaces, the dialog controls how the surface will appear when opened in a surface window or used as a layer in a map. With images, the dialog allows us to choose which channels of a multi-channel compressed image will be used for R, G, B and Alpha channels.

If the optional Surface Tools package is installed the dialog will also be available to control display options for profiles and elevations. See the Profiles and Elevations topic for more information.

Surface Display Options

By default, surfaces will appear as shaded surface renderings with the color of each pixel corresponding to the data value at that spot as adjusted for highlights and shadows from a Sun in the East. Other options include display of aspect or slope, or use of shading. See the Surface Display Options topic for examples, including details on using fixed interval palettes and customization of palettes. Palette controls are similar to those used in Thematic Formatting of drawings.

Display	Choose the computation used to display the surface in 2D. Height - Color each surface pixel by its height. Aspect - Color each surface by its aspect, that is, the azimuthal direction in which a tangent plane faces at that spot, for example, a north-facing section of hillside. Slope - Color each pixel by the inclination of the surface at that point. Slopes are computed using a weighted two-directional slope algorithm. Slopes are given in degrees.
Palette	Preset color combinations that may be applied to surfaces. Press Apply to apply the preset to the surface. Presets use a fixed number of intervals and corresponding colors.
$images\btn_theme_apply.gif$	Apply - Apply the chosen palette preset to the Colors pane. This allows scrolling through the presets without changing colors until we press Apply. Pressing Apply only changes the color scheme in use for values. It does not change the formatting of the surface until the OK button is pressed.
$images\btn_theme_reverse.gif$	Reverse - Reverse the formats used in the colors box from high to low.
$images\btn_theme_interpolate.gif$	Interpolate - Change the colors or sizes used in the colors boxes by interpolating between the top and the bottom boxes. A quick way of creating smooth gradients of colors.
$images\btn_theme_lighten.gif$	Lighten - Lighten all colors. Each click on the Lbutton lightens the colors a bit more.
$images\btn_theme_darken.gif$	Darken - Darken all colors. Each click on the button darkens the colors a bit more.
$images\btn_theme_grayscale.gif$	Grayscale - Convert all colors to grayscale.
$images\btn_open.gif$	Load from File - Load a previously saved theme from an XML file. Works with all field types except lookup fields. See the Custom Palettes and Themes topic for information on how the XML file is structured.
$images\btn_save.gif$	Save to File - Save this theme to an XML file. Works with all field types except lookup fields. See the Custom Palettes and Themes topic for information on how the XML file is structured.
Shading	Shade the surface with highlights and shadows as if illuminated by the Sun from a given azimuth and elevation.
Autocontrast	Automatically adjust contrast for even dispersion of light and dark tones.
Azimuth	The angle to the Sun's position in degrees from North: North = 0, East = 90, South = 180 and West = 270 degrees. Keep in mind that in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun traverses azimuthal angles from East to South to West, but never North. Used to compute shading.
Altitude	The Sun's altitude above the horizon in degrees. 0 is at sunrise or sunset and 90 is directly overhead. Used to compute shading.

Display Options for Compressed Images

The display options dialog appears when a compressed image window is open. Display options are not used for other types of images.

Compressed images are displayed as though they were RGBa images assigning channels from the compressed image data to R, G, B and Alpha channels.

(Channel information)	The number of channels available in the image.
Red	Image channel to be used for red color.
Green	Image channel to be used for green color.
Blue	Image channel to be used for blue color.
Alpha	Image channel (if any) to be used for alpha channel transparency.

For an interesting effect, open the display options dialog for a compressed image and assign one of the image's channels to be used for the Alpha channel.

For more information on image display channels, see the Images and Channels topic as well as the RGBa Pixel Transparency topic.

Display Options for Elevations

Elevations are optional components that are available when the Surface Tools package is installed. See the Profiles and Elevations topic for more information.

Shade background	Color the background of the elevation using the same palette (if any) used to color the parent surface. On by default.
Display coordinates	Display dots at the location of each coordinate that defines the line used as a profile.
Include zero height	Show the entire range of elevations for the surface, from zero to the highest in the elevation display. Off by default, so that the full range of the elevation display is used to show the heights within the elevation only.
X axis (distances)
Label coordinates	Draw vertical lines and label the X axis at each coordinate that defines the profile line. Off by default.
Label even values	Draw vertical lines and label the X axis at even values of distance. On by default.
Decimal digits	The number of digits past the decimal point to show in labels on the X axis. The default value of 0 results in no digits past the decimal point.
Y axis (heights)
Label coordinates	Draw horizontal lines and label the Y axis at each coordinate that defines the profile line. Off by default.
Label minimum / maximum	Draw horizontal lines and label the Y axis at the minimum and maximum values of height that occur in the profile line. Off by default.
Label surface breaks	Draw horizontal lines and label the Y axis at the numeric values that define interval breaks in the palette used to color the surface. Off by default.
Label even values	Draw horizontal lines and label the Y axis at even values of height. On by default.
Decimal digits	The number of digits past the decimal point to show in labels on the Y axis. The default value of 0 results in no digits past the decimal point.

Display Options for Profiles

Profiles are optional components that are available when the Surface Tools package is installed. See the Profiles and Elevations topic for more information.

Display coordinates	Display dots at the location of each coordinate that defines the line used as a profile.
Decimal digits in heights	The number of digits past the decimal point to show in the Info pane for average, minimum and maximum heights when the focus is on this profile.

Labels Display Options

The View - Display Options dialog may be launched when a labels component has the focus. The dialog allows us to specify how labels will be displayed or clipped from display. The unit of measurement employed is the printer's point unit used in printing.

Point Labels	Point labels are those used for points and for areas.
Offset X … points	Distance in points in X (horizontal) displacement from the anchor point of the label. Increase distance to position labels farther away from the anchor point and to accentuate the effect of label alignment settings. 0 by default. Not used if alignment buttons are set to place the label directly upon the point.
Offset Y … points	Distance in points in Y (vertical) displacement from the anchor point of the label. Increase distance to position labels farther away from the anchor point and to accentuate the effect of label alignment settings. 0 by default. . Not used if alignment buttons are set to place the label directly upon the point.
Callouts	Draw a line from the label to each point from which the label is generated.
Minimum length	When a callout line is used, do not show it unless it is at least this long.
Optimize horizontal alignment	Alter the horizontal alignment of labels to improve the positioning of labels.
Optimize vertical alignment	Alter the vertical alignment of labels to improve the positioning of labels.
Line Labels	Line labels are those used for lines.
Offset … points	Distance in points that a line label should be offset from a line. 0 points by default.
Character Spacing	Extra distance between characters in the line label text.
Label each branch	If checked (default), will place a line label on each branch of a multi-branched line. If not checked, will place a line label only on the longest branch.
Multiple labels per branch	If a particular line’s branch is long enough, label it with multiple, repeating labels. This is useful for long lines.
Spacing	The minimum spacing between multiple labels on the same branch of a line.
Orient labels left-to-right	If checked (default), Manifold orients each label bound to a line to read from left to right as shown on the screen. When the option is turned off, Manifold orients each label so it flows from the beginning of the line to the end of the line.
Resolve overlaps between labels	If checked (default), automatically hide some labels so that labels do not overlap.
Spacing	Space allowed between labels in points before overlap resolution, when enabled, will take effect. Default is 1 point.

See the Label Display Options topic for details and examples.