# Color map advice and resources
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452
**Category:** Tips and Tricks
**Created:** [February 12, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452 "2021-02-12T18:22:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cory.quammen](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cory.quammen)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452/1 "2021-02-12T18:22:32Z")
Anyone practicing data visualization that uses colors to encode data values is faced with the question: “What color map should I use?”
For some guidance on effective use of color maps and some online tools for generating color maps, please consult the web sites below:
- [Color Map Advice for Scientific Visualization](http://www.kennethmoreland.com/color-advice/) from Ken Moreland
- [SciVisColor Portal](https://sciviscolor.org/) a hub for research and resources related to color in scientific visualization
- [ColorBrewer: Color Advice for Maps](https://colorbrewer2.org/)
- [“Applying Artistic Color Theories to Visualization”](http://theresamarierhyne.com/Theresa-Marie_Rhynes_Viewpoint/Applying_Color_Chapter.html) by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, published in Expanding the Frontiers of Visual Analytics and Visualization, Co-Editors: J. Dill, R. A. Earnshaw, D.J. Kasik, J.A. Vince, and P.C. Wong, Publisher: Springer, pp. 263 - 283, 2012. Pre-publication version.
- Peter Kovesi’s CET Perceptually Uniform Color Maps: [http://peterkovesi.com/projects/colourmaps/](http://peterkovesi.com/projects/colourmaps/)
- David Johnstone’s [gradient picker](http://davidjohnstone.net/pages/lch-lab-colour-gradient-picker)
- Maps for [Event Horizon Telescope](https://github.com/liamedeiros/ehtplot/blob/docs/docs/COLORMAPS.ipynb)
Know of other helpful resources for color map advice? Please reply below.
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### Author:  [@dmreagan](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/dmreagan)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452/2 "2021-02-15T17:24:59Z")
Theresa-Marie Rhyne also has a series on color harmony in Nightingale. You can see it on Medium [here](https://medium.com/@theresamarierhyne).
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### Author:  [@psandana](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/psandana)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2021, 9:16am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452/3 "2021-02-16T09:16:39Z")
Someone once sent me this link:
> **[matplotlib colormaps](https://bids.github.io/colormap/)**
Matplotlib adopted them, and I get the impression MatLab too. They are Creative Common so you can add them to VTK/ParaView projects.
The video talk is really good one. I recommend it to understand the motivation and the research.
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### Author:  [@cory.quammen](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cory.quammen)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452/4 "2021-02-16T14:29:03Z")
Thanks, @psandana. ParaView comes with at least a few of these colormaps included:
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### Author:  [@emonson](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/emonson)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/color-map-advice-and-resources/6452/5 "2021-02-17T13:35:42Z")
I like including articles warning against the rainbow colormap, since it’s still pretty popular in certain circles:
- [The misuse of colour in science communication](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19160-7) – 2020, Fabio Crameri, Grace Shephard & Philip Heron
- [Rainbow color map (still) considered harmful](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4118486) – 2007, David Borland & Russ Taylor
And I love [Francesca Samsel’s](http://www.francescasamsel.com/) work on [better colormaps](https://sciviscolor.org/publications/):
- [Visualizing Science: How Color Determines What We See](https://eos.org/features/visualizing-science-how-color-determines-what-we-see) – 2020, Stephanie Zeller & David Rogers
- [ColorMoves: Real-time Interactive Colormap Construction for Scientific Visualization](https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/cg/2018/01/mcg2018010020/13rRUwcAquE) – 2018, with Sebastion Klaassen & David Rogers
- [Colormaps Constructed with an Artist in the Loop](https://blog.kitware.com/colormaps-constructed-with-an-artist-in-the-loop/) – 2015, with Utkarsh Ayachit