# Individually Customize Glyphs

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [July 15, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010 "2022-07-15T01:09:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/1 "2022-07-15T01:09:19Z")

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Hello,

I have recently begun to use Paraview and I am attempting to implement order parameter or the distribution of data into my model. In order to this, I was wondering if I could individually customized the width or shape of each glyph. I am currently using a glyph filter to symbolize the vectors for my model.

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### Author: ![Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenichiro-Yoshimi)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/2 "2022-07-15T04:57:52Z")

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Hello,

To customize the shape of the glyph, the `Glyph With Custom Source` filter may be used.

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/3 "2022-07-15T13:36:33Z")

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Hello,

Thank you for your response. Is it possible to use a cone shape with the custom glyph filter? Also, how would I implement the filter utilizing a vtk file. I currently have a manually created vtk file using a MatLab vtk write function.

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### Author: ![Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenichiro-Yoshimi)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/4 "2022-07-15T15:30:39Z")

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Hello,

> Is it possible to use a cone shape with the custom glyph filter?

If you want a cone shape as a source, you can select `Cone` as the **Glyph Type** in the **Glyph** filter.

 ![cone_glyph](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3f7d4dd1fc5e94a57f195b0df67186d4e0b7bda6.png)

If you also want to set a shape from an external file as a source, you could use the **Glyph With Custom Source** filter, as shown in the video below.

[https://1drv.ms/v/s!AoNA5oUGaLJjgQBMX8F8MRe16Og2?e=WphqkX](https://1drv.ms/v/s!AoNA5oUGaLJjgQBMX8F8MRe16Og2?e=WphqkX)

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2022, 4:44am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/5 "2022-07-18T04:44:07Z")

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Thank you for the example. Is it possible to customize each arrow separately? I have only been able to customize all the glyphs together.

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### Author: ![Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenichiro-Yoshimi)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/6 "2022-07-18T15:45:40Z")

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I am sorry that I do not clearly understand what you want to do. What exactly do you mean by customizing each arrow individually?

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/7 "2022-07-18T17:34:59Z")

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Instead of changing the shape of all the glyphs, I want to make each glyph a different shape. For example, I use vectors/arrows for my model. However, I want to change each arrow into a different shaped cone or a different sized cone from each other.

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### Author: ![Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenichiro-Yoshimi)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/8 "2022-07-18T21:53:12Z")

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If your data contains vector field data, the size of each cone should vary from place to place if you set the following in the **Glyph** filter:  
**Scale Array** : Specify the vector field variable  
**Vector Scale Mode** : Select `Scale by Magnitude`

Further information can be found at  
[https://docs.paraview.org/en/latest/UsersGuide/filteringData.html#glyph](https://docs.paraview.org/en/latest/UsersGuide/filteringData.html#glyph)

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 1:11am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/9 "2022-07-19T01:11:45Z")

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Oh, I see. The data needs to be different sizes. What vtk writer do you typically use? I am a beginner and have been using an auto writing code through MatLab.

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### Author: ![Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenichiro-Yoshimi)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/10 "2022-07-19T03:48:51Z")

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The legacy vtk format (\*.vtk) is often used as input to ParaView.

Note that the **Glyph** filter in ParaView requires vector values. Will the vtk files automatically output by MatLab not contain vector values? It would be clearer if you could share your vtk file.

If each component of the vector is output as a scalar value, you will need to convert them to vector values, e.g. with a **Calculator** filter:

> [@How do I use three different arrays as components of one vector field?](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-do-i-use-three-different-arrays-as-components-of-one-vector-field/4637):
>
> Many filters that operate on vector fields (e.g., Glyph, Stream Tracer, and so on) expect to operate on an array with three components. Suppose your data set has three separate arrays named “VX”, “VY”, and “VZ” that define a vector field. You cannot provide those three arrays to the Glyph filter. Instead, you will need to do a little work to combine them into a 3-component data array. One way is to use the Python Calculator filter to make the vector array. To make a new array named “V” that ha…

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 4:31am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/11 "2022-07-19T04:31:23Z")

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This is the vtk file data I have at the moment.  
[trial5.vtk](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/z6uYymAPch7eHJlpKc8DYKimhYA.vtk) (15.7 KB)

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Kenichiro-Yoshimi](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Kenichiro-Yoshimi)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 7:12am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/12 "2022-07-19T07:12:15Z")

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Thank you for sharing your data.

I have tried the setting to scale the size of each cone by the magnitude of the vector, but the range of values is so narrow that the size of the cone seems to change only slightly, as shown in the figure below. However, this drawing seems reasonable.

 ![glyph](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/5/55ad12af7abe6c9ba279f8959b3798d222413466.png)

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 7:36am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/13 "2022-07-19T07:36:01Z")

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@jkim : What you want to do can be done using the 3D Glyph representation, see this:

> [@Custom per-point glyphs](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/custom-per-point-glyphs/8173/2):
>
> Imagine something like this, but with some sort of graph instead of a figure, and organized on a spatial grid.

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 10:28am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/14 "2022-07-19T10:28:21Z")

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Hello Mathieu,

I do not see 3D Glyph Representation on my Paraview application.

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/15 "2022-07-19T11:07:44Z")

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please try witrh pv 5.10.1

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/16 "2022-07-19T11:43:10Z")

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I assume you are referring to the glyph filter. However, my goal is to have different shaped glyphs for each vector of my data set. Is there any way to accomplish this through the vtk file?

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/individually-customize-glyphs/10010/17 "2022-07-19T12:06:27Z")

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No, I’m talking about the 3D glyph representation, please read the topic I linked. It lets you do exatly what you want.
