Style data with counts and amounts by color

Note:

You need the following account and license types to use this workflow:

• Microsoft license—You need a Microsoft 365 license, role Contributor or higher, to apply a style to data.
• ArcGIS account type—Standard users can perform the functions of this workflow; you do not need to sign in.

When a map contains numeric data, you can distinguish features using graduated colors to reflect a count or an amount.

See Data styles to learn about data style options and Smart map styles to learn about smart map cards.

Different types of color ramps can be used to demonstrate low-to-high data values—for example, a light-to-dark color ramp can show the range of electricity consumption per capita—as shown in the following image:

Refer to Energy Use by country, 2010 for more information about this map.

Color ramps can be applied to point data, such as business or service locations; lines, such as rivers or highways; and polygons, such as city boundaries or postal codes.

Prerequisite:

Add numeric data to the Color column or field well before you begin.

To style data using counts and amounts by color, complete the following steps:

1. Follow the steps in the Apply a style workflow for your component:
   • Apply a style in ArcGIS for Excel
   • Apply a style in ArcGIS for Power BI
   • Apply a style in ArcGIS for SharePoint
2. At the choose a smart map style step, choose the Counts and Amounts (color) style card.
3. Hover over the style card and click Style options to customize the look of the layer.

   The layer updates to style counts and amounts by color, and the style options appear.

4. Define the style options by doing any of the following:
   • Expand Symbology and specify the symbol settings to change the symbol.
   • Expand Classify data.
   • If the data isn't normalized or standardized, choose an attribute field from the Divided by drop-down menu to turn the raw data into rates or percentages. Examples of normalized data include x per capita, y per square kilometer, or a ratio of x to y. Raw counts, by comparison, are better visualized with colors after they are standardized.

     Note:

     The Divided by menu is not available in ArcGIS for Power BI.

   • Adjust the bounding handles along the color ramp in Classify data to change how the color ramp is applied to the data. You can either drag the handle or click the number next to the handle and type a value. Experiment with the position of the handles and use the histogram and calculated average to understand the distribution of the data to fine-tune how the map shows these values with color.
   • Turn on the Show features with no value or out of range toggle button to draw locations with missing data on the map.
   • Turn on the Classify data toggle button, choose the classification method, and specify the number of classes to further generalize the map, or, if you are using standard deviation, choose the interval.

     Tip:

     To use the Manual classification option, adjust or move the handles on the histogram.

   • Expand Color ramps and choose a ramp. You can choose from several collections of color ramps, including ramps that are optimized for color vision deficiency or best for dark backgrounds. You can also click Reverse color ramp to change the sequence of colors in the ramp.

     Note:

     Hover over a color ramp to see its name.

   • Expand Transparency, turn on the Enable Transparency toggle button, and specify the transparency settings.
   • Expand Rotate symbols, turn on the Use rotation toggle button, and specify the rotation settings.

     Note:

     The Rotate symbols and Transparency options are not available in ArcGIS for Power BI.

5. Click the Back button to close the pane and view the Layers list.