Customizing Plot Colors

Simcenter STAR-CCM+ allows you to define plot colors based on inputs to the plots, and to override these color choices where necessary. For example, you can define and maintain colors based on their relationship to specific residuals on residual plots, or to particular input surfaces within a region. You can also create and apply your own colors, such as the colors used by your company for its branding.

Two nodes are provided that let you control plot color assignments:
Plot Colors

The Plot Colors node (one per simulation) contains a list of inputs associated with a given color and a list of tracked inputs paired with specific colors. An input in this list is a simulation object that provides data to a dataset, such as a monitor, a table, a part, or a region. This node, when accessed, gives you an interactive tabular display where you can view, add, or remove entries, and then decide whether to apply them.

Color Assignment

Each plot contains a Color Assignment node that determines how to assign colors to objects on the plot.



The following modes are available for the Color Assignment node:

  • Next Available—given the current colors assigned, chooses the least used color from the palette.
  • Assign from Plot Colors—for a given input in the plot, checks the list of input-color pairs in the Plot Colors object, and applies the associated color one time. No further checks of the list are performed.
  • Link to Plot Colors—causes plot colors to change whenever changes are applied to the Plot Colors node.

To work with these color controls, use the following techniques:

Action Instructions
Assign colors according to the Mode chosen in the Color Assignment node

On an individual data set node, or on the corresponding line or symbol in the plot display, right-click and select Style > Reset Color Assignment. This action affects the color settings of that data set.

On any of the following, right-click and select Reset Color Assignment:

  • The plot node or plot display - updates all affected sub-nodes of the plot
  • The Color Assignment node - updates all affected sub-nodes of the plot
  • The Data Series node that contains the data sets - affects all the data sets within that node
Apply the global color assignments (input-color pairs) of the Plot Colors node uniformly to all plots in the simulation Right-click the Plot Colors node and select Apply Colors to All Plots.

For each data series in a plot, if a corresponding input-color pair is found within the Plot Colors node, this action assigns that paired color to the corresponding data series using that input instead of assigning it a new color.
Link a plot to the settings of the Plot Colors node Expand the plot node, select the Color Assignment node, and set the Mode property to Link to Plot Colors. Any subsequent changes to the global color assignments apply to this plot.
注Consider the fact that this setting works both ways. For example, if you change colors of the Symbol Style sub-node of any plot's data set node while Link to Plot Colors is selected, the input-color pair is changed for the Plot Colors node along with all plots that are linked to it.

Add a newly created color in a data set to the Plot Colors node

Use one of the following techniques:
  • Right-click the data set node and select Style > Save Color to Plot Colors. This action has one of two effects, depending on the input:
    • If the input is already included in the Plot Colors node, then that input is paired with the new color from the data set that you pasted.
    • If the input is not included in the Plot Colors node, then the new color and its input become a new pair available in the Plot Colors node.

    In the data set, the color of the Symbol Style sub-node is always selected first, unless the Shape property is set to None. In that case the Line Style node's color is used. In histogram plots, the color of the Fill Style sub-node is used first.

  • Copy and paste, or drag and drop, the data set node onto the Plot Colors node.
  • Alternatively, work entirely within the Plot Colors node:
    1. Right-click the Plot Colors node and select Open.
    2. Select the Tracked Inputs tab, right-click in the table, and select Add Data Input.
    3. Use the object selection dialog to select the new input.
    4. Click Apply, then Close.
Remove an input-color pair from the Plot Colors node
  1. Right-click the Plot Colors node and select Open.
  2. In the Plot Colors dialog, do one of the following:
    • Select the Tracked Inputs tab, right-click the desired row in the table, and select Remove Data Input.
    • Select the All Inputs tab, right-click the desired row in the table, and select Remove.
    注Removal of some inputs, such as materials, can be difficult to reverse.
  3. Click Apply, then Close.
Apply a newly created color in a data set to all plots in the simulation
  1. Add the newly created color in the data set to the Plot Colors node—see instructions above.
  2. Right-click the Plot Colors node and select Apply Colors to All Plots.
Set up the plot colors so that any color changes in any plot object get applied to all plots in the simulation In all plots, select the Color Assignment node, and set the Mode property to Link to Plot Colors.