Styling Map Layers

Styling Layers in Atlas

Styling your map layers is key to making your data more visual and meaningful.

In this lesson, we’ll explore how to customize layer appearances, use advanced styling options like clustering and heatmaps, and add icons or markers for better visualization.

🗂️ Getting Started with Styling

We’ll work with two datasets: NHL teams and real estate data from Denmark. Let’s begin by customizing their appearance.

1. Change the Basemap

   • Go to Map Tools and select a basemap like Light or Satellite for better contrast.

2. Access Layer Styling

   • Select a layer from the left-side panel to open the styling options on the right.
   • Alternatively, use the three dots menu next to the layer and choose Styling.

🖌️ Customizing Standard Visualizations

1. Adjust Colors and Opacity

   • Change point colors to make them more visible.
   • Adjust opacity and radius for clarity.

2. Outline Customization

   • Use the color picker to select outline colors.

3. Style by Field

   • Assign colors based on a dataset field (e.g., monthly rent for real estate).
   • Select a color palette and customize the number of steps to create a legend.

4. Size by Field

   • Change point sizes based on values (e.g., apartment size by square meters).

🧮 Advanced Styling Options

1. Clustering

   • Enable clustering to group points into bubbles that indicate the number of features in an area.
   • Customize cluster colors, thresholds, and ranges for better visibility.

2. Heatmaps

   • Highlight areas with dense data points using heatmap visualization.
   • Adjust intensity, opacity, and radius for a polished look.

🏒 Working with Icons and Markers

1. Using Markers

   • Markers can display text or images.
   • For the NHL dataset, update the data table to ensure logo columns are set as images instead of text.

2. Add Icons

   • Use dataset logos as icons.
   • Customize the size, background color, and visibility of these icons.

Styling layers helps bring your data to life, making it easier to analyze and present. Play around with colors, sizes, and visualizations to match your map’s purpose. In the next lesson, we’ll cover labels and pop-ups to add even more detail to your maps. See you there!