NEW EXCLUSIVE GUIDE: "Your mall mapped for maximum revenue" ➡️
Definition
Surface styles is the feature that enables you to create and manage the styles used for drawing and visualizing your map.
If your map was created by our team or if you went through the onboarding wizard, the surface styles should be ready for you. You can always edit them with the Surface styles dialogue window.
Styles have 3 main characteristics :
Name The name of the style can only contain alphanumerical characters.
Height This value defines the height at which the 3D engine will extrude the surfaces. The higher the value, the higher the height at which the surface will be displayed.
Color This value defines the color of the style.
Working in 2D, rendered in 3D
In VisioMapEditor, you always draw exclusively in 2D. The 3D rendering of your map is generated automatically by the tool, based on the extrusion height defined in each surface style.
To edit a style's height (or any of its other properties), click the Cog icon next to your map's name, then click Surface styles, where all the styles used on your map are listed.
More on extrusion height
In some design softwares, the order of the layers in the layer list determines their visibility. The top layer of the list is being displayed first. However, in VisioMapEditor, the extrusion height of the surface style determines which layer is visible first when drawing a map. The surface style with the highest extrusion height will be displayed on top, and the other styles will be displayed underneath.
Map background
In the Surface styles panel, you can access the Background tab, which allows you to change the background of your map.
You have three available options:
- Set a single color as the background
- Set two colors to create a gradient effect
- Choose an image to display as a skybox. Some images are provided by default, such as a sunny sky or clouds.
The background will only be visible in the 3D rendering of your map.
Creating color themes
From the Surface styles window, you can find all the styles used on your map, and edit their name, color, and extrusion height.
On the left side of this window, click Add new theme to create a new color theme. Select this new theme, then choose different colors for one or several styles.
Once your theme is ready, click its three-dot menu, select Set current theme, then click OK to apply it. The map will now display using this theme's colors.
💡 Pro tip
If you create a new style while working in a theme, that style will keep the same color in all your other themes. Remember to update its color in each theme if needed.
