Customizing contour colors

By default, Abaqus/CAE represents contour values using the Rainbow color spectrum from red (for the maximum value) to blue (for the minimum value). You can select alternative color spectrums or create new color spectrums to use. See Creating a new color spectrum for more information about creating a new color spectrum.

See Also
Understanding contour plotting
Customizing a contour plot
Creating a new color spectrum
Coloring elements with no results

Context:

If your results include cyclic data in which positive and negative extreme values are equivalent, select the Wraparound color spectrum. This spectrum, with green at both extremes, correctly displays results such as the phase angle of a complex number, where 180° and −180° are the same.

By default, the contour plot legend displays values in descending order with the maximum value at the top. You can choose to reverse the order and display the values in ascending order with the minimum value at the top.

For non-tick mark contour plots you can also choose the colors Abaqus uses to represent values that exceed the limits you have specified for the plot, if any. By default, Abaqus displays such values in shades of gray. (For tick mark contour plots Abaqus displays the contour curve itself only within the limits you have specified.) You can choose to hide these values that are exceeding the limits specified for the plot from the contour legend. For more information on limiting the range of the plot, see Setting contour limits.

  1. Locate the Spectrum options.

    Select OptionsContour from the main menu bar or click in the toolbox. Click the Color & Style tab in the dialog box that appears; then click the Spectrum tab. The Spectrum options appear.

  2. To choose the color of values within the limits of the plot, either select a spectrum name or click to create and use a new color spectrum. See Creating a new color spectrum for information about creating a new color spectrum.

    Tip: Alternatively, you can choose or create a contour spectrum from the Results Tree. Click the Spectrums container to create a new spectrum, or click the name of any spectrum in the Results Tree to display the model using that spectrum.

  3. To display the values in the contour plot legend in ascending order with the minimum value at the top, toggle on Reverse contour legend range.
  4. To hide the values in the contour plot legend that exceed the specified limits, toggle on Use specified limits for contour legend.
  5. To control the color of values that exceed the limits of the plot, do one of the following:

    • Click Specify; then click the Greater than max or Less than min color sample to open the Select Color dialog box. Select a new color, and click OK to close the Select Color dialog box and update the color sample. (For more information, see Customizing colors.)

      Or,

    • Click Use spectrum min/max to accept the minimum and maximum contour spectrum colors for such values.

  6. Click Apply to implement your changes.

    Contours in the current viewport change to the colors you have specified. The correspondence between contour colors and contour values appears in the contour legend, if active. For more information on the contour legend, see Customizing the legend.

    By default, your changes are saved for the duration of the session and will affect all subsequent contour plots. If you want to retain your changes for subsequent sessions, save them to a file. For more information, see Saving customizations for use in subsequent sessions.