Contour Curves Options

This dialog is activated by clicking on a contour curve (or on the plotting area) when a 3D plot has been created from a matrix with one of the following commands of the Plot3d menu: Contour+Color Fill command, Countour Lines command or Gray Scale Map command.

The first group of settings Image is checked if you want to have a color or gray level filling of the contour plot. The default gray and color maps are the following:

You can customize this colormap by checking the Custom Colors box. A table with a set of numbers (the Z levels) and the corresponding colors is presented. You can then add or delete new levels for the definition of the colormap, and modify the corresponding Z levels. You are not allowed to modify the first and last levels, which are set to the minimum and maximum Z values. Beware that this is only the definition of the colormap, it won't change the number of contour lines of your plot. An example of classical custom colormap is given here:

If you want to obtain discrete colors for each level,you must uncheck the Scale Colors checkbox. In this case you must define enough levels in your colormap.

The second group of settings is used to customize the contour lines. You can select the number of lines and their color. If you check Use Default Pen, the color of the line will follow the settings defined in the group at the left of the checkbox. If you check Use Color Map, the lines will be colored as a function of the Z levels following the colormap defined in the image setting group.

The last group of settings must be checked if you want to have a bar scale on your plot. You can then define its position and width.