Styling is where a layer stops being data and starts being a map. Everything here applies live, so the map updates as you work.
Open the editor from the layer's actions menu (⋮ → "Labels & Symbols"). The Symbol section offers five modes:
| Mode | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Standard | Every feature should look the same — one symbol, one color. |
| Category | A text or coded field drives the color — zoning class, pipe material, road type. |
| Range | A numeric field drives a color ramp — height, diameter, population, signal. |
| HeatMap | Point density matters more than individual points. (points only) |
| Hexagon | You want density as crisp, comparable bins rather than a soft glow. (points only) |
The mode list adapts to geometry: heatmaps and hexagons appear only for point layers, and fill controls appear only where there is something to fill.
Standard: one symbol
The fastest path to a clean layer. Depending on geometry you set:
- Points — symbol shape, Size, Rotation, fill color, Stroke color and width, Opacity. The symbol picker includes basic shapes, a searchable icon catalog, and your own uploaded symbols, so a hydrant layer can actually look like hydrants.
- Lines — stroke color, Width, Opacity.
- Polygons — Fill (or "No Fill" for outline-only reference layers), Stroke, Opacity.
A whisper of white stroke (0.5–0.8 px) around dark point markers keeps dense layers readable against any basemap — the demo projects use exactly that.
Category: color by class
- Switch the Symbol mode to "Category".
- Pick the driving field under "Color by".
- Press "Set Categories" — Tamaat reads the distinct values and assigns colors from the active palette.
- Reorder, recolor, or relabel any category; unlisted values fall back to the default style.
Palettes are grouped by intent — qualitative sets for categories, with the option to hand-pick any category's color afterward. The same field's label appears in the legend exactly as you write it here.
Real-world recipe from the Harbourview demo: distribution water mains colored by material — cast iron in amber (the renewal backlog), ductile iron in steel blue, concrete-lined in teal. One glance separates the 1950s network from the modern one.
Range: graduated color
- Switch to "Range" and choose the numeric "Value field".
- Pick a Method. Continuous gives a smooth gradient; Quantile puts equal numbers of features in each class, which suits skewed data; Equal interval splits the value range evenly, which suits familiar units like metres or dollars; Jenks (Natural Breaks) follows the gaps in your data.
- Set Classes and choose a sequential palette.
Reverse the palette when high values should read as dark, and keep class counts at 5–7 — beyond that the legend stops being scannable.
HeatMap: density as a surface
For point layers where the pattern is the message. Controls: Radius, Intensity, Opacity, palette, and an optional weight field so that, for example, larger-capacity sites contribute more heat.
Heatmaps are zoom-relative — check the result at the zoom levels your audience will actually use.
Hexagon: density as bins
Hexagon binning drops your points into a grid of hexagons and colours each one by what's in it — how many features, by default, or a total or average of a field.
The controls that shape the result:
- Scale — Auto re-bins as you zoom; Fixed locks the hexagon size so every view compares like for like. The frame above uses fixed, fine hexagons over 186,000 street trees.
- Classification — the same methods as Range styling, with your choice of step count.
- Palette — sequential ramps work best; soft multi-hue ramps such as Lagoon Teal (YlGnBu) stay pleasant over a light basemap, while Viridis holds up over dark ones.
- Opacity and stroke — a thin white stroke (0.5 px) at ~75–80% opacity lets street context show through the bins.
Hexagon layers stay clickable: selecting a cell reports the aggregate for that cell.
Clustering
For point layers in Standard mode, the Clustering section groups nearby points into counted circles. Clustering, heatmaps, and hexagons are three answers to the same problem — pick one per layer; the trade-offs are on Clustering, Heatmaps, and Hexagons.
Labels, rasters, and WMS layers
This page covers vector symbols. The Label tab, raster renderers, and WMS layer display are on Labels & Symbols.
Where styling lives
Styling is saved on the layer and travels with it — into published web maps, and to anyone you share it with. Colleagues opening the project see the map you designed.