LBCS also includes a set of color codes, to be used as a standard convention for top-level land-use categories for maps, GIS, and other rendering and presentation media. These colors have been developed by merging the old conventions, of which there were many and often inconsistent, with current technology. Colors are no longer specified using brand names (such as Prisma or Zip-a-tone); LBCS specifies colors using conventions common to plotters, offset printers, and computer displays.

To compare colors on maps and map legends, click on the sample image (to the right). It shows five small maps, one for each LBCS Dimension, along with their legends. The same layout is also available as PDF file . Magnify the image to see the colors clearly.

Each of the five LBCS dimensions has nine color values; one for each top-level category. Within each dimension, the color value is constant for the top-level category and all its subcategories. However, in practice, this may not always be desirable. In such cases, apply "ramping" techniques where a color value is "ramped" to increasing or decreasing shades. For instance, if residential activities is yellow, make all the subcategories of residential activities shades of yellow. The number of shades to use on a map are dictated by the level of detail one prefers to display on a given map. And the number of shades that can be shown are only limited by the quality of the final medium. GIS, plotting, and computer displays handle ramping automatically once the low and high end of a color value are provided.

LBCS Color Coding Tables have the color standards.

Specify the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) values, instead of relying on color names, for consistent reproduction of colors on a printer, plotter, or computer screen. Using RGB values can sometimes avoid differences in how software and hardware render colors. Some colors, no matter what, differ how they look on screen from their printed version. Also, if you are reviewing this document on a computer screen, note that some software (web browsers, for example) limit the number of colors displayed. If your software can only accept hexadecimal values, as many GIS and plotting software do, then use the corresponding RGBHex value.

COLORS FOR ALL TOP-LEVEL LBCS CATEGORIES

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