# Mapping Color to Meaning in Colormap Data Visualizations

Canonical URL: https://colorcurio.us/library/mapping-color-to-meaning
Source type: Library entry
Resource URL: https://schlosslab.discovery.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SchlossGramazioSilvermanParkerWanginPress.pdf
Added: 2026-09-27

## Summary

Viewers read darker as more — unless a map looks semi-transparent, and then more opaque reads as more.

The practical upshot: use ramps that look opaque on any background, and put high values at the dark end.

- Resource: [Mapping Color to Meaning in Colormap Data Visualizations](https://schlosslab.discovery.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SchlossGramazioSilvermanParkerWanginPress.pdf)
- By: Karen B. Schloss, Connor C. Gramazio, A. Taylor Silverman, Madeline L. Parker & Audrey S. Wang
- Published: 2018
- Kind: writing (article)
- Level: intermediate
- Tags: color-scales, perception, data-viz, scientist, designer, research

## In collections

- [Foundational Reading](https://colorcurio.us/library/collections/foundational-reading)
- [Perceptual Colormaps](https://colorcurio.us/library/collections/perceptual-colormaps)

[Back to the library](https://colorcurio.us/library)