Visual channels
Open Viz to connect a source to a channel, or Style to set appearance that does not come from graph data. A channel accepts only compatible result types and targets.
Node channels
Section titled “Node channels”| Channel | Accepts | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Numeric | Compare magnitude or importance. |
| Color | Numeric, category, set | Show a scale, group, or selected set. |
| Shape | Numeric, category, set | Separate categories or roles. |
| Image | Category | Select an image from a categorical field. |
| Node label | Numeric, category | Show an id, name, or attribute. |
| Border color | Category, set | Color the node outline by category, or highlight set membership. |
| Pie slices | Numeric, category | Show a small composition on a node. |
Edge channels
Section titled “Edge channels”| Channel | Accepts | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Edge color | Numeric, category, set | Show a relationship value or type. |
| Edge width | Numeric | Show weight or another magnitude. |
| Link label | Numeric, category | Label relationships. |
| Edge style | Category | Distinguish relationship styles. |
Directed edges can also use tapered or line treatments and source-to-target color gradients from Style.
Layers
Section titled “Layers”Layers add structure around the marks:
- Convex hull and Contour show group or set boundaries.
- Heatmap shows a numeric density or intensity field.
- The minimap can switch between the full drawing and a group-level view.
Bound Convex hull and Heatmap wells include an Intensity slider.
Both start at 50%; 0% suppresses the layer and 100% makes it more prominent.
The slider changes appearance without changing the bound source or its
algorithm parameters. One gesture creates one undo step, and the value is
saved in shared views and .gph projects.
Heatmaps use a warm sequential palette adapted to the canvas theme. Hotspots show accumulated contributions from nearby nodes, rather than a direct color lookup for each node’s value. Hidden nodes and invalid numeric values do not contribute.
Numeric bindings use scales; categorical bindings use bounded palettes. Saved edge sets can drive Edge color to highlight their exact membership.
See Explore and analyze, the workspace tour, and Sources and algorithms.