When working with molecular models, effectively visualizing complex data is crucial. Color palettes are an essential tool in the molecular modeler’s arsenal, helping to differentiate components, highlight patterns, and effectively communicate scientific insights. But how do you simplify this often daunting task of selecting and applying these color palettes? SAMSON’s default color palettes have you covered.
This blog post will walk you through the rich variety of default palettes provided by SAMSON, so you can accelerate your workflow while keeping your visuals clear and professional.
Why Use SAMSON’s Default Color Palettes?
SAMSON offers several pre-configured color palette types to ensure you can tailor your molecular visualization to your specific purpose. Here are the main types:
- Discrete color palettes: Ideal for categorizing and grouping qualitative datasets.
- Sequential HCL color palettes: Perfect for visualizing data with ordered relationships (e.g., temperature gradients).
- Qualitative HCL color palettes: Great for differentiating between elements without implying any order.
- Diverging HCL color palettes: Useful for emphasizing deviations from a central point, such as pH shifts or charge distributions.
- Flexible diverging HCL color palettes: Combining flexibility with more nuanced gradients that suit complex comparisons and datasets.
The diversity of these presets means you don’t have to start from scratch—SAMSON already offers the tools you need, so you can focus on your research.
Highlight: Discrete Color Palettes
If you often need to categorize distinct groups, discrete palettes are your best friend. SAMSON includes a variety of options such as:
- Accent
- Carto Antique
- Dark2
- Okabe-Ito
- Paired
Here’s an example of the “Carto Antique” palette:
By selecting from these palettes, you can instantly apply curated color schemes with minimal effort—and ensure your model remains both visually appealing and functional.
Tips for Efficiency
To further streamline your workflow, consider these tips:
- Reversing: In the color palette or color scheme dialogs, you can quickly reverse the left and right arms of the supplied palettes to suit your needs.
- Custom Palettes: Isn’t it wonderful to personalize your visualization even more? You can create your own custom HCL color palettes directly in SAMSON. Check the Color palettes section to learn how.
Whether you are focusing on qualitative data or presenting results with diverging relationships, adjustments like these help tailor your visualization to specific scientific needs.
Enhance Your Molecular Design Journey Easily
By combining SAMSON’s curated color palettes with its powerful molecular modeling tools, you can save time and ensure clarity in your results. From presenting structural variations to signaling temperature scales, there’s an ideal palette available for every modeler.
To see the full array of options and learn how to use them effectively, visit the official documentation page here.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at SAMSON-Connect.net.