Under the 'Map' menu, there are several options which allow you to change the appearance of the overall map;
This allows you to set a title for the map - it will show in the top-right, and will be the default filename when saving the map image.
This option brings up a dialog which allows you to tweak the percentage brightness of the underlying map image. Enter any value from 5% to 300%.
Change the background image of the map. Only The Commonwealth, Far Harbor, and Nuka-World have the 'normal' option.
- Normal: The standard in-game Pip-Boy map.
- Satellite: A top-down render of the space.
- None: No background (Useful for further edits).
This option will add a colored overlay which clearly highlights the surface of all bodies of water.
This toggles the underlying map image to be in grayscale (black and white) or full color.
You can independently toggle map marker Icons or Labels to appear against their respective locations on the map.
'Icons' shows the in-game map icons for named locations, whereas 'Labels' annotates their name onto the map.
This provides control over how (or if) the legend is drawn.
- Compact: The default mode, the legend is drawn up against the left hand side, inside the map image.
- Extended: The final image is expanded, drawing the legend fully outside of the original map image, ensuring none of the map can be obscured.
- Hidden: No legend is drawn.
By navigating to Plot Settings > Plot Style Settings you can access full control over the visuals of the plots displayed on the map.
The first four settings control the size (total diameter) of the icons, their width (thickness of the lines which make them up), their opacity (or lack of transparency), and finally the darkness of the drop shadow under each icon.
These icon settings apply to both Icon and Topography plotting modes.
At the bottom of the form are two collections or 'Palettes' - of colors and shapes.
These palettes are used to determine the available combinations of shapes and colors that will be used to plot items on the map.
Commonwealth Cartography will draw from this palette of colors - and/or shapes depending on the plotting mode - to define the visual style of map plots. Where appropriate, it will cycle through combinations of colors and/or shapes in order to generate new plots as necessary.
On the left hand side is the color palette used to varying extents in all plotting modes.
You may add or remove colors to the palette, or select a premade palette using the drop-down.
You can bulk-remove colors by selecting multiple before pressing remove.
On the right hand side is the shape palette, used when in Icon or Topography mode.
You can cycle through the settings for each shape by selecting each shape in the list view. Adjust the settings of each shape by toggling the shape checkboxes while it is selected. If you add a new shape it will be created with random settings, which you can later edit. You may also remove the selected shape by pressing 'Remove Selected'.
You can reset all Plot Style Settings by pressing Reset to Default in the bottom left.