---
title: Styling layers
description: "Choose colours, symbols, patterns, sizes, and visibility ranges for point, line, polygon, and raster layers. Start here to style a layer."
---

Style each layer for its geometry and purpose. Colour by category and colour by quantity work on points, lines, and polygons. Some options exist on one geometry only: size, heatmaps, and zoom styling on points, patterns and casing on lines, and fill patterns on polygons.

## Start here

**[How layer styling works](/docs/styling-layers/concepts-layer-styling)**

Every geometry. What points, lines, and polygons share in the Style tab, and what only one geometry has.

**[Plan a thematic map](/docs/styling-layers/concepts-planning-a-thematic-map)**

Every geometry. Match the styling method to your data, with examples for roads, countries, and cities.

**[Choose a classification method](/docs/styling-layers/concepts-choosing-classification-method)**

Every geometry. Compare equal interval, quantile, natural breaks, and head/tail breaks on the same data.

## Style any geometry by a field

**[Style by category](/docs/styling-layers/style-by-category)**

Points, lines, and polygons. Give each text value or numeric code its own colour.

**[Style by quantity](/docs/styling-layers/style-by-quantity)**

Points, lines, and polygons. Colour features from a numeric field, in classes or a gradient.

**[Customise category and class break symbology](/docs/styling-layers/customise-category-and-class-break-symbology)**

Points, lines, and polygons. Change one row's colour, label, range, marker, or pattern.

## Labels and visibility

**[Show feature labels](/docs/styling-layers/show-feature-labels)**

Points, lines, and polygons. Show a field's value as text on each feature.

**[Set layer zoom visibility](/docs/styling-layers/set-layer-zoom-visibility)**

Every layer type. Show a layer only between the zoom levels you choose.

## Points only: markers

**[Set a uniform point style](/docs/styling-layers/set-a-uniform-point-style)**

Points only. Draw every marker the same way: one marker type, colour, outline, and size.

**[Upload a custom point icon](/docs/styling-layers/upload-a-custom-point-icon)**

Points only. Use your own image as the marker.

## Points only: size

**[Size points by a number](/docs/styling-layers/size-points-by-a-number)**

Points only. Make a bubble map, with marker size set by a numeric field.

**[Colour and size points by two fields](/docs/styling-layers/colour-and-size-points-by-two-fields)**

Points only. Colour from one field and size from another, with both in the legend.

**[Vary marker size by zoom](/docs/styling-layers/vary-marker-size-by-zoom)**

Points only. Make circle markers grow or shrink at different zoom levels.

## Points only: density and zoom

**[Make a heatmap](/docs/styling-layers/make-a-heatmap)**

Points only. Show the density or weighted intensity of point features.

**[Colour markers by zoom](/docs/styling-layers/colour-markers-by-zoom)**

Points only. Blend circle markers between colours at different zoom levels.

## Lines only

**[Set a uniform line style](/docs/styling-layers/set-a-uniform-line-style)**

Lines only. Draw every line with one colour and width.

**[Style line patterns and casing](/docs/styling-layers/style-line-patterns)**

Lines only. Dash or dot lines, and add a casing so roads stand out.

**[Set line width and opacity](/docs/styling-layers/set-line-width-and-opacity)**

Lines only. Make lines thicker, thinner, or see-through, with any colour style.

## Polygons only

**[Set a uniform polygon style](/docs/styling-layers/set-a-uniform-polygon-style)**

Polygons only. Fill every polygon with one colour and set its stroke.

**[Style polygon fill patterns](/docs/styling-layers/style-polygon-fill-patterns)**

Polygons only. Fill polygons with hatching, grids, dots, or arrows.

**[Style polygon outlines](/docs/styling-layers/style-polygon-outlines)**

Polygons only. Draw a solid, dashed, or dotted edge around every polygon.

## Raster and WMS layers

**[Adjust raster or WMS opacity](/docs/styling-layers/adjust-raster-opacity)**

Raster and WMS only. Make an image layer more or less see-through.

## Fix a styling problem

**[Style change not appearing](/docs/styling-layers/troubleshoot-style-not-applying)**

Every geometry. Find out why the map does not show your new style.

**[Colour ramp the wrong way round](/docs/styling-layers/troubleshoot-colour-ramp-reversed)**

Every geometry. Flip a ramp whose light and dark ends sit on the wrong values.

**[Empty classes or odd class breaks](/docs/styling-layers/troubleshoot-classification-empty-buckets)**

Every geometry. Fix classes with no features or class breaks that make no sense.