Change Colors Linking Lines     Group of Items     Single Concept       Text       Background   From an open Cmap: All items of a Cmap, except the resource link group icon (described in the help section Drag in Resources), can change color. To change the color of a linking line, select the line by right-clicking it, then left-click Line... from the menu that appears. (Notice that a linking line may have a different shape than an actual line. More information on different types of linking lines can be found in the help section Modify Linking Lines.) The "Styles" window will open to the Line dialog. Moving the mouse over the Color button makes a box appear that indicates what type of object will be affected when a color change is made. Left-clicking the Color button will reveal a palette of common colors that are selectable using the mouse. No Fill will change the color of an item (other than the background) to transparent. Left-click the More Colors... button to choose a particular color not shown in the palette. The "Choose a Color" window opens to the Swatches dialog where you can pick a color from an expanded palette. The color currently chosen appears in the Preview panel. Selectable swatches of previously chosen colors are under the Recent: heading. Left-click the HSB tab at the top of the window to further explore your color options. The HSB dialog opens, allowing you to select a color using Hue, Saturation, and Brightness values. Clicking either mouse button in the color square will select a color. You may also drag the slidebar with the mouse, specify numeric values in the text boxes, or use a combination of features in the HSB dialog to select a color. The HSB dialog shows corresponding RGB values. You may left-click the RGB tab to fine tune these values. The RGB dialog allows you to select a color by adjusting the color's Red, Green, and Blue values. You may use the slidebars, text boxes, or a combination of features in the RGB dialog to select a color. After you have chosen a color, Left-click the OK button to observe the change in color of the Cmap item. When you return to the Cmap, the item you selected will be in the color you chose. You may also want to change the color of other Cmap items to the selected color. From an open Cmap: You can change the color of multiple Cmap items at the same time. A way to select multiple adjacent Cmap items is by clicking and holding the left mouse button to drag a selection rectangle over the items. By holding down Ctrl and left-clicking on items, more than one non-adjacent item may be selected. A combination of left-clicking and dragging rectangles, all while holding down the Ctrl key, can capture both adjacent and non-adjacent Cmap items into the selection. (Alternate ways of selecting Cmap items can be found in the help section Nested & Merged Nodes.) A new menu appears when right-clicking on a group of selected Cmap items. Left-click on Format Style from the menu. A sub-menu will open where you can left-click an item type that best represents your multiple item selection. (If you only have linking lines selected, then Line... would best represent your selection. To change any other group of items, including groups that contain a variety of different Cmap items, select Object...) The "Styles" window will open to either the Line or Object dialogs, depending on which sub-menu item you selected. After left-clicking the Color button, notice the Added Colors heading. Left-clicking a color will change the color of all items selected. When you return to the Cmap, the group of items you selected will be in the color you chose. From an open Cmap: To change the color of a single concept, select the concept by right-clicking it, then left-click Format Style. A sub-menu appears where you can left-click the Object... menu item. The "Styles" window will open to the Object dialog. Moving the mouse over the Color button makes a box appear that indicates which portion of the concept will be affected when a color change is made. Notice that when the Color button is left-clicked, an additional color appears selected under the Added Colors heading that you did not add. You may left-click the added color at any time to return to the default background color of a concept. You can make a color choice for the background of your concept with either the No Fill button, the palette of common colors, any Added Colors you may have, or left-click on More Colors... When you return to the Cmap, the concept you selected will be in the color you chose. From an open Cmap: To change text color, right-click a concept or linking phrase, then left-click Format Style. From the sub-menu, left-click the Font... menu item. The "Styles" window will open to the Font dialog. Left-clicking the Text Color button will allow you to choose a color. After you have made a color selection, return to the Cmap to view the selected text in the chosen color. From an open Cmap: To change the background color of a Cmap, select a concept or linking phrase by right-clicking it, then left-click Format Style. From the sub-menu, left-click the Cmap... menu item. The "Styles" window will open to the Cmap dialog. Left-clicking the Set Background Color button will allow you to choose a color. After you have made a color selection, return to the Cmap to view the background in the color you chose.