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Symbol format: colour, line width and text settings
This section describes the settings and options for formatting in map.army.
Overview
Here you have extensive options for adapting the display of the symbols to your requirements.
Every setting on this page applies to the military symbols already on the map, not only to the next one you draw, and none of them needs a reload. Toggles take effect the moment you change them; the sliders and colour pickers settle a fraction of a second after you stop dragging.
Line Width (%)
The line width is given in % of the symbol size. The default is 2.5%; the slider runs from 0.5% to 10% in steps of 0.1%.
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|---|---|
| 2.5% | 4% |
Date and time format
The Date&Time format setting is not in this group — it sits under Unit Settings, because it governs how dates and times are written everywhere, not only on symbols. The format characters are listed in General Options → Date and time format.
Optimized Colors
If the symbol is not filled, the line colour is optimised for better readability.
Optimized Status Light Modifier Size
If the modifier ‘Op status and need for action’ is set, the status symbol is displayed larger when checkbox is set.
1-Point Symbols
In this area you can make settings for tactical signs.
Symbol Size
The value sets the height of the symbol’s base frame. Its unit follows Distance Unit under Unit Settings: millimetres with the metric setting, inches with the imperial one. The field accepts any value from 0.1 to 99 and offers four presets — 10, 15, 20 and 25 mm, or 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch. On a tactical graphic it scales only the symbol elements embedded in it, never the geo-referenced geometry. The value is honoured at the output resolution of a print or export, so a 15 mm symbol prints at 15 mm.
Size Symbols according to Echelon
Sizes each symbol by its echelon — the unit level it represents. The app puts it plainly: “symbols are scaled depending on the unit size (Echelon). For example, the symbol of a platoon is smaller than that of a battalion.” Echelon is the military term for that level of command.
Show Shadow
If the flag is set, the base frame of the symbol casts a shadow.
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|---|---|
| Shadow | No Shadow |
Symbol Filled
If the flag is set, the basic frame of the symbol is filled out. If the ‘colored’ flag is set, the content is blue, otherwise white.
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|---|---|
| Symbol Filled | Symbol not filled |
Optional Frame Format
For certain types of symbols (e.g. vehicles) the frame can be switched on or off here.
Modifier-Text Size (%)
Here you can change the text size of the modifiers around the symbol. The value corresponds to % of the height of the basic symbol. Default value is 33%; any value from 1% to 99% is accepted.
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|---|---|
| Size 33% | Size 60% |
Bold Modifier-Text
If this flag is set, the modifier texts are shown as bold.
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|---|---|
| Normal | Bold |
Modifier-Text Color
This dialog can be used to set the colour of the modifier texts. Standard is black.
|  |
|---|---|
| Standard | Blue Text |
Modifier-Text Background
Puts a background behind the modifier text. Worth switching on over aerial imagery or a busy topographic map, where plain text on its own becomes unreadable.
Line Color
This dialog is used to define the colors of the signature lines.
|  |
|---|---|
| Standard | Red Linies |
Colored
This checkbox determines whether the signature is displayed in color or black and white.
|  |
|---|---|
| Standard | Not colored |
Rotatable Symbols
Decides how a symbol’s direction of movement (modifier Q) is drawn on the map. On by default.
 |  |
|---|---|
| On: the symbol is turned | Off: the MIL-STD-2525 arrow |
- On — the whole symbol is turned to point in its direction. No arrow is drawn.
- Off — the symbol is not turned; instead the standard MIL-STD-2525 direction-of-movement arrow is drawn out of it. Pick this when the frame has to stay readable, or when the picture must match the standard.
The setting applies to every 1-point symbol on the map at once — there is no per-symbol choice. Symbols that carry no direction look the same either way. How to give a symbol a direction: Symbol Editor → Direction of movement. In the 3D view this setting has no effect: symbols are never turned there and no arrow is drawn on them; the only direction cue is Indicate Direction below.
While Display location is active the control is greyed out and rotation is forced on; your own setting comes back when you switch Display location off. See Map tool settings.
Scale Symbols
Scales 1-point symbols with the map scale, so — in the app’s words — “zooming out reduces the size of the 1-point symbols for a better overview.” Leave it off when symbols must stay legible at every zoom level; switch it on when their size should mean something relative to the ground.
Decluster Symbols
Separates symbols that overlap or crowd each other, using offset lines back to their true positions — the app calls this “a better readability of the operational picture”. It changes how they are drawn, never the coordinates they hold, and those offset lines are the Reference Lines you can restyle under Coordinate settings.
Indicate Direction (3D view only)
While the 3D view is active, the three settings above are replaced in this slot by Indicate Direction, on by default: every 1-point symbol with a direction of movement gets a 3D arrow pointing that way. It is the only direction cue in 3D — neither rotation nor the flat arrow exists there. Details on 3D view → Indicate Direction.
Tactical Graphics
In this area you can make settings for tactical graphics.
Label Distribution (cm)
This value determines the distance between the text label in a tactical graphic. Standard is 15 cm; the slider runs from 5 cm to 100 cm.
Modifier-Text Color
This dialog can be used to set the colour of the modifier texts. Standard is black.
Line Color
This dialog is used to define the colors of the lines in the graphic.
Colored
This checkbox determines whether the tactical graphic is displayed in color or black and white.
Override per layer
Everything above is app-wide. A single MilX layer can carry its own format instead: tick Override Symbol Format in that layer’s Settings in the Layer-Manager, and a reduced set of these options appears underneath — Line Width, Symbol Size, Show Shadow, Symbol Filled, Optional Frame Format, Modifier-Text Color and Line Color for 1-point symbols, and Label Distribution, Modifier-Text Color and Line Color for tactical graphics. The rest, including the colour, shadow and reset controls, stays app-wide. The layer’s format is saved in the layer, so it travels with the MilX file; clearing the checkbox discards it. See Layer-Manager.
Reset Symbol Format
With this command you can reset all settings to the default values.
It acts immediately — there is no confirmation prompt — and every symbol on the map is redrawn with the defaults. It resets only what this group controls; the Date&Time format under Unit Settings is left untouched. The button is greyed out while everything is already at its default, which is how you can tell nothing would change.
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