Use Map Styles

A map's overall appearance or default "look" is determined by its underlying Map Style.

When you add a new map object, its appearance is determined by the map's current style settings. A style is a collection of the automatic formatting settings used for the various types of elements your map. The Map Style contains settings for:

• Central topic, main topics and subtopics (by level)

• Org-chart topics and their subtopics

• Callout topics and their subtopics

• Floating topics and their subtopics

• Floating Org-Chart topics and their subtopics

• Boundaries

• Relationships

• Map background

• Notes (the default font)

The Map Style may also include a set of topic styles. If you want to change the automatic style settings for the current map you can modify the style, or you can apply a different Map Style.

Each new map you create uses the default style of the blank map or the template you use to create it.

Once you've established the map's overall style you can then go on to change individual topics by applying topic styles and by formatting individual topics. This individual formatting overrides the automatic style settings, and persists if you modify the current style or assign a new style to the map. (Note that you can remove the map's formatting first if you want to return all topics to their automatic style.)

You can save the current map's style information in a Style file so you can re-use it. See Create and modify Map Styles for more information on saving a Style. A file with the original default styles is installed with MindManager and can be applied like any other style.

What do you want to do?

• Apply a Map Style
• Modify the map's style settings
• Use the default Map Style

Apply a Map Style

You can apply a different Map Style to your map at any time. If you have already applied formatting to individual topics, these topics will not be changed by applying a new Map Style unless you first remove the formatting you've applied. (see below)

1. On the Home tab, in the Style group, click Map Style,

2. If you see the style you want to use in the gallery, click it.
   Otherwise, click Assign from Template Organizer, and you'll see a dialog with style names and folders on the left side.

• Click a style name to see a generic preview of it.

• Select the style you want to use, and then click Apply. Choose the style that best meets your needs. You can modify it as desired and save it for re-use if you like.

• In Linked Maps View, you can quickly apply a new style to one or more linked maps. Select the maps, then, in the Assign group, click Map Styles. Select the style in the organizer and click Apply.

Apply a Map Style from a file that doesn't appear in the organizer ▼

Clear the map formatting

If you have already been working on the map for a while and decide to use a different style, you may wish to clear the formatting that you've applied before applying a new Map Style. The new style settings will not override any formatting that you have already applied.

1. Select the topics, boundaries or relationships whose formatting you want to clear (press CTRL+A to select all objects).

2. On the Home tab or on the Format tab, in the Editing group, click Clear .

3. Press CTRL+SPACE.

Modify the map's style settings

Save new style defaults on-the-fly

Use the Style command in any of the format dialogs to save the formatting of the selected topic, boundary, or relationship as the new style default.

• In the dialog, click Style, Save as New Style Default.

What gets saved?

Any topics or objects using the default style (without additional formatting applied) and any topics or objects you add will display in the new default style.

Use Modify Style view

A special view lets you change the map style directly. You can use this view to modify the style of the current map, and you can also modify the style settings for templates and style files.

See Use Modify Style view for more information on using this view.

Use the default Map Style

A default Map Style, Default.mmas, is provided with MindManager. You can reset the map to use this default style, modify this style like any other style, or use the style of the current map as the default from now on.

Reset the current map to the default Map Style

• On the Home tab, in the Style group, click the Map Style arrow, and then click Reset Current Map Style to Default.

• You can also apply this style from the Template Organizer as described above.

Replace the default Map Style with the style of the current map

• On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Map Style, and then click Make Current Map Style the Default.

A "backup" copy of this style, Default (original).mmas, is included with MindManager.

See also:

Create a new map

Create and modify Map Styles

Topic styles