# Color scales Another commonly used type of conditional formatting is the color scale, which applies a gradient fill to a range of cells based on their values. This is a useful way to visualize and compare values in a table quickly. Color scales can be applied to the background, font color, or data bars. It can also be applied row-wise, column-wise, or table-wise. Refer to the [Create Rule](https://docs.inforiver.com/working-with-inforiver/5.-conditional-formatting/create-rule-reporting-matrix) section to get started. Once the rule is created and you can see the Conditional Formatting side panel, follow the steps below. ### 1. Color scales Choose 'Color scale' in the **Format by** dropdown.

Let's look at the customization options for color scales. #### 1.1. Based on Let's apply formatting to the Sales measure based on the Profit. Select the profit measure from the **Based on** dropdown. the higher the profit, the darker the shade of blue applied to the sales measure.

#### 1.2. Color scale for You can apply color scales to cell backgrounds, fonts, data bars, action dots, and bubble charts.

Color scale for data bars when there are positive and negative values

#### 1.3. Heat map type The heat map can be applied at row, column or table level. * **Column-wise:** The maximum and minimum values in a column are formatted using the darkest and lightest gradients. * **Row-wise:** The maximum and minimum values in a row are formatted using the darkest and lightest gradients. * **Table-wise:** Similar values are formatted using the same gradient throughout the table.

#### 1.4. Color scale type Choose from a range of color scale types like Sequential, Diverging, Qualitative, Continuous, etc. You can also create color scales by selecting the custom option - we'll look at this in a later section.

#### 1.5. Color scheme Choose from a range of built-in color schemes for each color scale type.

#### 1.6. Min/max/center For color scales of types Continuous-Range, Continuous-Diverging Range, Continuous, and Continuous-Diverging, you can define the min/max and center color if applicable.

#### 1.7. Custom color scale The 'Custom' color scale type can be used to define custom color ranges. On selecting the custom option, you can see the fields highlighted in the image. You can define the values/percentages for the ranges, add or delete ranges, define colors, and reverse the order.

#### 1.8. Reverse color Color scales can be reversed for cases where the minimum and maximum values need to be denoted with the highest and lowest gradients. Check the **Reverse color** checkbox to flip the colors.

#### 1.9. Number of bands By default, the number of bands is defined as 5. But it can be increased or decreased by changing the number in the textbox. The color scheme field also gets updated to show the gradients.

#### 1.10. **Hide value** You can choose to show only the color scale and hide the values. To do this, check the 'Hide value' checkbox.

#### 1.11. **Auto font color** When you apply background conditional formatting in Inforiver, the font colors are automatically adjusted to be in contrast with their backgrounds to enhance readability. But it can be turned off if not required by unchecking the **Auto font color** checkbox. When the Auto font color option is disabled, notice how some of the values in darker shaded cells are not visible.

#### 1.12. **Include null** In cases where there are null values in your table, you can choose whether to include or exclude them from conditional formatting.