topic RBG Color in Graph Builder in Discussions

RBG Color in Graph Builder

hogi — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 12:18:17 GMT

I want to use a column in a Graph Builder plot to set the color in a heatmap—not with a color scale, but with an RGB value I previously extracted from an image.

Is there a possibility to store a RGB color in a column - and then use it in Graph Builder?

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

hogi — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 12:23:34 GMT

if this is not possible, some workarounds :

use value color,
a) use value = row() - and use value color to map the rows to color
b) save "color" with an encoding - and use value color to map the encoded color to the actual color
is it possible to use the color from row state for a Heatmap Plot?

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

jthi — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 14:37:49 GMT

You can store the value as row state using Color State() and RGB Color(), but no idea about using that column directly in graph builder.

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

Victor_G — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 16:28:37 GMT

Hi @hogi,

I have used a previous solution from @txnelson that enable me to use HEX values from one column and get automatically row colors based on these values :

For RGB values, there seems to be some solutions existing:

Hope these answers may help you,

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

hogi — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 16:53:09 GMT

Hi @Victor_G , thank you for the input.

HexColor is a nice option for:

the hard nut I still have to crack is how I can use this in Graph Builder / Heatmaps.

I'm leaning towards: save {r, g,b } *255 as an expression - and using a table script to manually transfer the values to Value Colors .

another workaround: use JSL & shape equation.
but Heatmaps has its benefits ...

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

Jed_Campbell — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:04:17 GMT

Here's the script from the Image to Table extension to use an RGB value in Graph Builder. Since it uses JMP's built-in functions, it's fairly fast.

(dt << New Column( "Pixel Color", formula( Color State( RGB Color( :R, :G, :B ) ) ) )) << copy to row states;

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

hogi — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:06:44 GMT

Hi , thank you for the code.

The hard nut I still have to crack is how I can use this in Graph Builder / Heatmaps.

Any better solution than the workaround via Value Colors?

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

hogi — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:14:41 GMT

possible application case: show me my life
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU

empty plot:

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

Jed_Campbell — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:20:20 GMT

@hogi I should have read the entire question, thanks!

For heatmaps, what about using the HLS color space instead of RGB? Since Hue kind of combines/codes for RGB data, you could use the Hue value in the Color role of a heat map, and a chromatic color scale. Color to HLS () in JSL would do the RGB to HLS conversion for you.

Re: RBG Color in Graph Builder

hogi — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:43:21 GMT

Hue - a great idea to get very saturated colors!
In the new version, I apply a preselection based on L and S - and pick THE color by the dominant hue (mode()) .

This makes images with a lot of blue sky clearly visible as blue cells - like our trip to Greece in May 2024.
To get a nice contrast, days with missing image are grey ...