Day 1 with JMP and a user wants to generate a point plot with 2 different colors for male and female:
![hogi_21-1724518422279.png hogi_21-1724518422279.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67516iD3C1B7F1A04B40B8/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
The easy solution: use the Color Dropzone
The surprise: The Overlay does the same.
The second surprise: "Color" can do more than just "color":
For every entry in the legend, the user gets the possibility to define the Marker Style as well - as well as Size and Transparency.
![hogi_4-1724516173230.png hogi_4-1724516173230.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67499i0507BF8B02BCA9E3/image-dimensions/175x132?v=v2)
A lazy user doesn't configure the colors manually - again and again for every single plot and subplot.
One alternative (which I use just very rarely): row states to specify Colors and Markers.
![hogi_6-1724516628985.png hogi_6-1724516628985.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67501i13D75DB3069ADFCE/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
Another alternative (which I prefer):
define suitable colors via Column Property: Value Columns
Pros:
- meaningful legends - automatically (!)
- separate settings for every column (not via rows)
- I can control (via the Overlay and Color dropzone) where I want to use the setting - and for wich plots I DON'T want to use the setting : )
- I can overwrite the setting for individual entries via the legend right click menu
![hogi_5-1724516344829.png hogi_5-1724516344829.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67500i5A15614A8181481B/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
The 3rd surprise: there is no Column Property: Value Markers
Day 2 - the JMP user detects the subtle (and not so subtle) differences between the Color and Overlay Dropzones:
by adding a smoother:
![hogi_7-1724517312154.png hogi_7-1724517312154.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67502iA7E27954830D0615/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
Now, let's add Color to the plot
suprise 4: with Color via Color, there is just a single fit curve:
![hogi_23-1724518475808.png hogi_23-1724518475808.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67518i0CE4DFDCFBAA4850/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
... this is when the user remembers surprise #1, tries Overlay, and falls in love with the Overlay dropzone:
![hogi_22-1724518446916.png hogi_22-1724518446916.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67517i01C0A8B0C896F4B8/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
So, for scatter plots there is no apparent difference between Color and Overlay - but for other plots it is !!!
And often Overlay is THE way to add color.
Another example:
vs.![hogi_13-1724517811895.png hogi_13-1724517811895.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67508i0770C93202621222/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
Now let's generate another points plot - where there is a difference between Color and Overlay:
Color just adds color to the points, Overlay generates separate plots for every color, ovelays them - and hides some girls:
vs. ![hogi_4-1724530923219.png hogi_4-1724530923219.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67531iBE0FF79E7B203EC9/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)
With the findings from surprise #2, we can now define Markers for different values ... with the help of the Color Dropzone
![hogi_3-1724530834234.png hogi_3-1724530834234.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/67530iAD44F36D07215A55/image-size/medium?v=v2&px=400)