Export Formats Overview

Palettize supports exporting colormaps to 9 different formats for GIS applications, web mapping, and data visualization.

Available Formats

Identifier	Name	Extension	Use Case
`gdal`	GDAL Color Relief	`.txt`	GDAL `gdaldem color-relief`
`qgis`	QGIS Color Ramp XML	`.xml`	QGIS styles and projects
`sld`	OGC SLD XML	`.sld`	GeoServer, WMS services
`titiler`	TiTiler Colormap URL	`.txt`	TiTiler tile server
`mapgl`	MapLibre GL JS	`.json`	MapLibre/Mapbox web maps
`observable`	Observable Plot	`.json`	Observable notebooks
`gee`	Google Earth Engine	`.js`	GEE Code Editor
`hex`	Plaintext Hex	`.txt`	General purpose
`rgba`	Plaintext RGBA	`.txt`	CSS/web development

Quick Usage

CLI

# Single format
palettize create viridis --format gdal --output viridis.txt --domain 0,255

# Multiple formats
palettize create viridis --format gdal,qgis,mapgl \
  --output "{name}_{format}.{ext}" --domain 0,255

Python

from palettize import create_colormap, get_scaler_by_name, get_exporter

cmap = create_colormap(preset="viridis")
scaler = get_scaler_by_name("linear", domain_min=0, domain_max=255)
exporter = get_exporter("gdal")

output = exporter.export(
    colormap=cmap,
    scaler=scaler,
    domain_min=0,
    domain_max=255,
    options={"num_colors": 256}
)

Format Categories

GIS Formats

GDAL: For raster processing with GDAL command-line tools
QGIS: For QGIS desktop GIS styling
SLD: For OGC-compliant web services (GeoServer, WMS)

Web Mapping Formats

TiTiler: For dynamic tile server colorization
MapLibre GL JS: For browser-based vector/raster maps
Observable Plot: For Observable notebooks and D3 visualizations

Satellite/Remote Sensing

Google Earth Engine: For GEE Code Editor scripts

Generic Formats

Hex: Simple hex color lists for any application
RGBA: CSS-compatible RGBA values

Common Options

Most exporters support these common options:

Option	Type	Default	Description
`num_colors`	`int`	varies	Number of discrete color steps
`precision`	`int`	varies	Decimal places for numbers
`name`	`str`		Colormap name in output metadata

Passing Options via CLI

Use the -O or --option flag:

# Global option (applies to all formats)
palettize create viridis -f gdal -O num_colors=256

# Format-specific option
palettize create viridis -f gdal,qgis -O gdal:num_colors=256 -O qgis:ramp_type=exact

Passing Options via Python

Pass a dictionary to the options parameter:

output = exporter.export(
    colormap=cmap,
    scaler=scaler,
    domain_min=0,
    domain_max=255,
    options={
        "num_colors": 256,
        "name": "My Colormap"
    }
)

Choosing a Format

If you need to…	Use
Apply colors to rasters with GDAL	`gdal`
Style layers in QGIS	`qgis`
Publish to GeoServer or WMS	`sld`
Colorize COGs with TiTiler	`titiler`
Style web maps with MapLibre	`mapgl`
Create D3/Observable visualizations	`observable`
Analyze satellite data in GEE	`gee`
Just need a list of colors	`hex` or `rgba`