apply symbology from polygons to points

Question

I have .lyrx symbology for polygons and i want to apply this symbology to a point file so that it can be coloured in the same way. the symbology is quite complicated (geological map legend) and so i do not want to start over for the point data, especially as this will mean picking correct colours etc.

i will be using the same attribute field for the symbology so why cant i just apply the polygon .lyrx to the points?

am i missing something obvious?

XanderBakker · Answer

Hi Nigel Baker ,

I recently learned that ArcGIS Pro 2.5 (released later this month) will have a new tool called "Match Layer Symbology To A Style". As  Dan Patterson described this will most likely be restricted to the same geometry, since a style has properties that are depending on the geometry type. ArcGIS Pro 2.5 also introduced advanced color management so you can switch easier between RGB and CMYK.

An option could be to script this. You could generate a unique value renderer based on the attribute you want to draw on and change the color property of each symbol based on the color of the polygon style you have. I don't have any example code, but I guess this is feasible.

As for your idea to have a tool that could match only the color property of different styles (indifferent of the geometry type), it sounds as a good idea and it would be nice to have in Pro. Perhaps add the idea? https://community.esri.com/community/arcgis-ideas

NigelBaker · Answer

thanks Dan,

I had found that out there as well but also considered it a poor workaround.

I understand that the points and polygons are different geometry types but the colours are picked from the same pallette so must be identified by the software in the same way despite them being different geometry types. i cant understand why a colour code cannot be applied to diffrent geometries.

as i write this i am coding them all again... it is incredibly labourious and of course i cannot have exactly the same colour for each feature. very annoying especially as i need them in CMYK for print purposes.

DanPatterson_Retired · Answer

Layer files are dependent on geometry type, which means you cannot have one layer file that will symbolize multiple feature types.

From various location in the help.

You could create the centroid points of the polygons, then buffer them slightly to produce polygons, then apply the symbology to the resultant.  But that seems like a lot of work