Raster stretch color schemes - use grid values rather than percent
This idea relates to the the "Stretch" symbology for raster layers in Pro:
Problem: The color scheme editor only lets you set colors based on the percent position in the range of values. For most maps I make, I want certain colors assigned to specific values, rather than the percent of the range from min to max.
Idea: Give us the option to enter specific cell values where the colors change in the Color Scheme Editor (see previous screenshot). This would be in place of the percent "Position" setting if I'm using cell values. It should be able to accept float values with decimal places, since I work with some very small decimal values. I would also like the values to be able to be outside the range of whatever grid I'm working with, since I might have a greater possible range than just this dataset.
The work-around: I can create an artificial raster with the theoretical min/max values I'd encounter. Then, I calculate the percent values that correspond to the actual cell value thresholds where the color should change in the continuous color scheme. Next, I apply that symbology to another raster layer and it will maintain those ranges. So I have a work-around, but... why do I have to do all this work! Make it easy for us!
Example: On a temperature forecast map, you'll see the same legend every day, even though the range of daily temperatures might vary greatly by season. I just want to make it as easy as possible to create a new color scheme based on grid cell values for the color transitions, rather than percent of the range in that particular grid, which might not reflect the true range of values I will encounter in future data sets.
@Simon_Woo - I was aware of it, but I thought it only updated the layer's legend. I didn't realize until just now that it would enable me to edit the symbology for the layer.
It does seem useful, but has some snags. My grid has a minimum value of 0.0016, which it rounds up to 0.002. I multiplied my input data by 100, and that worked, but I really shouldn't have to modify my data around the tool.
Also, the symbology this creates on the map looks good, but the legend is not correct. For example, look at the strong category in the advanced labeling here, which is yellow:
The label for that category in the legend isn't anywhere near the yellow color.
The legend just stacks the labels as closely as the font will allow. The color ramp does correspond to what I would expect, or at least it looks good at a glance. Unfortunately, the labels and the colors don't line up at all if your category thresholds are not evenly distributed.
I also wish Advanced Labeling would let me assign a color to a range of values, rather than a threshold cutoff. For example, in the screenshot above, the "Strong" category is for a range of 9.2 to 18, so I entered the mid-point value of 13.6 so that category's color is centered on the range. It's not a big deal to figure this out, but wish I didn't have to try to outsmart it.
Lastly, you can only set thresholds that are in the range of your data. If the data set I have does not contain the full range of possible data, I cannot create symbology that will work for any case, so I have to create a fake data set just to set up my symbology. (This is something that comes up in many more cases than just this with Esri's symbology tools.)