Register symbology for a raster layer

A raster layer can be set up to have multiple symbology items. This allows you to preconfigure many versions of views of a raster layer with different types of symbology. This means you don’t have to redefine the symbology each time you want to change primary symbology or display a specific band combination.

Register the first symbology item

Follow the steps below to set up your first symbology item.

There are two ways to set up symbology items, using Register Symbology, as shown in this workflow, or using Manage Symbology. These options are located on the Options menu .

1. In the Contents pane, select the raster layer that you are working with.
2. Open the Symbology pane, and set up the symbology parameters.
3. In the Symbology pane, click the Options button .
4. Click Register Symbology.

   The Symbology item properties page appears in the pane.

5. Edit the Symbology Name text.

   The other parameters are read-only information about the symbology item.

6. Click OK to register the symbology item.

   This symbology item now shows in the drop-down list for Primary Symbology, in the Symbology pane.

You have now registered your first symbology item. Once you have registered all the symbology items, you must save the layer, which is step 7 in the next section.

Register additional symbology items

Follow the steps below to create additional symbology items for additional variables. Once all the items have been registered, they can all be saved to a layer file.

1. Open the Symbology pane, and set up the symbology parameters.
2. In the Symbology pane, click the Options button .
3. Click Register Symbology.

   The Symbology item properties page appears in the pane.

4. Edit the Symbology Name text.

   The other parameters are read-only information about the symbology item.

5. Click OK to register the symbology item.

   This symbology item now shows in the drop-down list for Primary Symbology, in the Symbology pane.

6. Repeat steps 1 through 5, until you have created all the symbology items needed.
7. Save the raster layer as an .lyrx file, so that it can be shared and used with any similar raster datasets.
   1. In the Contents pane, right-click the raster layer, point to Share, and click Save Layer File.
   2. Choose a location and a name for the layer file, and click OK.

Once the symbology items have been registered and saved in a layer file, you can use the symbology items from the Symbology drop-down list—as if it was another primary symbology type.