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Generate color composites

A color composite maps image bands or wavelengths into display channels and adds a derived visualization layer to the workspace.

Generate a composite

  1. Open the image in a workspace and select Explore.
  2. Expand the image source and its Analysis layers subsection.
  3. Select Generate analysis layers and then Color composite.
  4. In Generate color composite, choose the input layer.
  5. Under Processing, choose Standard color or Percentile stretch.
  6. Under Output, choose Auto RGB, RGB, or Grayscale.
  7. Select wavelengths or bands when the output mode asks for them.
  8. Select Generate.

If the layer has center-wavelength metadata, the picker uses wavelengths. Otherwise, it uses zero-based band indices; the first band is index 0.

Percentile stretch

Percentile stretch defaults to a lower percentile of 2 and an upper percentile of 98. It also provides:

  • Stretch: None, Linear stretch, or Histogram equalization.
  • Percentile mode: Global or Bandwise.

Clipping extreme values can improve visual contrast, but it changes only the rendering. It does not modify the source layer or create calibrated reflectance values.