---
name: "gvcolor"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "graphviz"
version: "16.1.0-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/gvcolor"
---

# gvcolor(1)

flow colors through a ranked digraph

## NAME

gvcolor - flow colors through a ranked digraph

## SYNOPSIS

**gvcolor** \[  *files* \]

## USAGE

dot file.gv \| gvcolor \| dot -T*\<format\>*

## DESCRIPTION

**gvcolor** *(previously known as* **colorize)** *is a filter that sets node colors from initial seed values.* *Colors flow along edges from tail to head, and are averaged* *(as HSB vectors) at nodes.* *The graph must already have been processed by dot.* *Appropriate choice of initial colors yields drawings in which node* *colors help to emphasize logical relationships between nodes, even* *when they are spread far apart in the layout.*

*Initial colors must be set externally, using the* **color** *attribute of a node.  It is often effective to* *assign colors to a few key source or sink nodes, manually setting* *their colors by editing the graph file.* *Color names are as in [dot(1)](/dot/1.md): symbolic names or RGB triples.* *It is best to choose some easily‐distinguished but related colors;* *not necessarily spaced evenly around the color wheel.  For example,* *blue\_green, green, and light\_yellow looks better than red, green, blue.*

*Certain graph attributes control the gvcolor algorithm.* **flow=back** *reverses the flow of colors from heads to tails.* **saturation=.1,.9** *(or any two numbers between 0 and 1)* *adjusts the color saturation linearly from least to greatest rank.* *If* **Defcolor** *is set, this color value is applied to any* *node not otherwise colored.*

## EXIT STATUS

*The following exit values are returned:*

- **0**

  *Successful completion.*

- **1**

  *If nodes of the graph do not possess a \`\`pos'' attribute.*

## BUGS

*It would be nice to make the program work without relying on* *an initial pass through* **dot***.*

## AUTHORS

*Stephen C. North \<north@research.att.com\>*\
 *Emden R. Gansner \<erg@research.att.com\>*

## SEE ALSO

*[gc(1)](/gc/1.md), [dot(1)](/dot/1.md), [gvpr(1)](/gvpr/1.md), [ccomps(1)](/ccomps/1.md), [sccmap(1)](/sccmap/1.md), [tred(1)](/tred/1.md), libgraph(3)*