For "\Options\Contour plot\Custom", I've edited the top color in the "Custom Colors" image and assigned it as pure red (rgb=255,0,0) (the right image). (This rgb was verified using PowerToys Color Picker.)
However, when the model is displayed this color is not correct. Visually you can see that the "reds" for the legend and model are somewhat dull. Using PowerToys Color Picker (the right image), the actual color of the "red" is rgb=240,28,0. This is the same for the "red" in both the legend and the model. The same problem is true for several other colors that I've tried -- the displayed colors are close to the assigned colors but are not identical.
Comments
The specified colors include the top and bottom values in the range but the display uses the color interpolated at the middle of each sub-interval. So in your screenshot, the displayed red is for the whole sub-interval 1.022 to 1.136 but the specified pure red is only for the extreme value 1.136. It looks like you can compensate for this by duplicating each color as in the attached image.
Lighting changes the color of the model depending on the orientation of the faces.
I'm trying to find colors that convey the FEA info and that look good on the screen, on color printout, and on gray-scale printout. Your suggestion of duplicating the colors works in a way. I tried duplicating the red color in "Custom colors". The legend then displays pure red (rgb=255,0,0) at the top but the next "red" is (243,47,0). Hence, duplicating the existing 10 colors will actually give 20 different colors on the display.
However, I only want 10 colors displayed on the model and in the legend. Otherwise, the model's display becomes overly "busy" and adjacent colors may be difficult to distinguish on the above devices.
I realize the effect of lighting. That's why I chose the bottom view of the model and also the legend which has no light dependency. (In this arrangement, the colors of the model and legend agree.)
Aside -- After achieving the desired colors in Mecway, I want to duplicate these in Paraview. I'd prefer not to use Paraview but it has several advantages --
I understand those other issues and they're on my list for future updates.
Although this is tedious, you can get predictable view orientations using the keyboard (F4/F5 and ALT+left/right/up/down which each rotate in 5 degree increments.
It seems that the rotations with the keyboard are about the screen axes. There should be a method to rotate about the orthogonal axes. Also, it would be helpful to allow the user to choose the rotation increment instead of a fixed 5 degrees.
Despite some limitations, I think Mecway is an incredible value. I look forward to further enhancements.
All the configuration data is stored in the user.config file in the appropriate sub-directory within %localappdata%/Mecway_Limited
In a future Mecway version you might add an option for a user-defined path to Mecway_limited.
You were quite right that the colors are being interpolated badly. I hadn't understood that there was a better way but there is and the version after next (v18) will have more sensible interpolation that includes the two extreme colors and matches the custom colors exactly when there are the same number of them. The existing interpolation will still be available in case you need legacy compatibility.
It'll also have the perceptually uniform color maps Viridis and Turbo which are better for printing in greyscale.
Since I want to publish to my website, any guess about the release date for v18?