Advanced dots & shapes: every column
This importer adds labels and per-location styling, including squares, triangles, hexagons and stars. Review the columns before importing: the new collection replaces the existing dots and shapes.
Watch tutorial video Opens YouTube · some videos show an earlier layoutSee it on the map
Real map artwork · example settings
CSV file, sample or pasted Excel table
Load a CSV smaller than 2 MB, with up to 500 rows. Download sample CSV for the expected order. A recognised heading row is allowed in a file; paste separate columns without headings. A whole Excel table can be pasted into the Postcodes box.
Postcodes and Labels
Use full UK postcodes, one per row. Labels are optional, so a location can be a plain shape. Keep each postcode and its settings on the same row. Multi-line spreadsheet cells are joined with spaces.
Radius
A distance in miles, from 0.1 to 500; blank cells use 10. This controls shape size around the location. It is not the line thickness or a screen-pixel measurement.
Line width and Line colour
Width accepts 0.1 to 100, defaulting to 1. Line colour defaults to black. Colours can be recognised names or hex values such as #E8AC25.
Fill colour
Sets the inside colour for each shape, defaulting to red. Use one value for the entire collection or a complete row-by-row column.
Label size
Accepts 0 to 20 and defaults to 3. Zero hides the label text. This is useful if the label needs to remain in the data but would overcrowd the map.
Shape
Use circle, square, triangle, hexagon or star. Blank settings use circle. Keep the spelling from the column guide so the importer can recognise the shape.
Label position
Use top, bottom, left, right or middle, with top as the default. Choose a position that keeps text away from a neighbouring shape or important map label.
Shared values, blanks and errors
One setting on its own applies to every postcode. Otherwise supply one row per postcode. Blank optional cells use the defaults. The status line identifies invalid rows or values before import; fix them rather than shifting a column to make the counts match.
London dots
In Manage dots & shapes, choose Inset map, Main map, Inset & main map, or Hide London dots. This is separate from whether the London inset itself is visible under Regions & Insets.
Manage the collection
Show/hide changes map visibility; Delete all dots from map removes the collection. Download your dot data exports the values currently in the dialog’s columns, including draft edits: keep a copy before clearing or replacing them. Colour postcodes turns the placed shapes into territories using polygon centres. Choose Add to existing to preserve current colouring, or Replace colouring to replace it; Undo restores the previous result.
Import, Close and Clear columns
Import to map validates and replaces the map’s dots and shapes. Check the final lookup feedback for missing locations. Close leaves unimported drafts unapplied and stops an in-progress import. Clear columns empties the draft input fields, not the current map layer.