# vega-scale
> Scales and color schemes for visual encoding.
Latest version **8.1.3** (published 2026-08-14) · BSD-3-Clause license · 0 weekly downloads
## Install
```sh
npm install vega-scale
pnpm add vega-scale
yarn add vega-scale
bun add vega-scale
```
## Health
**Score 75/100 (B)** — status: active.
Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; recently updated; high maintenance score; high quality score; popular repo.
Warnings: low downloads.
## Facts
| | |
|---|---|
| Version | 8.1.3 |
| Published | 2026-08-14 |
| First published | 2016-09-23 |
| Weekly downloads | 0 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause |
| TypeScript types | bundled |
| Module format | ESM |
| Dependencies | 6 |
| Unpacked size | 135.2 KB |
| Known vulnerabilities | 0 |
| Install scripts | no |
| GitHub stars | 12006 |
| Author | Vega |
| Maintainers | domoritz, hydrosquall, jheer, arvindsatya1, lhermann |
| Keywords | vega, scale, color, palette |
## Links
- npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/vega-scale
- Repository: https://github.com/vega/vega
- Homepage: https://github.com/vega/vega/tree/main/packages/vega-scale#readme
- Issues: https://github.com/vega/vega/issues
- npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/vega-scale
## Dependencies (6)
- [d3-array](https://npm.io/package/d3-array.md) ^3.2.4
- [d3-scale](https://npm.io/package/d3-scale.md) ^4.0.2
- [vega-time](https://npm.io/package/vega-time.md) ^3.3.0
- [vega-util](https://npm.io/package/vega-util.md) ^2.1.3
- [d3-interpolate](https://npm.io/package/d3-interpolate.md) ^3.0.1
- [d3-scale-chromatic](https://npm.io/package/d3-scale-chromatic.md) ^3.1.0
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## Recent versions
- 8.1.3 (latest) — 2026-08-14
- 7.4.3 (v7-maintenance) — 2025-10-24
- 8.1.2 — 2026-07-22
- 8.1.1 — 2026-07-21
- 8.1.0 — 2025-09-16
- 8.0.0 — 2025-03-27
- 7.4.2 — 2025-01-24
- 7.4.1 — 2024-06-14
- 7.4.0 — 2024-05-10
- 7.3.1 — 2023-11-07
- 7.3.0 — 2023-03-01
- 7.2.0 — 2022-03-11
- 7.1.1 — 2020-09-23
- 7.1.0 — 2020-08-31
- 7.0.1 — 2020-08-18
- … 30 more at https://npm.io/package/vega-scale/versions
## README
# vega-scale
Scales and color schemes for visual encoding.
This pacakge provides [scale](#scale) and [scheme](#scheme) methods for managing scale mappings and color schemes. By default, the scale and scheme registries include all scale types and color schemes provided by the [d3-scale](https://github.com/d3/d3-scale) and [d3-scale-chromatic](https://github.com/d3/d3-scale-chromatic) modules.
This module also provides augmented implementations of `'band'`, `'point'`, and `'sequential'` scales in order to provide improved layout and inversion support for band/point scales, and multi-domain and color range array support for sequential scales.
## API Reference
#
vega.scale(type[, scale, metadata])
[<>](https://github.com/vega/vega/blob/master/packages/vega-scale/src/scales.js "Source")
Registry function for adding and accessing scale constructor functions. The *type* argument is a String indicating the name of the scale type. If the *scale* argument is not specified, this method returns the matching scale constructor in the registry, or `null` if not found. If the *scale* argument is provided, it must be a scale constructor function to add to the registry under the given *type* name.
The *metadata* argument provides additional information to guide appropriate use of scales within Vega. The *metadata* can be either a string or string array. The valid string values are:
* `"continuous"` - the scale is defined over a continuous-valued domain.
* `"discrete"` - the scale is defined over a discrete domain and range.
* `"discretizing"` - the scale discretizes a continuous domain to a discrete range.
* `"interpolating"` - the scale range is defined using a color interpolator.
* `"log"` - the scale performs a logarithmic transform of the continuous domain.
* `"temporal"` - the scale domain is defined over date-time values.
By default, the scale registry includes entries for all scale types provided by the [d3-scale](https://github.com/d3/d3-scale) module. Scales created using the constructor returned by this method have an additional `type` property indicating the scale type. All scales supporting either an `invert` or `invertExtent` method are augmented with an additional `invertRange` function that returns an array of corresponding domain values for a given interval in the scale's output range.
```js
// linear scale
var linear = vega.scale('linear');
var scale = linear().domain([0, 10]).range([0, 100]);
scale.type; // 'linear'
scale.invertRange([0, 100]); // [0, 10]
```
```js
var ordinal = vega.scale('ordinal');
// ordinal scale
var scale1 = ordinal().domain(['a', 'b', 'c']).range([0, 1, 2]);
scale1.type; // 'ordinal'
// ordinal scale with range set to the 'category20' color palette
var scale2 = ordinal().range(vega.scheme('category20'));
```
```js
var seq = vega.scale('sequential');
// sequential scale, using the plasma color palette
var scale1 = seq().interpolator(vega.scheme('plasma'));
scale1.type; // 'sequential'
```
#
vega.scheme(name[, scheme])
[<>](https://github.com/vega/vega/blob/master/packages/vega-scale/src/schemes.js "Source")
Registry function for adding and accessing color schemes. The *name* argument is a String indicating the name of the color scheme. If the *scheme* argument is not specified, this method returns the matching scheme value in the registry, or `null` if not found. If the *scheme* argument is provided, it must be a valid color array or [interpolator](https://github.com/d3/d3-scale#sequential_interpolator) to add to the registry under the given *name*.
By default, the scheme registry includes entries for all scheme types provided by the
[d3-scale-chromatic](https://github.com/d3/d3-scale-chromatic) module. Valid schemes are either arrays of color values (e.g., applicable to `'ordinal'` scales) or [interpolator](https://github.com/d3/d3-scale#sequential_interpolator) functions (e.g., applicable to `'sequential'` scales.)
#
vega.interpolate(name[, gamma])
[<>](https://github.com/vega/vega/blob/master/packages/vega-scale/src/interpolate.js "Source")
Returns the D3 interpolator factory with the given *name* and optional *gamma*. All interpolator types provided by the [d3-interpolate](https://github.com/d3/d3-interpolate) module are supported. However, Vega uses hyphenated rather than camelCase names.
```js
var rgbBasis = vega.interpolate('rgb-basis'); // d3.interpolateRgbBasis
var rgbGamma = vega.interpolate('rgb', 2.2); // d3.interpolateRgb.gamma(2.2)
```
#
vega.interpolateColors(colors[, type, gamma])
[<>](https://github.com/vega/vega/blob/master/packages/vega-scale/src/interpolate.js "Source")
Given an array of discrete *colors*, returns an interpolator function that maps the domain [0, 1] to a continuous spectrum of colors using piecewise linear interpolation. The optional parameters *type* and *gamma* specify an interpolation type (default `"rgb"`) and gamma correction (default `1`) supported by the [interpolate](#interpolate) method.
#
vega.interpolateRange(interpolator, range])
[<>](https://github.com/vega/vega/blob/master/packages/vega-scale/src/interpolate.js "Source")
Given a D3 *interpolator* instance, return a new interpolator with a modified interpolation *range*. The *range* argument should be a two element array whose entries lie in the range [0, 1]. This method is convenient for transforming the range of values over which interpolation is performed.
```js
var number = d3.interpolateNumber(0, 10);
number(0); // 0
number(0.5); // 5
number(1); // 10
var range = vega.interpolateRange(number, [0.2, 0.8]);
range(0); // 2
range(0.5); // 5
range(1); // 8
```
#
vega.quantizeInterpolator(interpolator, count])
[<>](https://github.com/vega/vega/blob/master/packages/vega-scale/src/interpolate.js "Source")
Given an *interpolator* function, returns *count* evenly-spaced samples. This method is useful for generating a discrete color scheme from a continuous color interpolator.
---
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