Scale numbers to be <= 255?

Question

I have cells for whom the numeric value can be anything between 0 and Integer.MAX_VALUE. I would like to color code these cells correspondingly.

If the val

Answer 1

The linear implementation is discussed in most of these answers, and Artelius' answer seems to be the best. But the best formula would depend on what you are trying to achieve and the distribution of your values. Without knowing that it is difficult to give an ideal answer.

But just to illustrate, any of these might be the best for you:

• Linear distribution, each mapping onto a range which is 1/266th of the overall range.
• Logarithmic distribution (skewed towards low values) which will highlight the differences in the lower magnitudes and diminish differences in the higher magnitudes
• Reverse logarithmic distribution (skewed towards high values) which will highlight differences in the higher magnitudes and diminish differences in the lower magnitudes.
• Normal distribution of incidence of colours, where each colour appears the same number of times as every other colour.

Again, you need to determine what you are trying to achieve & what the data will be used for. If you have been tasked to build this then I would strongly recommend you get this clarified to ensure that it is as useful as possible - and to avoid having to redevelop it later on.