ArcGIS Help 10.1 - Fundamentals of setting the colors of a graph

The color of the data values for each series in a graph can be set in several ways using the Color control in the graph properties. The options are Match with Layer, Palette, and Custom.

Match with Layer—Applies the color symbology of the layer from which the graph is derived. Since no symbology is applied to tabular data, Match with Layer is only available for spatial datasets. It is also the default method for spatial datasets.
Custom—A single color will be applied to all the data values. The color can be either chosen from a color picker or defined by value from one of several color models. This is the default method used for tabular data not obtained from a spatial data layer.
Palette—Applies color to values based on several predefined indexes.

Note:

If there is more than one series in the graph, the legend will only represent the series that have the Color setting of Custom. If it is set to Palette or Match with Layer, no symbology is displayed.

Matching the colors to the layer

The default type for most graphs is Match with Layer, where the colors of the symbology used for the layer will also be applied to the graph.

If the layer is displayed with a single symbol renderer, all of the values in the graph will be displayed using the same color.

Appropriate feature symbologies

Not every symbology renderer in ArcGIS is appropriate to use as a source for the graph's colors.

Renderers that will work for feature data

Category	Type
Features	Single symbol
Categories	Unique values Unique values, many fields Match to symbols in a style
Quantities	Graduated colors Graduated symbols

Category	Type
Quantities	Proportional symbols Dot density
Charts	Pie Bar/Column Stacked
Multiple Attributes	Quantity by category

Custom

The Custom option will apply a single color to all the values. When this option is selected, a color picker button will appear. Clicking it will open a selection of colors to choose from.

Choose More Colors if you want to explicitly define your own color to use. Click the Color Model Picker button of the Color Selector to use a different color model (RGB, CMYK, HSV, or Advanced).

Palettes

The Palette option provides several predefined palettes from which the colors for the graph will be drawn. This is most useful when creating graphs from a table, since you cannot apply any symbology to tables.

The colors will automatically wrap if there are more values to graph than colors in the palette.