**Legend** is the key that explains your drawings on paper: which colour is the diversion, which area is closed to traffic. You edit it in the editor, then switch it on when you export.

## When you need this

Use it when the PDF goes to people who will not open the live plan: a municipality inbox, a contractor, a printer. A colour on the map means nothing to them without the key.

Skip it for signs. The legend never lists traffic signs. They stay in the **Materials list**. Skip it too when you send a **Sharable link**.

## Open **Items**

Click **Items** in the right strip (the list icon). The panel has collapsible sections:

- **PDF legend** — the key for your lines, areas, GPX routes and selected map data.
- **Traffic signs** — counts of placed signs, including bulk placements and combination boards.
- **Post symbols** — appears when the plan has controller-post items.

Click a section heading to fold or expand it. Sign and post counts describe the whole plan, including content outside export maps or on hidden layers. Different combination-board appearances are counted separately; equivalent saved boards stay grouped.

The PDF legend also covers the whole plan. Sign counts are an on-screen overview; signs stay in the **Materials list** rather than becoming PDF-legend entries.

## What goes in by itself

Lines and areas you draw go in automatically. The legend groups them by colour and, for lines, by arrow direction:

- Two blue lines are one entry: **Line blue**.
- A blue line with arrows is its own entry: **Line blue · Forward arrows** (or **Backward arrows**).
- Rectangles, circles, and shapes are **Area** entries, for example **Area blue**.
- An imported GPX route is a **GPX route** entry.

Default labels use the type and a readable colour name in the app language. Other colours use their preset name, or **custom color** followed by the colour code. Existing labels you wrote are retained. Rename each entry with **Legend label for** that item, for example **Diversion route** or **Closed to traffic**. That is the text the reader sees.

Map data you turned on in the map layers does not go in by itself. Add it with **Add item**.

## Empty legend

When the list is empty the panel says **Your legend is empty**, followed by one of:

- **Draw a line or area, import a GPX route, or enable map data to start your legend.** There is nothing to list yet.
- **3 plan items are available to add.** (the count the app prints). Click **Add item**.

## Title, layout, and quantities

In **Items** → **PDF legend**, click the gear marked **PDF settings**. It expands the legend section and reveals these controls. Click the gear again to hide the settings.

| Control | What it does |
|---------|--------------|
| **Title** | Heading on the legend page. Placeholder **Legend**. Max 120 characters. |
| **Layout** | **Automatic**, **One column**, or **Two columns**. **Automatic** uses one column for up to ten entries and two columns above that. |
| **Show quantities** | Off by default on traffic plans. When on, each entry shows how many times it is used. |

## Add, reorder, and remove entries

**Add item** opens **Add to legend**: **Choose something that is already used in this plan.**

1. Filter with **Search plan items…**, or use the section chips starting with **All**.
2. Pick an item. **Back to legend** returns without adding.
3. **Done** closes the picker.

No match: **No matching plan items found.** Nothing left to add: **Everything in this plan is already in the legend.**

Entries are grouped under **Lines and routes**, **Areas**, and **Map data**. Drag an entry by **Reorder legend entry**. Remove one with the button named after the entry, for example **Remove Diversion route from the legend**. Removing an entry only changes the key. The drawing stays on the map.

## Include it in the PDF

1. Click **Export** in the header, then **Continue to export**.
2. In the export sidebar, turn on **Include legend**. It sits right under **Map pages**.
3. Draw at least one export map if you want map pages, and set its **Paper size**.
4. Click **Export now**.

**Include legend** is off until you turn it on. If it is on and the list is empty, the sidebar says **There are no legend entries to export. Add entries or select another export document.**

The legend pages come after the map pages and before the **Materials list**. They use the same paper size as the map and materials pages, so the pack prints as one set.

![Exported traffic plan PDF: the legend page listing each line and area with its colour](https://hel1.your-objectstorage.com/traffic-chart-tutorials/helpcenter/en/traffic-plans/legend/02-pdf-legend-page.png)

You can also send the legend without map pages. Turn **Map pages** off, keep **Include legend** on, and export.

## Who can change it

Viewers on a **Sharable link** or a read-only plan see the legend but cannot edit its entries, title or layout. The same goes for a plan that is locked for review or approved.

They can choose **Include legend** in their export, even if the saved plan did not have it switched on. That choice affects their download only and does not save changes to the original legend. For a legend-only traffic PDF, switch **Map pages** off and keep **Include legend** on. There must be at least one included legend entry.

## What good looks like

- Every colour on the map has an entry with a plain-language label, not a colour code.
- **Title** names the works, or stays **Legend**.
- **Layout** is **Two columns** only when the list is long enough to need it.
- **Include legend** is on for the export you send, and you opened the PDF to check the key against the map.

## If something blocks you

| Situation | What to try |
|-----------|-------------|
| **Your legend is empty** | Draw a line or area first: [Drawing and measuring](/hc/test/articles/drawing-and-measuring) |
| A sign is missing from the legend | That is by design. Signs are counted in the [Materials list](/hc/test/articles/materials-and-post-orders) |
| **There are no legend entries to export.** | Add an entry, or turn **Include legend** off |
| The PDF has no legend page | Turn on **Include legend** in the export sidebar and export again |
| You cannot edit the legend | The plan is read-only or locked: [I can’t open or edit a plan](/hc/test/articles/cannot-edit-plan) |

## Related articles

- [Export and print traffic plans](/hc/test/articles/export-and-print)
- [Drawing and measuring](/hc/test/articles/drawing-and-measuring)
- [Materials list and post orders](/hc/test/articles/materials-and-post-orders)
- [Event plan legend](/hc/test/articles/event-plan-legend)
- [Export labels and progress messages](/hc/test/articles/export-labels-reference)