Converting ArcGIS raster colormap file (*.clr) to QGIS style file (*.qml)

Question

I have an ArcGIS colormap (*.clr) and I want to open it in QGIS to apply a predefined style.

The *.clr file is really simple, only has four columns representing [value] [red] [green] [blue], as this example:

19 161 161 161
21 152 181 129
22 114 168 144
23 124 142 173

Is there a way to read these columns and convert them in a QGIS style file (*.qml)?

Answer 1

Nice answer from @whyzar! You could load .clr files into QGIS and then save it as a .qml file. As described in this post, the standard text format is:

Value R G B Alpha Label

So in your case, you could create a text file with:

19,161,161,161,255,19
21,152,181,129,255,21
22,114,168,144,255,22
23,124,142,173,255,23

And load it from the menu:

You can then edit and save the style as a .qml.

---

From @Stefan's comment, I've included some quick code which reformats the input text file in a way that QGIS can read it (hopefully!):

main_path = 'path/to/directory/'
with open(main_path + 'infile.txt') as infile, open(main_path + 'outfile.txt', 'w') as outfile:
    for line in infile:
        value = line.split(' ')[0]
        line = line.replace(' ', ',').rstrip('\n') + ',255,' + value + '\n'
        outfile.write(line)

Answer 2

I haven't yet to find a clean cut way to do this. I have come across different resources that can offer option to work with in attempting to achieve what you are interested in.

Converting/using ArcGIS *.style file for/in QGIS (QML or SLD)?

The style file might be for ARCGIS users. It is not in a human readable format.

QGIS uses XML-files to store styling properties, so you have no luck with just renaming the extension.

I am not aware of any ESRI-to-QGIS style converter.

and also an alternative

Another option might be to save the style as a .lyr file. Then use http://wald.intevation.org/projects/arcmap2sld/ to convert the .lyr file to an SLD and then use that SLD within QGIS

In QGIS, right click on the layer > properties > load style then use the drop down box to select SLD