PCS 7 Block Icon EMF Color Modification: Step-by-Step Guide

Overview: PCS 7 Block Icon Color Modification

SIMATIC PCS 7 ships with a default library of block icons for valves, motors, pumps, conveyors, and other process equipment. Operators read the icon color to interpret the state of the underlying S7 block: de-energised, energised, fault, interlock active, maintenance bypass, or out of service. Many end customers require a color palette that differs from the Siemens default — for example, red on energised, green on de-energised, and a red/yellow flash on error — to align with corporate HSE (Health, Safety, Environment) or ISA-101.01-2015 HMI guidelines.

Since the release of PCS 7 V7.1 with the Advanced Process Library (APL), the block icons are no longer flat two-color .emf files. They are layered, 3D look-and-feel .emf (Enhanced Metafile) graphics generated in Microsoft Visio and shipped from the APL Style Guide (Section 6.4.7). The runtime swaps the color of named object slots inside the .emf as the process state changes. This guide documents the procedure for modifying the color palette of these icons in PCS 7 V8.x while preserving the 3D shading, the named-slot binding, and the faceplate wiring. The same procedure is valid through V9.x with minor palette refreshes in the most recent versions.

Background: Why PCS 7 V7.1+ Block Icons Use a Layered EMF Structure

Pre-V7.1 PCS 7 block icons were flat, single-layer .emf files. Editing them in any vector editor (CorelDRAW, Inkscape, Microsoft Office) was trivial: change a fill color, save the file under a new name, and the WinCC Graphics Designer rendered the new color at runtime. The file format was a simple two-record meta-structure (header plus a list of drawing records) and did not embed named object slots.

Starting with V7.1, the APL switched to 3D-styled block icons generated from Microsoft Visio masters. The result is an .emf file that contains:

• An outer transparent or white cover rectangle that defines the icon's bounding region on the canvas.
• One or more color-graded rectangles that provide the 3D shading (highlight, midtone, shadow).
• The actual process symbol outline (valve body, motor housing, pump impeller, conveyor belt) drawn as a separate vector group on top of the graded rectangles.
• Named object slots — Background_On, Background_Off, Background_Fault, Light_On, Light_Off, Border — whose fill color is swapped by the WinCC runtime according to the block's VALUE and QUALITY tags.

When a vector editor saves a new .emf without preserving this structure, it flattens the layer order, exposes the inner graded rectangles, and the operator sees "rectangles outside the shape of the valve". In some cases the named slots are stripped, so even a correctly colored icon fails to swap at runtime. The fix is to use an editor that preserves both the group order and the named slots, or to use the WinCC Graphics Designer export path which was specifically designed to round-trip the structure.

EMF Layer Stack — Reference Diagram

Prerequisites and Engineering Station Setup

Confirm the following on the engineering station before starting the procedure:

• SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.0 or later installed. This guide targets V8.x; V9.x uses the same .emf structure but adds a few new block types and refreshed palette RGB values.
• WinCC Graphics Designer licensed and functional within the PCS 7 Engineering Toolset. Verify by opening WinCC Explorer and confirming the Graphics Designer editor starts without license errors.
• Microsoft Visio 2010 or later (Standard or Professional edition) — required to author and re-author the layered .emf structure while preserving the named slots. Visio 2016/2019/2021 are also supported.
• Optional: Microsoft PowerPoint 2007/2010/2013/2016/365 for quick edits of simple icons (background-color swap only, with the caveats listed in Procedure C).
• Administrator rights on the engineering station so the files in the PCS 7 library paths can be modified.
• The original .emf of the icon to be modified, copied to a working folder. Never edit files in place inside the installed library — this prevents lock conflicts with WinCC and keeps the original available for rollback.
• The Siemens document "Creating User-defined Block Icons with SIMATIC PCS 7" open for reference. This is the canonical Siemens procedure and should be followed alongside this article.

Procedure A — Microsoft Visio (Authoritative Method)

1. Locate the original icon. In the WinCC Graphics Designer, open the faceplate or library picture that contains the block icon. Right-click the icon and select Links... to identify the source .emf path.
2. Copy the .emf to a working folder. The path may be inside the APL block icon library, for example %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\PCS7\Library\APL_BlockIcons\VALVE_ANALOG.emf (exact path varies by PCS 7 version and language).
3. Open the .emf in Microsoft Visio. Visio recognizes the layered structure and presents each color group as a separate shape on its own page or sub-page.
4. Open the Drawing Explorer window (View > Drawing Explorer). Locate the shape group named Background_On. Select it; the corresponding rectangle is highlighted on the canvas.
5. Change the fill to the project-specific energised color. With the shape selected, open Format > Fill. Enter the RGB value for the new color. For a traffic-light red: R=192 G=0 B=0. For darker corporate red: R=160 G=0 B=0.
6. Repeat for Background_Off with the project-specific de-energised color, e.g. R=0 G=176 B=80 (green) or R=0 G=128 B=0 (darker green).
7. For the fault state, edit Background_Fault. If the new specification is a red/yellow flash, leave the two gradient stops as red and yellow — the runtime animation will cycle them at 1 Hz. If the specification is a single solid fault color, set both gradient stops to the same value.
8. Save the file as .emf using File > Save As > Enhanced Metafile (*.emf). Confirm the dialog: do not use "Compressed EMF" (.emz) or "Windows Metafile" (.wmf) — both strip the named-slot table.
9. Verify in Windows Explorer: right-click the new file, view the size, and confirm the Windows thumbnail renders the icon with the new colors and the same 3D shading as the original.

Procedure B — WinCC Graphics Designer (Round-Trip Safe)

If Visio is not available on the engineering station, the WinCC Graphics Designer itself can edit and re-export an icon while keeping the runtime binding intact. This is the recommended method when only the WinCC toolset is licensed.

1. Open WinCC Graphics Designer on the engineering station.
2. Create a new picture of size 200 × 200 pixels (a typical block icon footprint). Set the picture background to a contrasting color (e.g. gray) so any unexpected transparent areas are immediately visible.
3. Insert the original .emf via the Smart Object > Graphics > Import menu. Position the icon centered in the picture.
4. Double-click the icon to open its internal editor. The internal editor exposes the same color-graded rectangles seen in Visio, with a property panel for each named slot.
5. Select the Background_On rectangle. In the Properties dialog (right-click > Properties > Colors > Background Color), assign the project-specific energised color. The Siemens reference "Creating User-defined Block Icons with SIMATIC PCS 7" uses the same Properties > Colors > Background Color path to assign a gray color to a pump's light circle — apply the same procedure to each named slot.
6. Repeat for Background_Off and Background_Fault.
7. Select all graphic elements of the icon (Ctrl+A within the internal editor).
8. Use File > Export to save the modified icon as a new .emf file in the working folder.
9. Close the internal editor. The original .emf on the canvas is now updated in memory. Save the WinCC picture (File > Save As) for the change to persist in the project.

This method is the safest because the WinCC export path was specifically designed to round-trip the named-slot structure of APL icons. The only constraint is that you must have a valid WinCC runtime license active on the engineering station — otherwise Graphics Designer will start in read-only mode.

Procedure C — Microsoft PowerPoint (Static Icons Only)

PowerPoint is acceptable only for cosmetic single-color swaps where the 3D shading is not required and the icon does not need to swap colors at runtime. The PowerPoint export drops some of the object metadata, so use this method only when the icon is fully static.

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint 2007/2010/2013/2016/365.
2. Insert the original .emf via Insert > Picture > This Device.
3. Right-click the picture and choose Picture Format > Group > Ungroup. Confirm the conversion to Microsoft Office drawing objects when prompted.
4. Select the fill of the element to recolor. Apply the new color from the Drawing Tools > Format tab (Shape Fill).
5. Select the entire icon, right-click and choose Save as Picture. From the type dropdown, select Enhanced Windows Metafile (*.emf) or SVG (use EMF for PCS 7 compatibility).

Method Selection Flowchart

Integrating the Modified Icon into the PCS 7 Faceplate and OS

After the .emf is generated and verified, it must be wired into the faceplate of the block. The recommended approach is to copy the original .emf to a new name in the same library folder and update the faceplate link, never to overwrite the original. PCS 7 will not lock a file with a different name, and the original remains available for rollback or for other libraries that reference the standard icon.

1. Browse to the APL block icon library. Typical path on the engineering station: %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\PCS7\Library\APL_BlockIcons\ (path varies by PCS 7 version and language).
2. Identify the original .emf for the icon being recolored, e.g. VALVE_ANALOG.emf.
3. Save the modified icon with a project-specific name, e.g. VALVE_ANALOG_PRJ_REDGREEN.emf. The convention PRJ_<color scheme> is recommended so that the suffix is searchable across the library.
4. Open the master faceplate library of the project (for example @APL_Faceplate_V8.pdl) in WinCC Graphics Designer.
5. Open the VALVE faceplate and locate the icon placeholder. Right-click the existing icon and select Link....
6. Change the link target to the new .emf file. The faceplate is now pointing at the recolored version. Save the faceplate.
7. Repeat for every faceplate that uses the icon. A typical PCS 7 plant may have several variants (analog, motor with VFD, valve with two feedbacks, etc.) — each must be relinked separately because each faceplate has its own link to its own .emf.
8. Compile the OS. Use WinCC Explorer > OS Project Editor > Compile OS. This regenerates the runtime database and makes the new icons available to the OS server.
9. Download the project to the OS server. Activate the runtime to verify the change.

If multiple faceplates across the project need to use the recolored icon, consider placing the new .emf in a project-specific library folder (e.g. Library\Project_Palette\) and configuring the Graphics Designer search path to include it. This avoids polluting the global APL block icon library and makes the project palette portable when the project is migrated or handed over to operations.

Verification and Acceptance Testing

After the OS has been compiled and downloaded, the recolored icon must be exercised in runtime to confirm all three color states (de-energised, energised, fault) are correct and that the named-slot binding is preserved. Follow the verification table below on a test OS before promoting the change to production.

For formal acceptance, document each test with a screenshot from the OS runtime. Store the screenshots in the project's validation folder and link them from the project's HMI style guide.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Color Standards, Version Notes, and Operational Guidance

Many operating companies mandate non-default colors to align with internal HSE or ISA-101.01-2015 HMI guidelines. Common project conventions include:

• Red on energised, green on de-energised (inverse of PCS 7 default; aligned with traffic-light intuition).
• Red/yellow flash for interlock-active state (rate 1 Hz, 50% duty cycle).
• Gray for "out of service" or "maintenance bypass".
• Blue for "manual mode" or "operator override".

When defining a project-specific color standard, capture the following in a project style document:

• RGB or HEX value of every state color (de-energised, energised, fault, out-of-service, manual).
• Flash rate (Hz) and duty cycle (%) for fault states.
• List of all block types that require a recolored icon (VALVE, MOTOR, PUMP, CONVEYOR, etc.).
• Library path and naming convention for project-specific .emf files.
• OS compile and download procedure, including any cache invalidation step.
• Rollback procedure in case the new icon set fails acceptance testing.

Version-specific items worth noting for this procedure:

• V7.1 to V8.0: Introduction of the layered Visio-based .emf structure. Pre-V7.1 icons used simple two-color files and are not affected by the layer flattening issue.
• V8.1: Additional block types (e.g. MOT_SPEED with VFD indicator) shipped with the layered structure. Editing them follows the same procedure.
• V9.0: The default APL palette was refreshed; the RGB values cited in this article are the V8.0 defaults. If migrating from V8 to V9, validate the new RGB values before reusing the project color map.
• V9.1: Introduced the optional "Modern Style" block icons with a flat (non-3D) design. These use the same named-slot structure and the same editing procedure.

Block icon color modifications are not safety-relevant, but they affect operator response time and alarm interpretation. Best practice dictates the following operational items:

• Validate the modified icon set on a test OS before deploying to a production OS.
• Train operators on the new color semantics; document the change in the operator HMI manual.
• Retain the original Siemens .emf files for rollback and for reuse in future projects.
• Log the modification in the project's change-management system, including the RGB values and the OS compile date.
• After every OS major upgrade, re-validate that the project .emf files are still compatible with the new APL block icon set.

Frequently Asked Questions