A legend is the key to understanding what the symbols mean on a map. It takes the form of a list containing color-coded symbols and their descriptions. You will most often find it positioned near the edge of or in a corner of a printed map, and it is sometimes accompanied by a scale bar (see Adding a Scale Bar to Represent Map Scale). A map shows real-world boundaries, artifacts, and features and any data associated with these that you wish to show. It generalizes this information to make it easier to understand the information being shown.
After designing your map presentation, you will want to design a legend to help your readers understand what they are looking at. The following example shows a map with two legends: one for map symbols and one for the ranged theme.
This map layout includes a legend for the map symbols of points and stars, and a legend for the ranged theme of color-coded style swatches.
Legends in MapInfo Pro are displayed in a Legend Designer window. You can create a legend for an individual layer, giving it particular emphasis, or you can place legends for several layers in one Legend Designer window (see About the Legend Designer Window). You can add map legends to a map layout when you are preparing the presentation of your map for print or electronic distribution.