diff --git a/Tools/ColorMap.hs b/Tools/ColorMap.hs
--- a/Tools/ColorMap.hs
+++ b/Tools/ColorMap.hs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 -- other than internal consistency.
 module Tools.ColorMap (
   ColorMap,
-  defaultColorMap,
+  prepareColorMap,
   cycleColor,
   computeColor)
 where
@@ -14,16 +14,26 @@
 import Data.Colour
 import Data.Colour.SRGB
 import Data.Colour.Names
+import Data.Maybe
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as S
 import qualified Data.Map as M
 
-data (Show b, Eq b, Ord b, Floating b) => ColorMap b = ColorMap {
-  colorMap :: M.Map S.ByteString (RGB b), -- ^ Current map from arbitrary strings to color descriptions
-  colorWheel :: [RGB b]             -- ^ Next colors for assigning to as yet unknown names
+
+data ColorMap = ColorMap {
+  colorMaps :: M.Map S.ByteString ColorMap1 -- ^ Color scheme id -> Color map
+}
+
+data ColorMap1 = ColorMap1 {
+  colorMap :: M.Map S.ByteString (RGB Double), -- ^ Current map from arbitrary strings to color descriptions
+  colorWheel :: [RGB Double]             -- ^ Next colors for assigning to as yet unknown names
   } deriving (Eq, Show)
   
+prepareColorMap :: [(S.ByteString, [S.ByteString])] -> ColorMap
+prepareColorMap ms = ColorMap $ M.fromList $ (S.pack "", defaultColorMap):
+  [(scheme, ColorMap1 M.empty $ cycle $ map (fromJust . readColor) colorNames) | (scheme, colorNames) <- ms]
+
 -- | Starts with empty names-colors map and mid-range grey
-defaultColorMap = ColorMap M.empty defaultColorWheel
+defaultColorMap = ColorMap1 M.empty defaultColorWheel
 
 defaultColorWheel = map toSRGB [green, blue, red, brown, orange, magenta, grey, purple, violet, lightblue, crimson, burlywood] ++ map nextColor defaultColorWheel
 
@@ -55,28 +65,33 @@
 readColor' cs = toSRGB `fmap` readColourName cs
     
     
+cycleColor :: ColorMap
+              -> S.ByteString 
+              -> (RGB Double,ColorMap)
+cycleColor (ColorMap map) name = case M.lookup scheme map of
+    Nothing -> cycleColor (ColorMap map) S.empty -- Use default color scheme then.
+    Just m  -> let (res, m') = cycleColor1 m subColor in (res, ColorMap $ M.insert scheme m' map)
+  where
+    (scheme, subColor) = case S.uncons name of
+      -- /scheme/color
+      Just ('/', name') -> S.break (=='/') name'
+      _                 -> (S.empty, name)
+
 -- | Compute the color associated to a given name, providing an updated map with
 -- possibly new colors in the cycle.
-cycleColor :: (RealFrac b, Show b, Eq b, Ord b, Floating b) => 
-              ColorMap b
+cycleColor1 :: ColorMap1
               -> S.ByteString 
-              -> (RGB b,ColorMap b)
-cycleColor map name = case M.lookup name (colorMap map) of
+              -> (RGB Double, ColorMap1)
+cycleColor1 map name = case M.lookup name (colorMap map) of
   Just c  -> (c, map)
   Nothing -> (next, augment map (name,next) wheel')
   where
     (next:wheel') = colorWheel map
   
 
-nextColor :: (RealFrac b, Floating b) => 
-             RGB b -> 
-             RGB b
+nextColor :: RGB Double -> RGB Double
 nextColor (RGB r g b) = RGB (r+7) (g+17) (b+23)
     
-augment :: (Show b, Eq b, Ord b, Floating b) => 
-             ColorMap b -> 
-             (S.ByteString, RGB b) -> 
-             [RGB b] ->
-             ColorMap b
-augment map (name,col) wheel = ColorMap (M.insert name col (colorMap map)) wheel
+augment :: ColorMap1 -> (S.ByteString, RGB Double) -> [RGB Double] -> ColorMap1
+augment map (name,col) wheel = ColorMap1 (M.insert name col (colorMap map)) wheel
   
diff --git a/Tools/SPlotMain.hs b/Tools/SPlotMain.hs
--- a/Tools/SPlotMain.hs
+++ b/Tools/SPlotMain.hs
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 import Data.Maybe(fromMaybe,isNothing)
 import Data.Ord(comparing)
 
+import Data.List (tails)
+
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as S
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Char8 as B
 
@@ -30,7 +32,7 @@
     "             [-tf TIMEFORMAT] [-sort SORT] [-expire EXPIRE]",
     "             [-fromTime TIME] [-toTime TIME] [-numTracks NUMTRACKS]",
     "             [-tickInterval TICKINTERVAL] [-largeTickFreq N]",
-    "             [-stream true]",
+    "             [-stream true] [-colorscheme SCHEME COLORS]...",
     "  -if INFILE    - filename from where to read the trace.",
     "                  If omitted or '-', read from stdin.",
     "  -o PNGFILE    - filename to which the output will be written in PNG format.",
@@ -62,12 +64,18 @@
     "                  Note that you better also indicate -fromTime, -toTime and -numTracks,",
     "                  otherwise the data will be re-scanned once per each of these properties",
     "                  that is not indicated.",
+    "  -colorscheme SCHEME COLORS - declare a color scheme (see note about colors at the end).",
+    "                  SCHEME is an arbitrary string, e.g.: 'pale' or 'bright'.",
+    "                  COLORS is a space-separated list of colors in SVG or hex, e.g. ",
+    "                  'red green #0000FF'. You may specify multiple -colorscheme arguments.",
     "",
     "Input is read from stdin. Example input (speaks for itself):",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:09,431 >foo green",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:09,541 >bar green",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:10,631 >foo yellow",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:10,725 >foo #ff0000",
+    "2010-10-21 16:45:10,755 >foo /pale/THREAD25",
+    "2010-10-21 16:45:10,775 >bar /bright/THREAD37",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:10,836 !foo black Some text",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:10,930 >bar blue",
     "2010-10-21 16:45:11,322 <foo",
@@ -84,7 +92,18 @@
     "",
     "Note that COLOR may be an hexadecimal RGB specification (like '#4B3AF7'), ",
     " a color name (see SVG 1.1 specifications) or an arbitrary token in which ",
-    " case splot will generate a new color for each different token"
+    " case splot will generate a new color for each different token.",
+    "COLOR may also have the form '/SCHEME/TOKEN', in which case the colors for ",
+    " tokens are cycled within colors specified by --colorscheme for SCHEME.",
+    "For example, if you have two types of threads in your program and you want them", 
+    " to be colored differently but do not want to assign colors to each thread ",
+    " individually, you can use colors named like /pale/THREADID and /bright/THREADID",
+    " and specify --colorscheme bright 'red green blue orange yellow' --colorscheme pale ",
+    " 'lightgray lightblue pink'.",
+    "If you use an unspecified color scheme, or don't specify a color scheme at all, ",
+    " the tool resorts to using a default scheme, which consists of a sequence of",
+    " contrast and bright colors.",
+    "" 
     ]
 
 main = do
@@ -114,11 +133,13 @@
   let readInput = if inputFile == "-" then B.getContents else B.readFile inputFile
   let readEvents = (map (parse parseTime . pruneLF) . B.lines) `fmap` readInput
   
+  let colorMaps = [(S.pack scheme, map S.pack (words wheel)) | ("-colorscheme":scheme:wheel:_) <- tails args ] 
+
   when (streaming && (inputFile == "-"))  $ error "In streaming mode (-stream true) you MUST use an actual filename in '-if'"
   when (streaming && (isNothing fromTime || isNothing toTime || isNothing forcedNumTracks)) $ do
     putStrLn "Warning: without all of -fromTime, -toTime, -numTracks, input will be scanned an extra time"
 
-  pic <- renderEvents (RenderConf barHeight tickIntervalMs largeTickFreq expireTimeMs cmpTracks phantomColor fromTime toTime forcedNumTracks streaming) readEvents
+  pic <- renderEvents (RenderConf barHeight tickIntervalMs largeTickFreq expireTimeMs cmpTracks phantomColor fromTime toTime forcedNumTracks streaming colorMaps) readEvents
   case outPNG of
     "" -> renderableToWindow pic w h
     f  -> const () `fmap` renderableToPNGFile pic w h outPNG
diff --git a/Tools/StatePlot.hs b/Tools/StatePlot.hs
--- a/Tools/StatePlot.hs
+++ b/Tools/StatePlot.hs
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@
         fromTime :: Maybe LocalTime,
         toTime :: Maybe LocalTime,
         forcedNumTracks :: Maybe Int,
-        streaming :: Bool
+        streaming :: Bool,
+        colorWheels :: [(S.ByteString, [S.ByteString])]
     }
 
 data TickSize = LargeTick | SmallTick
@@ -190,7 +191,7 @@
       let fillRect   !x1 !y1 !x2 !y2 = C.rectangle x1 y1 (x2-x1) (y2-y1) >> C.fill
       let strokeLine !x1 !y1 !x2 !y2 = C.moveTo x1 y1 >> C.lineTo x2 y2 >> C.stroke
 
-      let getColor :: S.ByteString -> RenderState (ColorMap Double) (RGB Double)
+      let getColor :: S.ByteString -> RenderState ColorMap (RGB Double)
           getColor c = do {
             map <- ST.get
           ; let (color, map') = computeColor map c
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@
           ; return color
           }
 
-      let drawGlyph :: Int -> OutputGlyph -> RenderState (ColorMap Double) ()
+      let drawGlyph :: Int -> OutputGlyph -> RenderState ColorMap ()
           drawGlyph !i (Bar !ms1 !ms2 !color)
             | drawGlyphsNotBars = return () 
             | otherwise = getColor color >>= \(RGB r g b) -> liftR $ c $ do {
@@ -245,5 +246,5 @@
       setLineStyle $ solidLine 1 (opaque black)
       mapM_ drawTick ticks
 
-      let colorMap = defaultColorMap
-      evalStateT (runRenderState $ genGlyphs time2ms rangeMs es drawGlyphsNotBars drawGlyph) defaultColorMap
+      let colorMap = prepareColorMap (colorWheels conf)
+      evalStateT (runRenderState $ genGlyphs time2ms rangeMs es drawGlyphsNotBars drawGlyph) colorMap
diff --git a/splot.cabal b/splot.cabal
--- a/splot.cabal
+++ b/splot.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name: splot
-Version: 0.2.9
+Version: 0.3.0
 License: BSD3
 License-file: LICENSE
 Copyright: Eugene Kirpichov, 2010