Grabbing Colors with the Colors Pane

March 6th, 2008 at 2:00 PM - Tips by Jeff Gamet

Sometimes the color you want to work with just doesnit seem to be in Appleis Colors pane, but you can find it in a digital image you have. No problem. The Colors pane will let you grab a color from anything you see on your display.

Hereis how:

• Open the Colors pane. Most applications let you access it from a Format menu option. In Text Edit, for example, choose Format > Font > Show Colors.
• Click the magnifying glass next to the current color swatch at the top of the pane.

Position the magnifying glass over the color you want to sample.

• Move the magnifying glass over the color you want, and then click to select it. As long as the color is visible on your display you can select it.

I use this trick when I want to select a specific color from an image for use in a different document, or to use as a complementary color in the project I plan on using the image in. Itis also handy when you need to use a specific color, but donit know what the exact color values are.

<!--#include virtual="/includes/newsite/series/quicktip.shtml"-->