{"id":27020,"date":"2017-09-22T13:08:06","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T17:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/?p=27020"},"modified":"2017-09-05T09:08:46","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T13:08:46","slug":"learn-to-use-the-color-picker-put-some-color-in-your-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/learn-to-use-the-color-picker-put-some-color-in-your-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn to Use the Color Picker: Put Some Color in Your Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re over 40, you probably remember the point in <i>The Wizard of Oz<\/i> where the movie switches from black-and-white to Technicolor (and if not, go see it!). It wasn\u2019t the first color film, but the vibrant images of Dorothy\u2019s ruby slippers, the yellow brick road, and the Emerald City helped make the movie an instant classic.<\/p>\n<p>On the Mac, whenever you want to fill a drawing with color, colorize some text, or format spreadsheet cells in color, you need to use the Colors window, more generally called the color picker. Like many long-standing elements of the Mac experience, most people have seen and used it, but don\u2019t realize how much it can do. How you bring it up varies by app but usually entails clicking a color button associated with styles or formats.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-1080x353.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-1080x353.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-300x98.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-768x251.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-1080x353.jpg 1080w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"335\" data-attachment-id=\"5219\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/learn-to-use-the-color-picker-put-some-color-in-your-mac\/color-picker-all-pickers\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2318,758\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Color-Picker-all-pickers\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-300x98.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-1080x353.jpg\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/335;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Colors window has three sections: buttons for the color pickers at the top, their individual controls in the middle, and the color wells at the bottom. Click the buttons at the top to switch between these pickers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Color Wheel:<\/b> This picker is useful for exploring a wide range of colors. Don\u2019t miss the brightness slider at the bottom, which changes the colors in the wheel above.<\/li>\n<li><b>Color Sliders:<\/b> Use these sliders to replicate specific grayscale brightnesses or RGB, CMYK, or HSB color by number. Or, you can find a color with another picker and then look up its exact values here. Desktop publishers use this feature a lot. When matching colors with outside sources, click the gear button to choose the appropriate industry standard color palette before picking a color.<\/li>\n<li><b>Color Palettes:<\/b> This picker shows color swatches from different custom palettes. Use the gear button to make, add, rename, and delete palettes. (Find them in ~\/Library\/Colors.) The utility of these palettes is that you can share your own color collections, enabling coworkers to use identical colors easily, or even download and import palettes for different uses, such as land-use categories for maps.<\/li>\n<li><b>Image Palettes:<\/b> Click the gear here to load a new image, after which you can select any color in that image by clicking it.<\/li>\n<li><b>Pencils:<\/b> They used to be crayons, but then Apple got sophisticated. Or stopped licensing the names from Crayola.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Within each color picker, it\u2019s usually obvious how to select different colors. Click the wheel, move the sliders, enter cyan-magenta-yellow-black percentages, and so on. The selected color, which will be applied to your drawing or text, appears in the large square color well at the bottom left.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is one other extremely useful way to select a color: the eyedropper. Find it in the bottom portion of the Color window, and click it to see a circular loupe that magnifies anything under it. Move the loupe until the single pixel in the middle is over the color you want, and then click. If you press the Space bar while the loupe is showing, the loupe displays the RGB values of that pixel.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper.jpg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper-1080x834.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper.jpg 1397w\" alt=\"\" width=\"521\" height=\"402\" data-attachment-id=\"5221\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/learn-to-use-the-color-picker-put-some-color-in-your-mac\/color-picker-eyedropper\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1397,1079\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Color-Picker-eyedropper\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper-300x232.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-eyedropper.jpg\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 521px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 521\/402;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>What are those little squares to the right of the eyedropper? That area is called the swatch drawer, and it\u2019s where you store particular color swatches that you want to use repeatedly. Just drag the color from the color well to the left into a swatch square. You can even pick a color swatch up and move it around, so you can arrange your swatches in a way that you\u2019ll remember. Swatches you store here become available in all Mac apps, so it\u2019s a great way to ensure you\u2019re using the same colors everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>To remove a swatch, drag it to the right of the swatch squares and let go just inside the right edge of the Colors window (if this doesn\u2019t work, expand the window to the right as much as possible before another column of squares appears, then try again).<\/p>\n<p>By default, you see 20 swatch squares in 2 rows, but the swatch drawer has room for 230 swatches! Expand just the drawer vertically by dragging the tiny round dot at the bottom, or expand the entire window vertically or horizontally by dragging any edge or corner.<\/p>\n<p>Now that we\u2019ve looked into the heart of the color picker to provide you more knowledge, we hope you\u2019ll find the courage to use colors more confidently in your everyday Mac work!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b>Twitter:<\/b> Have you found the macOS color picker confusing? Here\u2019s what you need to know to find, set, and share colors.<\/p>\n<p><b>Facebook:<\/b> Who knew the macOS color picker could do so much? Here\u2019s how to use it to find, set, and share colors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wpematico_credit\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re over 40, you probably remember the point in The Wizard of Oz where the movie switches from black-and-white to Technicolor (and if not, go see it!). It wasn\u2019t the first color film, but the vibrant images of Dorothy\u2019s ruby slippers, the yellow brick road, and the Emerald City helped make the movie an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[66,39,293,294,61,5,60,196,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-blog","category-color","category-color-picker","category-customization","category-mac","category-productivity","category-restricted-content","category-solution"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Color-Picker-all-pickers-1080x353.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YLEm-71O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32147,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/disable-big-surs-translucent-menu-bar\/","url_meta":{"origin":27020,"position":0},"title":"Not a Fan of Big Sur\u2019s Translucent Menu Bar? Here\u2019s How to Disable It","author":"computeradv","date":"May 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple went back to a design direction from the earliest days of Mac OS X: a translucent menu bar. Since its color changes depending on the desktop picture, many people aren\u2019t enamored of it (left, below). Luckily, reverting to the traditional opaque menu bar is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;accessibility&quot;","block_context":{"text":"accessibility","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/accessibility\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/not-a-fan-of-big-surs-translucent-menu-bar-heres-how-to-disable-it.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/not-a-fan-of-big-surs-translucent-menu-bar-heres-how-to-disable-it.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/not-a-fan-of-big-surs-translucent-menu-bar-heres-how-to-disable-it.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/not-a-fan-of-big-surs-translucent-menu-bar-heres-how-to-disable-it.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/not-a-fan-of-big-surs-translucent-menu-bar-heres-how-to-disable-it.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30454,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/heres-how-to-mark-up-photos-and-screenshots-with-text-and-graphics-in-ios-13\/","url_meta":{"origin":27020,"position":1},"title":"Here\u2019s How to Mark Up Photos and Screenshots with Text and Graphics in iOS 13","author":"computeradv","date":"February 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever needed to circle an item on an expense receipt, add some text to a photo, or sign a PDF\u2026on your iPhone or iPad? iOS 13\u2019s Markup tools are surprisingly capable\u2014learn more about what they can do I this article.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/heres-how-to-mark-up-photos-and-screenshots-with-text-and-graphics-in-ios-13.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/heres-how-to-mark-up-photos-and-screenshots-with-text-and-graphics-in-ios-13.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/heres-how-to-mark-up-photos-and-screenshots-with-text-and-graphics-in-ios-13.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/heres-how-to-mark-up-photos-and-screenshots-with-text-and-graphics-in-ios-13.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/heres-how-to-mark-up-photos-and-screenshots-with-text-and-graphics-in-ios-13.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1662,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/what-different-graphics-formats-are-good-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":27020,"position":2},"title":"What Different Graphics Formats Are Good For","author":"computeradv","date":"August 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The alphabet soup of graphics formats\u2014GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF\u2014can be tremendously confusing. If you\u2019ve ever wondered which format is best for a particular use, read this post on our blog for an explanation.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The best graphic formats","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/graphics-formats-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/graphics-formats-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/graphics-formats-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/graphics-formats-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/graphics-formats-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27466,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/looking-for-more-image-editing-power-than-photos-can-provide\/","url_meta":{"origin":27020,"position":3},"title":"Looking for More Image Editing Power than Photos Can Provide?","author":"computeradv","date":"January 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Apple significantly enhanced the editing capabilities of Photos, adding tools for adjusting specific colors, fine-tuning color and contrast via curves, and even focusing an image with vignetting. But it still lacks many features found in other image editors, including applying a filter to an arbitrary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple Pros&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple Pros","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/apple-pros\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Photos-choose-editor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Photos-choose-editor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Photos-choose-editor.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Photos-choose-editor.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30171,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/apple-releases-redesigned-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr\/","url_meta":{"origin":27020,"position":4},"title":"Apple Releases Redesigned Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR","author":"computeradv","date":"December 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019re a creative professional who needs the ultimate in performance and display capabilities, Apple\u2019s latest pro hardware will give you the power to build your best. Coming Soon!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/apple-releases-redesigned-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/apple-releases-redesigned-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/apple-releases-redesigned-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/apple-releases-redesigned-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/apple-releases-redesigned-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28213,"url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/use-continuity-camera-to-scan-documents-and-take-photos-right-into-mac-documents\/","url_meta":{"origin":27020,"position":5},"title":"Use Continuity Camera to Scan Documents and Take Photos Right into Mac Documents","author":"computeradv","date":"October 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you found yourself composing an email message on your Mac while staring glumly at the receipt or document you need to scan and attach to the message? Adding that scan to the message isn\u2019t impossible, but until macOS 10.14 Mojave, it hasn\u2019t necessarily been easy. It\u2019s super simple now,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Apple Pros&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Apple Pros","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/apple-pros\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Continuity-Camera-on-Desktop.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}