PTotD

Tip #45. The color picker is the two larger squares, usually black and white, that are at the bottom of the tool panel. If you have changed your colors, you can reset to black and white by clicking on the mini set of squares just above the larger set. The top left layer is our foreground color and the lower one on the right is the background color. To switch between foreground and background, click on the curved, double ended arrow that is to the right of the mini squares. Or, just press the shortcut key ‘X’. If you click on the foreground square, you can change the foreground color. That’s the one you usually change. A pop up window will appear, with a rainbow-like stripe, next to a square that’s more detailed. Click on the stripe to select your general color and then click in the square to pick the shade or tint that’s exactly what you want. Or, you can enter specific numbers for Red Green and Blue, or CMYK, or the color chart you happen to have. You can also save a ‘perfect’ color as a swatch. You know how I am about naming things… If you move your cursor off the window, it will turn into an eyedropper. Using that, you can take a sample of the color that’s at the tip of the eyedropper. If you accidentally click in an area of color that you don’t want, it’s OK. You can take as many samples as you need to before you click on OK.