Using the Color palette

The Color palette displays the color values for the current foreground and background colors. Using the sliders in the Color palette, you can edit the foreground and background colors according to several different color models. You can also choose a foreground or background color from the spectrum of colors displayed in the color ramp at the bottom of the palette.

The Color palette may display the following alerts when you select a color:

• In Photoshop, an exclamation point inside a triangle appears above the left side of the color ramp when you choose a color that cannot be printed using CMYK inks. For more information, see Identifying out-of-gamut colors (Photoshop).
• A cube appears above the left side of the color ramp when you choose a color that is not Web-safe. For more information, see Using Web-safe colors.

To display the Color palette:

Choose Window > Color, or click the Color palette tab.

To change the color model of the color sliders:

Choose a Sliders option from the Color palette menu. For more information on the different color models, see About color modes and models (Photoshop).

To change the spectrum displayed in the color ramp:

1. Choose an option from the Color palette menu:
• RGB Spectrum, CMYK Spectrum (Photoshop), or Grayscale Ramp to display the spectrum of the specified color model.
• Current Colors to display the spectrum of colors between the current foreground color and the current background color.
2. To display only Web-safe colors, choose Make Ramp Web Safe. (See Using Web-safe colors.)

To change the spectrum of the color ramp quickly, Shift-click in the color ramp until you see the spectrum you want.

To select the foreground or background color:

1. To edit the foreground or background color, make sure that its color selection box is active (outlined in black). To make the foreground or background color selection box active, click the box.
2. Do one of the following:
• Drag the color sliders. By default, the slider colors change as you drag. In Photoshop, you can turn off this feature to improve performance by deselecting Dynamic Color Sliders in the General section of the Preferences dialog box.
• Enter values next to the color sliders.
• Click the color selection box, choose a color using the color picker, and click OK.
• Position the pointer over the color ramp (the pointer becomes the eyedropper), and click to sample a color. Alt-click to apply the sample to the non-active color selection box.