Using Color Sets

Corel Painter uses color sets to organize groups of colors. Some color sets are organized by both name and color relationship.

Corel Painter provides several color sets-Corel Painter Colors, Mac OS and Windows system palettes, and the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® are a few. Only one color set can be open at a time, but you can easily load a different set.

The Color Sets palette.

To display the Color Sets palette

• Choose Window menu > Show Color Sets.

To choose a color from a color set

• On the Color Sets palette, click a color.

To open a different color set

1. On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow or the Library Access button , and choose Open Color Set.
2. In the Select Color dialog box, choose a color set and click Open.

You can set a default color set in the Preferences dialog box. For more information, refer to "Setting Preferences".

To save a color set

1. On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow or the Library Access button, and choose Save Color Set.
2. In the Enter Color Set Name dialog box, choose where you want to save the file.
3. Type a name for the color set in the File Name box.
4. Click Save.

Finding Colors in a Color Set

There are two ways to find a particular color in a color set. You can search for the color by name or have Corel Painter find the color that comes closest to matching the current color.

To find a color

1. On the Color Sets palette, do one of the following:

• Click the Find Color button .
• Click the palette menu arrow, and choose Find Swatch.

2. In the Find Color dialog box, do one of the following:

• Enable the By Name option, and type a name in the box.
• Enable Closest to Current Color.

3. Click Begin.
4. Click OK when the desired color is found.

If the color set is visible, Corel Painter surrounds the found color with a selection frame.

If you search for a color by name, but a color with that name is not found, the OK button is not available (grayed out).

Customizing Color Set Layouts

You can arrange colors in a color set in a variety of ways. You can sort by hue, luminance, and saturation; determine the size of color swatches; decide whether to have grid lines; and indicate whether the colors in the set are named. You can change a color set until it's exactly the way you want it.

To change how colors are sorted

1. On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow and choose Sort Order.
2. Choose one of the following options:

• Saved - sorts colors in the order they were originally entered.
• HLS - sorts colors by hue, luminance, and saturation.
• LHS - sorts colors by luminance, hue, and saturation.
• SHL - sorts colors by saturation, hue, and luminance.

To adjust color swatch size

1. On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow, and choose Swatch Size.
2. Do one of the following:

• Choose a pixel value.
• Choose Customize.

3. If you choose Customize, move the Width and Height sliders in the Customize dialog box, or type values in the Width and Height boxes.

To turn the grid on or off

• On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow, and choose Show Grid to toggle the display of the grid on and off.

Turning the grid off eliminates lines between colors. You can see more colors, but the separations between colors are not as distinct as when the grid is on.

To turn color names on or off

• Click the palette menu arrow, and choose Display Name to toggle the display of color names on or off.

Creating Color Sets

You can create your own color sets to control the colors in particular projects or to create groups of favorite painting colors. Creating clearly named color sets can be very useful. For example, you could call a color set Shades of Purple, Hero Image, My Crayons, or Rollover Buttons-all offering you easy access to recognizable color sets.

You can create color sets from:

• the Color pickers on the Colors palette
• an image
• a selection on an image
• a layer
• the Mixer palette

Before you create a new color set, you may be prompted to save the current color set. For more information, see "To save a color set".

To create a new color set using the Color pickers

1. On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow, and choose New Empty Color Set.
2. On the Colors palettes, choose a color from the standard or small Color picker.
3. On the Color Sets palette, click the Add Color to Color Set button .

• For information about adding colors to a color set, see "Editing Color Sets".
• For more information about selecting colors, refer to "Using the Color Pickers".

To create a color set from an image, selection, layer, or the Mixer palette

• On the Color Sets palette, click the palette menu arrow or the Library Access button , and choose one of the following:

• New Color Set from Image - This option is available only if you have an image open. A color set appears, containing all the colors in the image.
• New Color Set from Layer - This option is available only if an active layer is selected in your image. A color set appears, containing all the colors in the active layer.
• New Color Set from Selection - This option is active only if you have an active selection on your image. A color set appears, containing all the colors in the selected area of the image.
• New Color Set from Mixer - A color set appears, containing all of the colors used in the Mixer palette.

• When working on Web pages, you can keep the number of colors used in an image (and subsequent image size) low by creating a color set and using only colors in that set.

Editing Color Sets

You can customize color sets by adding, deleting, or replacing colors. You can also name or rename individual colors in a color set.

Naming colors in a color set can be useful. You can then search for a color by name or annotate the colors you use, right in the document window. For more information on searching for a color, refer to "Finding Colors in a Color Set". For more information about annotating colors, refer to "Annotating Colors".

To add a color

1. Choose the color you want to add from the Colors palette, from a color set, or from an existing image.
2. On the Color Sets palette, click the Add Color to Color Set button .

The color is added to the current color set.

3. If you like, double-click the color swatch to enter a name for the color.

You can change the name later by double-clicking on the swatch again and entering a new name.

4. Repeat this procedure for all the colors you want to add.

• Because Corel Painter closes the current color set before displaying a new one, if you want to add a color from an existing color set, select the color in the existing color set before you open the destination set.

To delete a color

1. Choose Window menu > Show Color Sets.
2. On the Color Sets palette, click the Delete Color from Color Set button .
3. In the warning dialog box, click Yes.

Corel Painter deletes the chosen color from the color set window.

To replace a color

1. Choose the color you want to add from the Colors palette, from a color set, or from an existing image.
2. Hold down Command (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows), and click the color you want to replace.

The new color replaces the old one in the color set.

To name or rename a color

1. Choose Window menu > Show Color Sets.
2. Double-click a color swatch on the Color Sets palette.
3. Type a color name in the Set Color Name dialog box.

Color names can be up to 31 characters long.