What is ColorSieve? It is compact utility that will display the color information for a pixel on the screen. There have been many utilities in the past that perform this function. I've tried to take the best features of them all and put them all together in a more modern version.
ColorSieve is requires System 7.1 or greater to run. The application is 'FAT', which means that it takes advantage of the speed increase for the PowerPC machines while still running on the older 68K machines.
ColorSieve is Emailware. If you like it, drop me a line at markwomack@aol.com and let me know!
You are free to post ColorSieve to any online service, BBS, or Internet newsgroup as long as it is accompanied with the following files: this readme, TSM Fix 1.02, and the TSM Fix readme.
Getting Started
Before launching ColorSieve you should place the 'TSM Fix 1.02' file in your extensions folder and restart your computer. There is a bug in System 7 where sometimes Text Service windows (the type of window used for ColorSieve) don't recognize mouse clicks inside of them. The TSM Fix extension fixes this problem.
Next you can launch the ColorSieve application. ColorSieve will launch and you'll see the 'Sieve' floating window appear. As you move the cursor around, the bit display area will display the area of the screen immediately around the cursor. The circle in the center of this area is on top of the pixel who's color information is being displayed directly below.
The color information is displayed under the bit area. As you move the cursor around, the color information is updated for the pixel the cursor is directly over.
Features
The first feature you should know about is the Sieve floating window itself. When you first launch ColorSieve, the Sieve window appears. You can now switch to other applications and the Sieve window will stay front most, floating above all the other application windows. This way you can always see what the cursor is over without having to place the window somewhere where you can see it.
Next, you can change the size of the bit display area by clicking on it. As you click, it will grow in size. There are 4 predetermined sizes and once you are at the largest size, ColorSieve will 'wrap around' back to the smallest size on the next click. If you hold down the Option key while clicking in this area, the size will be decreased.
You can also make changes in the color information area. Clicking in the color information area toggles the color model used to display the color information. The default model is Red/Green/Blue (RGB), however other color models supported are: Hue/Saturation/Lightness (HSL), Hue/Saturation/Value (HSV), and Cyan/Magenta/Yellow (CMY). Clicking while the option key is down toggles backwards through the available color models.
Clicking in the color information area with the command key down changes the method the color values are displayed. The default method displays the values as percentages, however there is also support for displaying in raw decimal and hexadecimal values.
At anytime can copy the values displayed in the color information to the clipboard. Pressing Control-Command-C copies them to the clipboard in the current color model and value display method. You can then paste the information into the application of your choice.
There is some simple online help from the Apple/Help… menu item inside the ColorSieve application. It graphically represents the information presented above.
To quit ColorSieve you can use the File/Quit menu item or at anytime close the Sieve floating window. When you quit, the current settings for the Sieve window (location, size, color model, value method) are automatically saved to a preference file. So, the next time you start ColorSieve it will have the same settings.
Advanced Features
In order to take advantage of these advanced features, you will need a copy of ResEdit (available from APDA) or Resourcerer (available from Mathemœsthetics, Inc.). I eventually want to make these more accessible, but for 1.0 this is good enough. I recommend that you make a copy of your ColorSieve application before making any modifications to it. That way you'll have a correct version if everything goes wrong.
You can modify the format of the color values when they get copied to the clipboard. If you open the ColorSieve application using ResEdit or Resourcerer you will find STR# resource 500. Inside this resource are the strings that the values are substituted into and the resulting string is then placed into the clipboard. The first string is used for the RGB model, the next the HSL model, the next the HSV model, and finally the CMY model. You can modify these string to anything you like. There are only 2 rules. First, do not delete any strings; there must be 4 strings or ColorSieve will get confused. Second, in order for the value to be properly substituted you must put the '^X' symbols (where the X stands for the value you want to appear) in the string. For example, if I want the red value to appear in the string, I place the symbol '^R' inside it. It must be uppercase. If you forget to put in the symbols correctly then the values will not appear in the string that gets copied to the clipboard. The strings that come as default with ColorSieve are good examples. Be sure to save your changes and quit the resource editor when you are done.
You can modify the key that copies the color values to the clipboard. Open the ColorSieve application using ResEdit or Resourcerer. Looks for a KEYS resource 128. Open it. The editor will display 8 radio boxes and a place to enter a character. Set the radio boxes to be the modifier keys you want to activate the command. 1 means the key needs to be down, 0 means the key should be up. Then enter the lowercase version of the character that you want to activate the command. It must be the lowercase version or the key will not work. The default key is Control-Command-c. Be sure to save your changes and quit the resource edito
