Adobe PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Manual page 84

CHAPTER 3
76
Working with Color
As you drag the eyedropper tool, the foreground
color selection box changes dynamically. Alt-drag
(Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) to activate
the background color selection box. Release the
mouse button to pick the new color.
To use the eyedropper tool temporarily while
using most painting tools, hold down Alt
(Windows) or Option (Mac OS).
Using the Swatches palette
You can choose a foreground or background color
from the Swatches palette, or you can add or delete
colors to create a custom swatch library. You can
also save a library of swatches and reload them for
use in another image. Although you can add many
colors to the Swatches palette, you should manage
its size and organization. You can load, save, and
manage libraries of swatches using the Preset
Manager. (See "Working with presets" on
page 35.)
To display the Swatches palette:
Choose Window > Show Swatches, or click the
Swatches palette tab.
To select a foreground or background color:
Do one of the following:
To choose a foreground color, click a color in the
•
Swatches palette.
To choose a background color, Alt-click
•
(Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) a color in
the Swatches palette.
To add a color to the Swatches palette:
Use the eyedropper tool (
1
Color Picker to select the color you want to add.
(See "Using the Adobe Color Picker" on page 77.)
Position the pointer over an empty space in the
2
bottom row of the Swatches palette (the pointer
turns into the paint bucket tool), and click to add
the color. Or choose New Swatch from the
Swatches palette menu.
Enter a name for the new color and click OK.
3
To delete a color in the Swatches palette:
Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click
(Mac OS) a color in the Swatches palette.
Managing swatches
The Swatches palette can hold many swatches.
Creating libraries of swatches can help you group
related or special swatches and manage palette
size. The Adobe Photoshop Elements program
folder includes files containing various swatch
libraries. When you create custom libraries, saving
them to the same folder allows your libraries to be
automatically displayed in the palette menu.
To save and use custom swatch sets:
Choose one of the following commands from the
Swatches palette menu:
Select the name of a swatch library to load it.
•
Reset Swatches to return to the default swatches
•
palette. You can also replace the current swatch
library.
Load Swatches to add swatches stored in a file to
•
the palette.
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