ptg colors & blending modes IN THIS CHAPTER Choosing colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185 Using the Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . .186 Choosing colors from a library . . . . .187 Using the Color panel . . . . . . . . . . .188 Using the Swatches panel . . . . . . . .189 Using the Eyedropper tool . . . . . . . .191 Copying colors as hexadecimals . . . .191 Choosing a blending mode . . . . . . . .192 11 In the rst part of this chapter, you’ll learn how to choose the colors that are applied with various tools and commands. e second part of this chapter is a reference guide to the blending modes, which are available for tools, layers, and commands. In other chapters, you’ll learn how colors are actually applied. Choosing colors e current Fore ground color is applied by some tools, such as the Brush, Pencil, and Mixer Brush. It is also applied when you create type, and by some commands, such as Canvas Size. e current Background color is applied by other procedures, such as when you apply a transform command to, or move a selection on, the Background. One or both of these colors are also used by some of the Photoshop lters. ese two colors are displayed in the Foreground and Back ground color squares on the Tools panel A and on the Color panel. B (Written with an uppercase “F” or “B,” these terms refer to the two colors, not to the foreground or back ground areas of a picture.) On the following pages, you will choose Fore ground and Background colors via these methods: ➤ Use the controls in the Color Picker dialog or in the onscreen color picker. ➤ Choose a premixed color from a matching system via the Color Libraries dialog. ➤ Use the controls on the Color panel. ➤ Click a swatch on the Swatches panel. ➤ Pluck a color from an image with the Eyedropper tool. F o r e g r o u n d color square e S w i t c h C o l o r s button (X) swaps the current Foreground and Background colors. B a c k g r o u n d color square e D e f a u l t F o r e g r o u n d a n d Background Colors button (D) makes the Foreground color black and the Background color white. A e s e c o l o r c o n t r o l s are on the Tools panel. B a c k g r o u n d c o l o r s q u a r e F o r e g r o u n d c o l o r s q u a r e B Use the Color panel to mix colors. Color ramp e c u r r e n t l y s e l e c t e d square has a black border. ptg 186 Chapter 11 Using the Color Picker To choose a color using the Color Picker: 1. Do either of the following: On the Tools panel, click the Foreground or Background color square. On the Color panel, click the Foreground or Back ground color square if it’s already selected (has a black border), or double-click the square if it’s not yet selected. Note: If the square you click contains a custom color from a matching system, the Color Libraries dialog will open instead of the picker. Click the Picker button to get to the Color Picker dialog. 2. Do one of the following: Click a color on the vertical color slider or drag the slider to choose a hue, then click a bright- ness and saturation value of that hue in the large square. A (You can also click or drag in the docu- ment while the Color Picker dialog is open.) To mix a process color for print output, enter C, M, Y, and K percentages for that color from a printed fan deck for a color matching system (you can use the scrubby sliders). For onscreen output, enter R, G, and B values (0 to 255). In the # eld, enter the number for a hexadeci- mal color. 3. Click OK. e color will appear in the Foreground or Background color square on the Tools and Color panels. To preserve the color by adding it to the Swatches panel, see page 189. ➤ To change the color picker interface, go to Edit/ Photoshop > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K) > General, then from the Color Picker menu, choose either Windows/Apple (the picker for your system) or Adobe (the default Photoshop picker). ➤ You can also enter numbers in the H, S, and B or L, a, and b elds in the Color Picker. For an explanation of HSB, see the sidebar on page 188. ➤ Because modern computer video systems display millions of colors, you don’t need to restrict yourself to Web-safe colors for Web graphics. Ignore the non-Web-safe icon if it appears in the Color Picker, and keep Only Web Colors unchecked. To learn about the out-of-gamut icon, which also may display on the Color Picker, see the last tip on page 188. USING THE HUD COLOR PICKER ★ ➤ To access color picker controls quickly without opening that dialog, choose a tool that uses colors, Alt-Shift-right-click/Cmd-Option-Control-click in the image to display the picker, drag to choose a hue from the hue bar or wheel, then drag to choose a bright- ness and saturation value in the large square. If you want to change the hue without changing the current brightness and saturation values, when the picker displays, release the keys but keep the mouse button down, hold down the Spacebar and drag to the hue bar or wheel, release the Spacebar, then drag to the desired hue (practice, practice). ➤ The default interface for the HUD color picker is Hue Strip (shown below). From the HUD Color Picker menu in Edit/Photoshop > Preferences > General, you can choose a different wheel or strip design and size. A Click a hue on the color slider or drag the slider, then click a color in the large square… … o r e n t e r p e r c e n t a g e s in the elds for one of the color models. Brightness Saturation ptg Colors & Blending Modes 187 Choosing colors from a library To help you pick colors from the many libraries and color matching systems that are accessible in Photoshop, such as PANTONE and FOCOLTONE, you can purchase and refer to a printed fan guide from a third-party supplier. For Web publishing or small- scale desktop printing, you don’t need to do this, but it is imperative that you do so for commercial print- ing. If you pick colors willy-nilly based on whether they look appealing onscreen, you may be in for a surprise when you see the printed result, because even when carefully calibrated, a display can only simulate CMYK colors. Before choosing specic colors in Photoshop for print output, the rst step is to ask your commercial printer which brand of ink they’re planning to use. Get the printed fan guide for that system, and ip through it to decide which colors you’re going to use. To access those colors in Photoshop, use the Color Libraries dialog, as described below. To choose a color from a library: 1. Do either of the following: On the Tools panel, click the Foreground or Background color square. On the Color panel, click the Foreground or Back ground color square if it’s already selected (has a black border), or double-click the square if it’s not yet selected. 2. If the color square you clicked isn’t a custom color, the Color Picker dialog will open. Click Color Libraries to get to the Color Libraries dialog. 3. From the Book menu, choose the matching system that your commercial printer has recom- mended you use. A 4. Do either of the following: Without clicking anywhere, type the number that is assigned to the desired color (refer to your fan guide); that swatch will become selected. Click a color on the vertical color slider, then click the desired swatch on the left side of the dialog. B 5. Click OK. To add the color to the Swatches panel, see page 189. ➤ To load a library of matching system colors onto the Swatches panel, see the second task on page 190. COLOR LIBRARIES FOR PRINT OUTPUT ➤ ANPA colors are used in the newspaper industry. ➤ DIC Color Guide and TOYO Color Finder colors are used in Japan. ➤ FOCOLTONE is a process color system that was devel- oped to help prevent registration problems. It can be used in North America. ➤ HKS process colors and HKS spot colors (without “Process” in the name) are used primarily in Europe. ➤ PANTONE process colors and PANTONE spot colors (without “Process” in the name) are widely used in North America. ➤ TRUMATCH is a process color system, organized in a different way from PANTONE. It is used worldwide. SPOT OR PROCESS? By default, when color-separating an image for print- ing, Photoshop separates all colors — both process and spot — into the C, M, Y, and K process colors. If you want to output a spot color to a separate plate from Photoshop, you have to create a separate spot color channel for it (see page 352). B Another option is to click a color on the vertical color slider, then click a swatch on the scroll list. A Choose a matching system from the Book menu, then type a number (without click- ing anywhere rst). ptg 188 Chapter 11 Using the Color panel For Web output, another option is to mix RGB or HSB colors directly on the Color panel by using the color ramp, sliders, or elds. To choose an RGB or HSB color using the Color panel: 1. Click the Foreground or Background color square on the Color panel, if the desired square isn’t already selected. A 2. From the top of the Color panel menu, choose a color model for the sliders. B For Web output, choose RGB Sliders or HSB Sliders (hue, satura- tion, and brightness). For output to an inkjet printer, choose RGB Sliders. 3. Do any of the following: C Move any of the sliders. Click on or drag in the color ramp. Enter values in the elds. 4. Optional: To add the new color to the Swatches panel, see the instructions on the next page. ➤ To choose a dierent style for the color ramp, right-click the color ramp. ➤ Alt-click/Option-click the color ramp to choose a color for whichever color square (Foreground or Background) isn’t currently selected. ➤ If Dynamic Color Sliders is checked in Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K) > General, colors in the bars above the sliders will update interactively as you mix or choose a color. ➤ An out-of-gamut alert icon on the Color Picker or Color panel indicates that the current color isn’t printable (has no ink equivalent). If you click the icon, Photoshop will substitute the closest printable color, as shown in the swatch next to or below the icon. Note that when your image is converted to CMYK mode or printed on an inkjet device, all the image colors are brought into the printable gamut anyway, so you really don’t have to worry about converting any colors individually. e out-of- gamut range is dened by the CMYK output prole, which is chosen via the Working Spaces: CMYK menu in Edit > Color Settings. Similarly, if the color currently under the pointer is out- side the printable gamut, exclamation points will display on the Info panel. A Click the Foreground or Background color square. C Click in the color ramp or move any of the sliders. B Choose a model for the sliders. To learn about these options, see page 191. C h o o s e a s t y l e f o r the color ramp. HSB AND RGB DEMYSTIFIED ➤ In the HSB model, the hue (H) is the wavelength of light that a color is named for (such as “red” or “blue”); brightness (B) is the relative lightness of a color; and saturation (S) is the purity of a color (how much gray it contains). ➤ In the RGB model, white (the presence of all colors) is produced when all the sliders are at the far right (at 255), black (the absence of all colors) is produced when all the sliders are at the far left (0), and gray is produced when all the sliders are aligned vertically with one another at any other location. ptg Colors & Blending Modes 189 Using the Swatches panel Note: For easy access, detach the Swatches panel from the Color panel group by dragging its tab. To choose a color from the Swatches panel: 1. Display the Swatches panel. 2. Do either of the following: To choose a Foreground or Background color if that color square is selected on the Tools and Color panels, click a swatch. To choose a Foreground or Background color if that color square isn’t selected on the Tools and Color panels, Ctrl-click/Cmd-click a swatch. ➤ To access other libraries of swatches, see “To replace or append a library of swatches” on the next page. ➤ To access a wide assortment of process color swatches, use the Kuler panel. See page 115. Colors that you add to the Swatches panel will remain there until the swatches are deleted, replaced, or reset, and are available for use in all documents. (To save swatches as a permanent library, see “To save the current swatches as a library” on the next page.) To add a color to the Swatches panel: 1. Mix or choose a Foreground color by using the Color panel or the Color Picker. 2. On the Swatches panel, do either of the following: Click the blank area below the swatches on the panel (paint bucket pointer), A–B or right-click any existing swatch and choose New Swatch. Name the swatch in the dialog, then click OK. To create a new swatch without assigning it a name, click the New Swatch of Foreground Color button at the bottom of the Swatches panel. Regardless of the method used, the new swatch will be displayed (or listed) last on the panel. ➤ To rename a swatch, double-click it, change the name, then click OK. To learn a swatch name, either use the tool tip or choose Small List or Large List from the panel menu. To delete a color from the Swatches panel: Alt-click/Option-click the swatch to be deleted (scissors pointer); or right-click a swatch and choose Delete Swatch, then click OK. C You can’t undo the deletion of a swatch. C Alt-click/Option-click a swatch to delete it. B e n e w s w a t c h a p p e a r s o n t h e p a n e l . A To add a color to the Swatches panel, click the blank area below the swatches. ptg 190 Chapter 11 If you save the current swatches as a permanent library, you’ll be able to load that library onto the Swatches panel at any time for use in any document. To save the current swatches as a library: 1. Make sure all the colors you want to save in the new library are on the Swatches panel, then choose Save Swatches from the panel menu. 2. In the File Name/Save As eld, enter a name for the library (keep the .aco extension and the default location), then click Save. ➤ In the Mac OS, the default location for storing swatches is Users/[user name]/ Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS5/Presets/Color Swatches. ➤ To replace an existing user-created library, after following step 1 above, click the existing library in the scroll window, click Save, then click Replace in the alert dialog. ➤ If the library you want to load isn’t in the default location, from the Swatches panel menu, choose Load Swatches. Locate and click the desired library, then click Load. You can load any user-created library or any of the preset swatch libraries that ship with Photoshop into the Swatches panel. You can either replace the existing swatches with the new ones or add the additional swatches to the existing ones on the panel. To replace or append a library of swatches: 1. From the lower portion of the Swatches panel menu, choose the desired library name. 2. Do either of the following: Click Append to add the new library of swatches to the current ones. Click OK to replace the current swatches with the new ones. A prompt may appear, giving you the option to save the existing swatches on the panel as a library. A ➤ If you want to use your current swatches in another Creative Suite application, save them via the Save Swatches for Exchange command on the Swatches panel menu. ➤ If you do interior design work, you may already know that some paint companies let you download swatches from their website (such as on benjaminmoore.com, under Select an Option > Architects and Designers > Color Direction, click Download Color Palettes). Install the les in the default location for stor- ing swatches (Macintosh users, see the rst tip at left), relaunch Photoshop, then load them from the Swatches panel menu. ➤ e Paint Color Swatches library is new. ★ To restore the default swatches: Choose Reset Swatches from the Swatches panel menu, then click OK. A prompt may appear, oering you the option to save the existing swatches as a library. A i s p r o m p t w i l l a p p e a r i n t h e M a c O S i f t h e S w a t c h e s panel contains unsaved swatches and you try to replace them. (In Windows, the buttons are Yes, No, and Cancel.) DESIGNING FOR THE COLOR-BLIND At some point in your career, you may be hired to design graphics, such as signage, that are fully acces- sible to color-blind viewers. In fact, some countries require graphics in public spaces to comply with the Color Universal Design (CUD) guidelines. The View > Proof Setup > Color Blindness – Protanopia-Type and Color Blindness – Deuteranopia-Type commands in Photoshop simulate how your document will look to viewers with common forms of color blindness. In case you’re not familiar with those two terms, for a protanope, the brightness of red, orange, and yellow is dimmed, making it hard for such a person to distinguish red from black or dark gray. Protanopes also have trouble distinguishing violet, lavender, and purple from blue because the reddish components of those colors look dimmed. Deuteranopes are unable to distinguish between colors in the green-yellow-red part of the spectrum and experience color blindness similar to that of protanopes, without the problem of dimming. For color and design suggestions, search for “Soft-proof for color blindness” in Photoshop Help. . . . . . . .192 11 In the rst part of this chapter, you’ll learn how to choose the colors that are applied with various tools and commands. e second part of this chapter is a reference. to Edit/ Photoshop > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K) > General, then from the Color Picker menu, choose either Windows/Apple (the picker for your system) or Adobe (the default Photoshop. color matching systems that are accessible in Photoshop, such as PANTONE and FOCOLTONE, you can purchase and refer to a printed fan guide from a third-party supplier. For Web publishing or small- scale