Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Manual (Page 128)

121 USING PHOTOSHOP CS4
Color fundamentals
Last updated 1/10/2010
Display the Color Picker
• In the toolbox, click the foreground or background color selection box.
• In the Color panel, click the Set Foreground Color or Set Background Color selection box.
The Color Picker is also available when features let you choose a color. For example, by clicking the color swatch in
the options bar for some tools, or the eyedroppers in some color adjustment dialog boxes.
Choose a color with the Adobe Color Picker
You can choose a color by entering color component values in HSB, RGB, and Lab text boxes, or by using the color
slider and the color field.
To choose a color with the color slider and color field, click in the color slider or move the color slider triangle to set
one color component. Then move the circular marker or click in the color field. This sets the other two color
components.
As you adjust the color using the color field and color slider, the numeric values for the different color models adjust
accordingly. The rectangle to the right of the color slider displays the new color in the top half and the original color
in the bottom. Alerts appear if the color is not a web-safe color
or is out of gamut .
You can choose a color outside the Adobe Color Picker window. Moving the pointer over the document window
changes it to the Eyedropper tool. You can then select a color by clicking in the image. The selected color is displayed
in the Adobe Color Picker. You can move the Eyedropper tool anywhere on your desktop by clicking in the image and then
holding down the mouse button. You can select a color by releasing the mouse button.
Choose a color using the HSB model
Using the HSB color model, the hue is specified in the color field, as an angle from 0° to 360° that corresponds to a
location on the color wheel. Saturation and brightness are specified as percentages. In the color field, the hue saturation
increases from left to right and the brightness increases from the bottom to top.
1 In the Adobe Color Picker, select the H option and then enter a numeric value in the H text box or select a hue in
the color slider.
2 Adjust the saturation and brightness by clicking in the color field, moving the circular maker, or entering numeric
values in the S and B text boxes.
3 (Optional) Select either the S option or B option to display the color’s saturation or brightness in the color field for
making further adjustments.
Choose a color using the RGB model
Choose a color by specifying its red, green, and blue components.
1 In the Adobe Color Picker, enter numeric values in the R, G, and B text boxes. Specify component values from 0 to
255 (0 is no color, and 255 is the pure color).
2 To visually select a color using the color slider and color field, click either R, G, or B and then adjust the slider and
color field.
The color you click appears in the color slider with 0 (none of that color) at the bottom and 255 (maximum amount
of that color) at the top. The color field displays the range of the other two components, one on the horizontal axis and
one on the vertical axis.