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•(ImageReady) Drag the foreground color selection box or the background color selection box from the toolbox to the Swatches palette.
•(ImageReady) Drag a swatch from the Color Table palette to the Swatches palette.
Note: New colors are saved in the Preferences file so that they persist between editing sessions. To permanently save a color, save it in a library.
To duplicate a color in the Swatches palette (ImageReady):
Select the color you want to duplicate, and choose New Swatch from the Swatches palette menu.
To delete a color from the Swatches palette:
Do one of the following:
•Drag a swatch to the Trash button 
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•(Photoshop) Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), position the pointer over a swatch (the pointer turns into scissors), and click.
•(ImageReady) Select a swatch, and choose Delete Swatch from the Swatches palette menu.
To save a set of swatches as a library:
1Choose Save Swatches from the Swatches palette menu.
2Choose a location for the swatch library, enter a filename, and click Save.
You can save the library anywhere. However, if you place the library file in the Presets/ Swatches folder inside the Photoshop program folder, the library name will appear at the bottom of the Swatches palette menu after you restart the application.
To return to the default library of swatches:
Choose Reset Swatches from the Swatches palette menu. You can either replace the current list or append the default library to the current list.
Using the Adobe Color Picker
You can use the Adobe Color Picker to select the foreground or background color by choosing from a color spectrum or by defining colors numerically. In addition, you can select colors based on the HSB, RGB, Lab, and CMYK color models, choose to use only Web-safe colors, and choose from several custom color systems. For more information, see “About color modes and models (Photoshop)” on page 86. By default, the program uses the Adobe Color Picker.
To display the Adobe Color Picker:
Do one of the following:
•Click the foreground or background color selection box in the toolbox.
•Click the active color selection box in the Color palette.
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Specifying a color using the color field and color slider
With the HSB, RGB, and Lab color modes, you can use the color field and the color slider in the Color Picker dialog box to select a color. The color slider displays the range of color levels available for the selected color component (for example, R, G, or B). The color field displays the range for the remaining two components—one on the horizontal axis, one on the vertical.
For example, if the current color is black and you click the red component (R) using the RGB color model, the color slider displays the range of color for red (0 is at the bottom of the slider and 255 is at the top). The color field displays the values for blue along its horizontal axis, for green along its vertical axis.
To specify a color using the color field and color slider:
1Click a component next to the HSB, RGB, or Lab values.
2Select a color:
•Drag the white triangles along the slider.
•Click inside the color slider.
•Click inside the color field.
When you click in the color field, a circular marker indicates the color’s position in the field.
As you adjust the color using the color field and color slider, the numerical values change to reflect the new color.The color rectangle to the right of the color slider displays the new color in the top section of the rectangle. The original color appears at the bottom of the rectangle.
Specifying a color using numeric values
In the Adobe Color Picker, you can select a color in any of the four color models by specifying numeric values for each color component.
To specify a color using numeric values:
Do one of the following:
•(Photoshop) In CMYK color mode (the mode PostScript printers use), specify each component value as a percentage of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
•In RGB color mode (the mode your monitor uses), specify component values from 0 to 255 (0 is black, and 255 is the pure color).
•In HSB color mode, specify saturation and brightness as percentages; specify hue as an angle from 0° to 360° that corresponds to a location on the color wheel. For more information on the color wheel, see “About color modes and models (Photoshop)” on
page 86.
•(Photoshop) In Lab mode, enter a lightness value (L) from 0 to 100 and a axis (green to magenta) and b axis (blue to yellow) values from –120 to +120.
Using Web-safe colors
The Web-safe colors are the 216 colors used by browsers regardless of the platform. The browser will change all colors in the image to these colors when displaying the color on an 8-bit screen.The 216 colors are a subset of the Mac OS 8-bit color palettes. By working only with these colors, you can be sure that art you prepare for the Web will not dither on a system set to display in 256 colors.
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To identify Web-safe colors in the Adobe Color Picker:
•Click the Only Web Colors option in the lower left corner of the color picker, and then choose any color in the color picker. Any color you pick with this option selected is Web-safe.
•Choose a color in the color picker. If you choose a non-Web color, an alert cube 
appears next to the color rectangle in the color picker. Click the alert cube to select the closest Web color. (If no alert cube appears, the color you chose is Web-safe.)
To select a Web-safe color using the Color palette:
1Click the Color palette tab, or choose Window > Color to view the Color palette.
2Choose an option for selecting a Web-safe color:
•Choose Make Ramp Web Safe from the Color palette menu. With this option selected, any color you choose in the Color palette is Web-safe.
•Choose Web Color Sliders from the Color palette menu (Photoshop), or choose any Slider option from the Color palette menu (ImageReady). By default, Web Color Sliders snap to Web-safe colors (indicated by tick marks) when you drag them. (To override Web-safe color selection, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the sliders.) If you choose a non-Web color, an alert cube 
appears above the color ramp on the left side of the Color palette. Click the alert cube to select the closest Web color. In ImageReady, drag around the alert icon to select other close Web colors. (If no alert cube appears, the color you chose is Web-safe.)
Note: In Photoshop, you must choose Web Color Sliders from the Color palette menu to view the Web-safe alert cube. In ImageReady, you can view the alert cube with any color slider option.
Recognizing nonprintable colors (Photoshop)
Some colors in the RGB, HSB, and Lab color models, such as neon colors, cannot be printed because they have no equivalents in the CMYK model. When you select a nonprintable color, an alert triangle appears in the Color Picker dialog box and in the Color palette. The closest CMYK equivalent is displayed below the triangle. (See “Identifying out-of- gamut colors (Photoshop)” on page 136.)
Note: The alert triangle is not available if you’ve chosen to use Web-safe sliders.
Printable colors are determined by your current CMYK working space as defined in the Color Settings dialog box.
To select the closest CMYK equivalent for a nonprintable color:
Click the alert triangle 
that appears in the Color Picker dialog box or the Color palette.
Choosing custom colors (Photoshop)
The Adobe Color Picker lets you choose custom colors from the PANTONE® MATCHING SYSTEM®, the TRUMATCH® SWATCHING SYSTEM™, the FOCOLTONE® COLOUR SYSTEM, the TOYO Color Finder™ 1050 system, the ANPA-COLOR™ system, HKS® color system, and the DIC Color Guide.
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To ensure that the final printed output is the color you want, consult your printer or service bureau and choose your custom color based on a printed color swatch. Manufacturers recommend that you get a new swatch book each year to compensate for fading inks and other damage.
Important: Photoshop prints custom colors to CMYK (process color) plates in every image mode except Duotone. To print true spot color plates, create spot color channels. (See “Adding spot colors (Photoshop)” on page 272.)
To choose a custom color:
1 Open the Adobe Color Picker, and click Custom.
The Custom Colors dialog box displays the color closest to the color currently selected in the Color Picker.
2For Book, choose a color system. (See “Choosing a custom color system (Photoshop)” on page 264.)
3Locate the color you want by entering the ink number or by dragging the triangles along the scroll bar.
4Click the desired color patch in the list.
Choosing a custom color system (Photoshop)
The Adobe Color Picker supports various color systems:
PANTONE Used for printing solid-color and CMYK inks.The PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM includes 1,114 solid colors. To select a color, use a PANTONE Color guide, printed on coated, uncoated, and matte stocks.
To simulate a PANTONE solid color in CMYK, use the PANTONE Solid to Process Guide, which displays a visual comparison of 1,089 solid PANTONE colors beside the closest process color match.
PANTONE process guides let you choose from over 3,000 CMYK combinations, printed coated and uncoated stocks.
TRUMATCH Provides predictable CMYK color matching with more than 2000 achievable, computer-generated colors. TRUMATCH colors cover the visible spectrum of the CMYK gamut in even steps. The TRUMATCHCOLORFINDER displays up to 40 tints and shades of each hue, each originally created in four-color process and each reproducible in four colors on electronic imagesetters. In addition, four-color grays using different hues are included.
FOCOLTONE Consists of 763 CMYK colors. FOCOLTONE colors help avoid prepress trapping and registration problems by showing the overprints that make up the colors.
A swatch book with specifications for process and spot colors, overprint charts, and a chip book for marking up layouts are available from FOCOLTONE.
TOYO Color Finder 1050 Consists of more than 1000 colors based on the most common printing inks used in Japan. The TOYO Color Finder 1050 Book contains printed samples of Toyo colors and is available from printers and graphic arts supply stores.
ANPA-COLOR Commonly used for newspaper applications. The ANPA-COLOR ROP Newspaper Color Ink Book contains samples of the ANPA colors.
DIC Color Guide Commonly used for printing projects in Japan.
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