Color picker

4 minutes to read

For working with colors, the Template Editor has a special component called the Сolor picker, which allows you to work with RGB and CMYK colors as well as specify Spot colors. This article describes how you can work with colors in the Template Editor.

Working with the Color Picker

To open the Color picker, select an element for which you want to change the color and click the color box or the underlined letter A for the corresponding property in the Design panel. For example, if you have created a rectangle and you want to change its fill or border color, click this rectangle and expand the Fill or Border group of properties.

Color properties

The Color picker consists of several parts: different tabs for process and spot colors, preset color swatches, recent colors, the color field, and the eyedropper.

The color picker

Selecting a Color

To select a color, you can click one of the standard colors, click a point in the color field, or type in the channel values in the input field, and then click OK. After that, the selected color will be applied to the element.

Recent Colors

The editor allows you to store recently used colors. You may find this convenient when you need to reuse the same colors on different elements within the same template. In addition, you may want to make several color options and quickly compare them with each other.

To add a color to the list of recent colors, select it in the palette or color field and then click the color box with the + sign inside. By clicking on it, you will fix this color. After that, you can switch between these colors.

The list is stored while the editor is open. It is available even if you have selected another element or property.

The list of recent colors

Entering Color Values Manually

When you know the CMYK or RGB values, you can enter them in the input field.

Entering channel values

Eyedropper

You can also use an eyedropper to select a color on the design. To do this, click the eyedropper icon and click on the area of the design from where you want to take the color. An enlarged area will be displayed next to the mouse pointer to make it easier to get the desired pixel.

Using the eyedropper

Warning

When using the eyedropper with a CMYK design, the eyedropper takes the RGB values visible on the screen and converts them to CMYK. This may differ from the desired result.

Color Spaces

The template editor allows you to work with designs in two color spaces: CMYK and RGB. The choice of color space depends on the kind of products you are designing. If you are creating a design for a commercial printing application, you will almost always be dealing with CMYK. The RGB space can be used for alternative printing techniques, for example, for sublimation printing as well as for digital images.

The color space is configured for the entire design in Settings on the Main tab.

Template editor settings.

In addition to the color space, you need to select the color profiles that will be used for transformations from RGB to CMYK and vice versa.

After you have selected RGB or CMYK, this format will be used to edit all the color properties of the design.

Technically, the same design may contain elements in both the CMYK and RGB color spaces. This may happen as a result of importing or if you first started editing the design in one space and then switched to another. In such cases, you may notice the difference between the color that you have chosen in the color picker and the color that will actually be applied. This is due to the color conversion between CMYK and RGB.

Spot Colors

You can create spot colors. To do this, switch to the Spot tab.

Spot colors.

Here, you can click the Create a new spot color button, then enter its name and the color that will be used to visualize it in the editor.

Important

This preview color does not affect the print file. It is used exclusively in the editor.

Once created, this spot color can be selected and applied. You can reuse this color for other elements in the design.

As an example, let's assume that we want to set a cut line in the design. To do this, we will create an ellipse, remove its fill color, and make the outline with a spot color called CUTLINE, giving it a magenta color for visualization. The result may look as follows:

Spot colors.

Now, let's go further and learn how you can apply blending modes in the Template Editor.