Using the Swatches palette


    You use the Swatches palette to control all document colors, gradients, patterns, and tints. You can name and store any of these items for instant access. When a selected object's fill or stroke contains a color, gradient, pattern, or tint applied from the Swatches palette, the applied swatch is highlighted in the Swatches palette. For more information, see Using palettes.

    Illustration of Selecting swatches in the Swatches palette with these callouts: A. Global color B. Spot color C. Show all swatches button D. Show color swatches button E. Show gradient swatches button F. Show pattern swatches button G. New swatch button H. Fill or stroke of None I. Registration swatch (prints on all plates) J. CMYK symbol (when document is open in CMYK mode) K. RGB symbol (when document is open in RGB mode)
    Selecting swatches in the Swatches palette A. Global color B. Spot color C. Show all swatches button D. Show color swatches button E. Show gradient swatches button F. Show pattern swatches button G. New swatch button H. Fill or stroke of None I. Registration swatch (prints on all plates) J. CMYK symbol (when document is open in CMYK mode) K. RGB symbol (when document is open in RGB mode)

    Displaying the Swatches palette

    Choose Window > Swatches.

    Using the Swatches palette menu

    Click the triangle triangle icon in the upper right corner of the palette.

    Changing the display of swatches

    Choose a view option from the Swatches palette menu: Small Thumbnail View, Large Thumbnail View, or List View.

    Displaying the name of swatches

    You can view the name of a swatch in thumbnail view by holding the pointer over that swatch or by choosing List View from the palette menu.

    Changing the order of swatches

    Choose a sort option from the Swatches palette menu: Sort by Name to sort swatches alphabetically, or Sort by Kind to sort swatches by swatch type (colors, gradients, and then patterns). You can also drag a swatch to change its location. Shift-click to select multiple adjacent swatches; Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to select nonadjacent swatches.

    Selecting swatches

    Do any of the following:

    • To select a single swatch, click it.
    • To select a swatch by name, choose Show Find Field from the Swatches palette menu. (A check mark indicates that the option is selected.) Then type the first letter or letters of the swatch's name in the Find text box at the top of the palette.
    • To select adjacent swatches, click the first swatch in the desired range, and then Shift-click the last. To select nonadjacent swatches, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) them.
    • To select all swatches that aren't used in a document, choose Select All Unused from the Swatches palette menu.

    Showing and hiding swatches

    You can view all swatches in the Swatches palette or just a certain type of swatch. To show all swatches, click the Show All Swatches button Show All Swatches button . To show a specific type of swatch and hide all other swatches, click one of the following buttons: Show Color Swatches Show Color Swatches button, Show Gradient Swatches Show Gradient Swatches button , or Show Pattern Swatches Show Pattern Swatches button.