Using the Color palette


    You use the Color palette to apply color to an object's fill and stroke, and also to edit and mix colors--either colors that you create or colors that you selected from the Swatches palette, from an object, or from a color library. (See Applying color fills and strokes to objects.)For more information, see Using palettes.

    Illustration of Selecting colors in the Color palette with these callouts: A. Fill color B. Stroke color C. Palette menu D. None box E. Color spectrum bar F. Color slider G. Text box for a color component
    Selecting colors in the Color palette A. Fill color B. Stroke color C. Palette menu D. None box E. Color spectrum bar F. Color slider G. Text box for a color component

    Displaying the Color palette

    Choose Window > Color.

    Using the Color palette menu

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

    Showing and hiding options

    Choose Show Options from the palette menu to show all options, or choose Hide Options from the palette menu to show just the color bar.

    Choosing a color model

    The Color palette can display color values using different color models. To change the color model, choose Grayscale, RGB, HSB, CMYK, or Web Safe RGB from the Color palette menu. For more information on the different color models, see About color models and color modes.

    Selecting a color

    Click the Fill box or the Stroke box on the left side of the Color palette or the bottom of the toolbox. Then do one of the following:

    • Position the pointer over the color spectrum bar (the pointer turns into the eyedropper), and click. To select no color, click the None box at the left of the color bar; to select white, click the white swatch at the top right corner of the color bar; to select black, click the black swatch at the bottom right corner of the color bar.
    • Drag a color slider, click a spot along the color bar, or enter a value in the corresponding text box. (Except for HSB colors, you can also shift-drag the color slider to move the other sliders in relation to it. This keeps a similar color but with a different tint or intensity.) As you drag, click, or enter a value, you can see the effect of changing that color on the other color sliders.
    • Adjust the Tint slider if using a global color from the Swatches palette. (See Changing global colors and tints.)

    Shifting to a printable color

    Some colors in the RGB and HSB color models, such as neon colors, cannot be printed, because they have no equivalents in the CMYK model. If you select an out-of-gamut color, an alert triangle Exclamation point icon appears near the bottom left of the palette. Click the alert triangle to shift to the closest CMYK equivalent (which is displayed below the triangle).

    Shifting to a Web-safe color

    If you select a color that is not Web-safe, an alert cube alert cube icon appears next to the color rectangle. Click the alert cube to shift to the closest Web-safe color (which is displayed below the cube.)

    Inverting a color

    Choose Invert from the Color palette menu to change each component of a color to the opposite value on the color scale. For example, if an RGB color has an R value of 100, the Invert command will change the R value to 155 (255 - 100 = 155).

    Changing a color to its complement

    Choose Complement from the Color palette menu to change each component of a color to a new value based on the sum of the highest and lowest RGB values in the selected color. Illustrator adds the lowest and highest RGB values of the current color, and then subtracts the value of each component from that number to create new RGB values.

    For example, suppose you select a color with an RGB value of 102 for red, 153 for green, and 51 for blue. Illustrator adds the high (153) and low (51) values, to end up with a new value (204). Each of the RGB values in the existing color is subtracted from the new value to create new complementary RGB values: 204 - 102 (the current red value) = 102 for the new red value, 204 - 153 (the current green value) = 51 for the new green value, and 204 - 51 (the current blue value) = 153 for the new blue value.