Using the Color Table palette


    You use the Color Table palette in the Save for Web dialog box to give you precise control over the colors in optimized GIF and PNG-8 images. With a maximum of 256 colors, you can add and delete colors in the color table, shift selected colors to Web-safe colors, and lock selected colors to prevent them from being dropped from the palette.

    Using the Color Table palette menu

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

    Sorting the colors

    Choose a sorting command from the Color Table palette menu. You can sort colors by hue (neutral colors are assigned a hue of 0 and located with the reds), luminance (the lightness or brightness of a color), or popularity, making it easier to see an image's color range and locate particular colors.

    Adding new colors

    Select the Eyedropper tool, and click on a color in the image. (Alternatively, click the color selection box, and use the color picker to select a color.) Then, click the New Color button New Color button , or choose New Color from the Color Table palette menu. A small white square with a dark center appears in the lower right corner of the new color, indicating that the color is locked.

    Note: If the color table already contains the maximum number of colors (256, or 255 with transparency), you cannot add a new color.

    Selecting colors

    To select a color in the image, select the Eyedropper tool Eyedropper tool , and click a color in the image. A white border appears around that color in the Color Table palette. To select a color in the Color Table palette, click the color. To select a range of adjacent colors, press Shift and click another color. All colors in the rows between the first and second selected colors are selected. To select a nonadjacent group of colors, press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click each color that you want to select.

    The Color Table palette menu also provides commands for selecting colors.

    Note: The Select All Web-Safe Colors command is not available when the optimized image does not contain Web-safe colors; likewise, the Select All Non-Web Safe Colors command is not available when the optimized image contains only Web-safe colors.

    Editing colors

    Double-click the color in the Color Table palette to display the default color picker, and then select a color. A small plus sign appears in the center of each edited color.

    Shifting to Web-safe colors

    Select the colors you want to shift, and click the Web Shift button alert cube icon in the Color Table palette. (Alternatively, choose Web Shift/Unshift Selected Colors from the Color Table palette menu.) A small white diamond appears in the center of selected colors that have been Web-shifted (and in all Web-safe colors). Shifting colors prevents them from dithering in a browser.

    Once you've shifted colors, you can restore them to their original values using commands in the Color Table palette menu. Choose Web Shift/Unshift Selected Colors or Unshift All Colors. Alternatively, select a Web-shifted color, and click the Web Shift button alert cube icon to revert it. To specify a tolerance for shifting colors, specify a value for Web Snap in the Settings section of the Save for Web dialog box. A higher value shifts more colors.

    Deleting colors

    Click the Trash button or choose Delete Color from the Color Table palette menu. When you delete a color, areas of the optimized image that previously included that color are rerendered using the closest color remaining in the palette.

    Note: Deleting a color changes the color palette type to Custom to prevent the color from being added back to the palette if you reoptimize the image.

    Locking and unlocking colors

    Click the Lock button Lock button , or choose Lock/Unlock Selected Colors from the Color Table palette menu. A white square with a red center appears in the lower right corner of each locked color. Locking colors prevents them from being dropped or dithered if you reduce the number of colors in the image.

    To unlock all colors, choose Unlock All Colors from the Color Table palette menu.

    Saving color tables

    Choose Save Color Table from the Color Table palette menu. By default, the color table file is given the extension .act (for Adobe Color Table).

    Loading color tables

    Choose Load Color Table from the Color Table palette menu. You can load a color table from an .act file or a GIF file (to load the file's embedded color table). Once you load a new color table, the colors in the optimized image change to reflect the new color table.