Eyedropper Tool
In addition to using the Color Picker and Color palette to select colors, you can use the Eyedropper tool. One advantage to the Eyedropper is that you can grab colors from any open Photoshop file. After selecting the Eyedropper, you can click any part of your image and bingo!—you've got a new foreground color. You can also Option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) to change your background color. You don't have to click within the document you're currently editing; you can click any open image.
 | With Photoshop's Eyedropper tool, you can click within a document and then drag to any area of your screen to choose a color. That means you can pick up a color from the menu bar, or any other area of your screen—not just from within Photoshop, but anything you can see on your monitor. I use this all the time to pick colors from my web browser. The Sample Size setting also affects how many pixels the Magic Wand tool will evaluate when making a selection. |
You can also change the Sample Size setting in the options bar to choose how it looks at, or samples, the area you click (Figures 1.29 to 1.32). Here are your options:
Point Sample: Picks up the exact color of the pixel you click.
3 by 3 Average: Averages the area around your cursor using an area that's three pixels wide and three pixels tall.
5 by 5 Average: Works the same was as 3 -by -3 Average, but with a larger area.
Figure 1.29. The Sample Size option determines the area the Eyedropper tool will average when you're choosing a color.
Figure 1.30. Point Sample.
Figure 1.31. 3 by 3 Average.
Figure 1.32. 5 by 5 Average.
In many cases, you'll find it helpful to use one of the Average settings. They prevent you from accidentally picking up an odd-colored speck in the area from which you're grabbing, thereby ensuring that you don't select a color that isn't representative of the area you're choosing.