Color picker is a tool in Colors Viewer (Inspector) that can copy colors off any spot in a photo. This function lets us replicate and use unique shades of natural colors. This recipe describes how to use the color picker to give the design elements in your projects the colors that are already present in the photo you are using. This trick gives a harmonious co-ordinated color sequence to your project.
In addition, we will also look at how to create a custom color palette for your project.
To see how color picker works, we will use this photo of a seafood dish in a French restaurant (photo by Miranda Ingram):
Follow the ensuing steps to pick up the color of the wine to use for column dividers (lines):
- Import the photo into an iWork document.
- Import a line from the Shapes menu. Leave the line selected.
- Open Graphic Inspector.
- Under Stroke, click on the color well for the line. Colors Viewer (Inspector) will open.
- Click on the magnifying glass icon next to the color well in Colors Viewer. The cursor turns into a small magnifying glass with crosshairs inside it. This is the color picker.
- Move the magnifying glass over the photo to find the color you like, then click on it. Here, it is the lighter shade of wine in the glass. The color of the line takes the color from the photo.
- The new color will be shown in the color well of the Colors Viewer. Click in the well and drag the color to the palette (gridded rectangle) at the bottom of the Colors Viewer to store it for future use.
Color picker tracks the colors of the photo pixel by pixel. If you find it difficult to catch the color you want, enlarge the photo—color picker will be able to distinguish more shades of color in a larger photo.
When you open a new iWork document, the color will be stored in the palette, and you will be able to use it again.
We can simply store our custom colors in the palette at the bottom of the Colors Viewer. A point may come when we feel we need to organize our colors better and give them names to remind us where we can use them. The following steps describe how to create a custom colors palette for your iWork project.
- Click on the palettes icon in the Colors Viewer.
- Click on the action wheel to the right of the Palette drop-down menu and choose New.
- Double-click on untitled, and type in the name of the palette, for example, Magazine. Store all colors created for the magazine in this palette.
- To store, click on a color that is already stored in the palette grid at the bottom of the Colors Viewer and drag it to the Magazine palette window as shown in the following screenshot:
- In theMagazine palette window, the newly added color will, by default, have the name of the palette and a number, for example, Magazine 1. Click on the name Magazine 1, to highlight it, and type in the name you want to give the color, for example, Food and Wine col divider.
When you next work on the Food and Wine section, you can open the palette and give this color to column dividers. Have two or three co-ordinated colors to use for box frames, headings, captions, text, and other design elements in each section of the magazine, to give each section a distinct style.
To remove a color from the Magazine palette, simply click on it to select it, and then click on the minus sign below the palette window. The color will be removed from the Magazine palette but will remain in the grid with your previously stored colors.
You can add colors to your project palette straight from the photo. Choose a color with the color picker, and drag it from the color well at the top to the palette window. Give it a name.
A complete set of custom colors will give your publication a professional, branded look.