What is swatch in photoshop

To change the color, drag and drop a different swatch from the Swatches panel onto the pixel layer's contents. Or with the fill layer selected in the Layers panel, just click on a different color in the Swatches panel:. Learn the difference between pixel shapes and vector shapes! While Photoshop CC applies color swatches to Background layers and pixel layers as separate fill layers, that's not the case when we drag and drop swatches onto shape layers or type layers.

And since shape and type layers both behave the same way, we'll look at them together. I'll drag and drop a color from the Swatches panel onto the flower on the right, which is on a shape layer :. Learn how to choose text colors from images! Notice that this time in the Layers panel, a Solid Color fill layer does not appear above either the shape layer or the type layer.

Instead, the color swatches were applied directly to the shape and to the text. The reason is that shape layers and type layers both support color fills, while Background layers and pixel layers do not.

To change the color, drag and drop a different swatch onto the shape or type layer. Or select the layer in the Layers panel and click on a different color in the Swatches panel:. So far, we've seen the default ways that Photoshop applies colors to different kinds of layers when we drag and drop swatches from the Swatches panel.

Colors are applied to Background layers as Solid Color fill layers. They're applied to pixel layers as fill layers that are clipped to the pixel layer below them. And when we drag and drop a color onto a shape or type layer, the new color is applied directly to the layer itself. But the Swatches panel in Photoshop CC also includes a few keyboard shortcuts that let you change the way colors are applied. So let's finish this tutorial with a quick look at how to use them.

And this time, the original color of the shape remains intact while the new color appears as a clipped Solid Color fill layer above it. Again, this same trick also works with type layers:.

Photoshop adds the color as a Solid Color fill layer above the type layer. But because the fill layer is not clipped to the type layer, it's blocking all of the layers below it from view. The color swatch is removed from the Swatches palette. Right click the color swatch you wish to delete » select Delete Swatch.

The pointer appears as the Eyedropper Tool. The pointer appears as a scissors and the color swatch is removed from the Swatches palette. Was this article helpful? Yes No. This article is based on legacy software. If the Swatches palette is not visible, do the following: From the Window menu, select Swatches. Selecting Swatches To select a color currently displayed on the Swatches palette: Position the mouse over the Swatches palette.

Creating New Swatches In addition to using the pre-selected Swatches palette colors, you can customize new color swatches for a specific color or set of colors that you use frequently. Creating New Swatches: Button Option Set the foreground color to the color you wish to save as a swatch.

However, the Pixel layer remains the same. This is an excellent point to remember if you select multiple layers but notice one layer is not filled with the chosen color. Before concluding this tutorial, look at what happens if you apply the same technique with colors saved in your Libraries panel.

Select a color in your library and drag it to your Layers panel. However, the other way around works! If you select on a layer and then click on a color saved on your Libraries panel, it will change the Fill color, but the Stroke color unchanged.

If you double-click on a color saved in your Libraries panel, Photoshop applies it, but it opens the Color Picker window. As a rule of thumb: On your Libraries panel, one-click applies it, and double-click opens the Color Picker window.

If you want to gain easy access to your favorite colors, select a color from Swatches panel or double-click on the Foreground color to open the Color Picker window and select any color that you want and then press OK.

Go to your Libraries panel and click on the plus icon at the bottom. You can select the current Foreground color or the Text color and add it to your Libraries panel. Selecting the Foreground color , it will be added to the Non-Grouped section, and from there, you can organize it in the right group.

With this technique, you can easily organize your swatches in groups based on the project that you are working on and not have them mixed with other swatches in the panel. Hopefully, these five different ways to apply color swatches encourages you to work smart and achieve your desired effect in a few simple steps!

If you have been provided specific information about the color such as its RGB red, green and blue or CMYK cyan, magenta, yellow and black values then you can enter those values in the numeric boxes to create the exact color that is required.

Press the "Add to Swatches" button on the Color Picker window. This will add the custom color that you have created as a new swatch in the Swatches palette. Repeat the process to create and add as many custom swatches as you want. Method 3. View the dropdown menu on the Swatches palette by clicking on the arrow pointing down on the top-right corner of the palette window.

Name your new swatches file and press the "Save" button to save it. You should not change the default location where the file is saved, but just save it in the Color Swatches folder that Photoshop brings up when you try to save new swatch palettes. Method 4. Load a saved swatches palette if you want to reuse it. This task is particularly useful if you add swatches in Photoshop frequently when working on different documents and some documents need to follow the same color formula.

Here is what you need to do. Open the Swatches palette like you usually do go to "Window" and then select "Swatches". Click on the arrow pointing down in the top-right corner and select "Load Swatches. Choose the swatch palette that you want to load from the list of saved swatches that appears.