6.0 Eyedropper
Used for finding
color values, and choosing colors
Found at # 26 in the Toolbar diagram at left
Please note that the measure tool
has its own page.
The eyedropper, and the color sampler which is hidden under it (find it
by clicking, and holding on the eyedropper and then choosing it from the
menu) can be used for gathering color data for adjustment, and comparison
purposes. The eyedropper is also used for selecting foreground, and background
colors, and for identifying tone values when using Curves.
Since these pages are intended for beginners, I'm going to stick with the color picking features of the eyedropper and only briefly describe the data collecting uses.
To change the foreground color, click with the eyedropper on the desired color anywhere in the current image, or in any other open image, active or not. To change the background color, Alt-click, with the eyedropper, on the desired color in any open window.
Foreground and background colors can also be picked by using the Color palette. Many more selections, and options are available there.
The color sampler is used for picking up RGB, or CMYK values. These can be used for comparisons when making image adjustments. The data acquired is displayed in the Info palette. Up to four samples can be viewed at once.
The eyedropper tool can be temporarily accessed when using any painting tool by pressing the Alt key.
The keyboard shortcut key for the eyedropper is the letter I. Holding down the Shift while pressing the shortcut key toggles you between the eyedropper, the color sampler, and the measure tool. In addition, once the eyedropper is selected, pressing the Shift key will switch you to the color sampler.
The illustration below, is the eyedropper's options bar with
the Sample Size menu open. Point Sample is the default setting,
but I have seen several books which recommend using the 3 by 3 setting.
This determines the size of the area from which color data is acquired.
On the right below, is the context sensitive menu, found by right clicking on the image when the eyedropper has been selected in the toolbox. As you can see, it's the same as the Sample Size menu in the options palette menu except for the Copy Color as HTML choice. When selected, this will copy the hexadecimal color value for the color you click with the eyedropper, onto the clipboard. It can then be pasted into an HTML document.
If you have doodled with a tool's options and want to get back to the default settings, click that tool's icon at the far left end of its options bar. Choose either Reset Tool to reset only the current tool, or Reset All Tools to restore default settings to every tool.
Please note that all descriptions, and illustrations featured refer to files which are in Photoshop's .psd format, and which are in RGB color mode. Other file formats, and color modes may generate different options. Some Photoshop features are not available for images not in .psd format, or RGB color mode. To find what color mode your image is in, choose Image > Mode.
Photoshop Tips | 6.0
Palettes | Effects
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