Using the color selector

The color selector is a floating color palette that displays in the document window and allows you to view and choose colors in the context of your image.

Display the color selector over your image to choose colors based on the colors in your image. Artwork by Skip Allen

The color selector is similar to the Color panel and consists of two components: the Hue Ring and the Saturation/Value Triangle.

The Hue Ring (1) lets you choose a color. The Saturation/Value Triangle (3) lets you specify the intensity of the color as well as, black, white, or shades of gray. The current color (2) is displayed in a round swatch to the left of the Saturation/Value Triangle.

Saturation levels can be set from left to right. Dragging or clicking to the right increases the saturation and produces purer colors within the predominant hue. Dragging or clicking to the left reduces the level of color saturation, producing "muddier" or grayer colors.

Values can be set from top to bottom. The top of the triangle is the highest value (white), and the bottom is the lowest value (black).

The color selector is available both as a temporal palette that disappears after you pick a color and click in the document window and as a palette that can stay open as long as you need it. You can easily move the color selector in the document window and resize it to take a closer look at colors.

To display the color selector

To display	Do the following
The color selector	Press Command + Option + 2 (macOS) or Ctrl + Alt +2 (Windows). Tips: Press Command + Option + 2 (macOS) or Ctrl + Alt +2 (Windows) again to hide the color selector at any time. You can also display the color selector in the Simple layout (Window Layout Simple) by clicking the Color Selector button in the toolbox.
The temporal color selector	Position the cursor where you want the temporal color selector to appear. Press Command + Option + 1 (macOS) or Ctrl + Alt +1 (Windows). Tip: You can also display the temporal color selector in the Simple layout by clicking the Temporal Color Selector button in the toolbox.

You can customize the keyboard shortcuts for displaying the color selector by choosing Corel Painter 2019 menu Preferences (macOS) or Edit Preferences (Windows), and choosing Customize Keys. In the Customize Keys dialog box, choose Other from the Shortcuts for (macOS) or Shortcuts (Windows) list box, and click one of the following commands in the Application Commands list:

Enter a new shortcut key in the Shortcut column and click OK.

If you are using a Wacom tablet, you can also assign a shortcut to the stylus button.

By default, the Color Selector tool is available only in the toolbox of the Simple layout. To make it available in all layouts, you can add it to a custom palette. For information about creating custom palettes, see Creating and modifying custom palettes.

To choose a color on the color selector

To resize the color selector

•	Position the cursor over the clear edge of the color selector and when the crosshair cursor appears, drag until the color selector is the size you want.

To move the color selector

•	Click the pin icon in the top-right corner and drag the color selector to a new position in the document window.

You can also move the color selector by clicking anywhere in the grab area and dragging the color selector to a new position.

The resize (1) and grab area (2) of the color selector

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