.. _colors-and-palettes: Colors and Palettes ========================================= The ``Colors and Palettes`` panel is in the sidebar (:kbd:`N`) > ``Pixel Art Studio`` tab, right under the main ``Pixel Art Studio`` panel, in the 3D Viewport and in the Image Editor (open by default). The tools popup (:kbd:`D`) has it too, without the color picker. .. image:: _static/images/v2/colors-and-palettes-panel.png From top to bottom: * The color picker (for the primary color). * The primary and the secondary colors, and the swap button. * ``Opacity`` (see :ref:`shared-tool-settings`). * The swatches and the ``...`` palette menu. * ``Color Jitter`` (see :ref:`color-jitter`). **The hex you pick is exactly the hex that is painted**, byte for byte: in the color picker, in the swatches, from a Lospec palette and in the texture. No color management surprises. Color picker ------------ Blender's own color picker, embedded in the panel, on the **primary color**. * Its shape follows Blender's ``Preferences > Interface > Editors > Color Picker Type`` (``Circle (HSV)``, ``Square (SV + H)`` and so on). * ``Show color picker`` in the add-on preferences (``General`` > ``Colors and Palettes``) hides it, the two colors and the swatches stay. .. image:: _static/images/v2/colors-and-palettes-picker-types.png Primary and secondary colors ---------------------------- * **Primary color** (left, black by default): what the tools paint with. * **Secondary color** (right, white by default): the gaps of a fill pattern, the ``Secondary Color`` fill of the Rectangle, the Ellipse and the Path, and the end color of the Gradient. * Click either color for Blender's popup picker, with the ``Hex`` field and the alpha (a color with alpha below 1 paints that transparent). * **Swap**: the refresh icon right of the two colors, or :kbd:`Alt+X` while a tool is armed (:kbd:`X` in ``Pixel Art Studio Only``). Swatches -------- .. image:: _static/images/v2/colors-and-palettes-swatches.png * ``+`` adds the primary color as a swatch. * Click a swatch to paint with it (the swatch of the current color is drawn pressed). * :kbd:`Ctrl+click` a swatch removes it (right click > ``Remove Swatch`` too). * ``Next Swatch`` (:kbd:`Alt+X` in ``Pixel Art Studio Only``, while a tool is armed) walks your swatches: the primary color becomes the next swatch, wrapping around at the end. * The swatch you last clicked is where the ``Swatches`` ramp of ``Color Jitter`` and the ``Color Replace`` ramp of the Shading tool start. * The swatches are saved in the .blend (per scene). A new file starts with a palette of ten colors. Palettes -------- The ``...`` button beside ``Swatches`` opens the palette menu: * ``Lospec palettes...``: the Lospec palette library (below). * ``Import Palette Image…``: reads the colors out of an image (``.png``, ``.jpg``, ``.bmp`` or ``.tga``). Every unique color becomes a swatch, in the order they appear (top row first, left to right), up to 256 colors. Fully transparent pixels are skipped. * ``Save Palette``: saves the current swatches as a Blender palette inside the .blend (saving with an existing name overwrites it). It's a regular Blender palette, so Blender's own paint tools can use it too. * ``Load Palette``: loads any Blender palette of this file into the swatches. * ``Clear Swatches``: removes every swatch. Importing, loading and Lospec palettes **replace** the swatches you have. .. tip:: Use a clean palette image for ``Import Palette Image…``, like the PNG palettes you can download from `Lospec `_. A photo or a JPG gives you hundreds of near duplicate colors. .. warning:: Swatches and palettes are not part of the undo history, :kbd:`Ctrl+Z` won't bring back a cleared or replaced palette. Use ``Save Palette`` before experimenting. .. _lospec-palette-library: Lospec palette library ---------------------- **500 palettes from** `Lospec `_ **ship with the add-on** (they open instantly and work offline), in Lospec's own ranking order: ``Resurrect 64``, ``Endesga 32``, ``Apollo``, ``Lospec500`` and so on, including classics like ``PICO-8``, ``Sweetie 16``, ``DawnBringer 16`` and ``Nintendo Gameboy (bgb)``. .. video:: _static/videos/v2/colors-and-palettes-lospec.mp4 :width: 100% 1. Open ``...`` > ``Lospec palettes...``. 2. Optionally filter by the number of colors: ``Any``, ``Max``, ``Min`` or ``Exact``, and the number beside it. 3. **Click a palette** (its name or any of its colors): it loads onto the swatches at once, so you see it applied to your model while you browse. 4. ``Close`` keeps the palette you clicked last, ``Cancel`` puts back the swatches you had before. * To find a palette by name, click the small arrow under the list (Blender's list filter) and type part of its name, ``PICO`` for example. It searches the names only, not the authors. * ``See more in Lospec`` opens the Lospec palette list in your web browser. .. note:: On Blender 3.6 and 4.0 the browser is Blender's plain dialog: narrower, with an ``OK`` button instead of ``Close`` and ``Cancel``. ``OK`` keeps the palette, and :kbd:`Esc` puts back the swatches you had before.