Color Picker shortcut?

[Datameister]

I'm sorry, I know this has been asked before. But it seems like a definitive answer is never reached. Is there a way to use scripting or actions to create keyboard shortcut for accessing the color picker? It seems like there MUST be some way to do it...

Thanks in advance!

[Slaving_maniac]

isnt it the alt button

[Datameister]

That's for the eyedropper tool. I use ALT too many times to count while painting. What I'm talking about, though, is the actual color picker dialog box--the one that appears if you click the foreground or background color box. There's no official shortcut; I'm just wondering if it can be scripted or action-ed.

[rogfa]

I did it by installing a thirdparty macro app. A good one is AutoHotKey. I've gotten spoiled with Painter's large color wheel and I hate picking colors with that tiny color palette PhotoShop gives you.

What you want is a way to assign a keyboard shortcut to open the Color Picker. There is no menu for the Color Picker Window in PhotoShop and it can only be opened by clicking on the swatch in the Toolbar. So, you need to create a macro to do that clicking for you.

The AutoHotKey program seems hard to setup but it's pretty easy. Right-click on its system tray icon and select "Window Spy". This will give you the information you need to setup a macro. Open PhotoShop and hover over the foreground color swatch in the ToolBar. Note the Mouse Position coordinates. For me was 30, 423. But it may be different for you depening on screen res and where you have the toolbar placed in photoshop.

Now open the AutoHotKey program and click File -> Edit Script.

This opens a text file where you type in your hotkey settings. They have a couple hotkeys already setup as examples. Add the following command:

#x::Click 27, 422

"#" is for the Windows Key. So when I press Windows Key + X, it goes to the color swatch area and clicks once and up pops the Color Picker Window.

And just so everyone wasn't thinking that I'm sniffing glue I created a quick video of how it works. Note that my cursor is way off the right of the screen and I'm pressing my shortcut to open the color picker window.

http://www.roger-adams.com/ColorPickerMacro.mov (300Kb)

[Datameister]

Rogfa, I cannot thank you enough. This is exactly the kind of thing I needed. It solves a couple of other shortcut-related problems I was having--Photoshop's inability to use multiple keystrokes to switch tools, for instance. I suppose the only disadvantage to this method is that the tool bar must be maximized and located in the exact same spot every time you want to use the shortcut...but oh well. Thank you so much!

I'm still open to other suggestions, of course, if anyone thinks they have a better method.

[rogfa]

No problem, this is one of my pet peeves about PhotoShop too. I hope the next version has some more updates for the artists. You're right though, it's not perfect, I mostly work in fullscreen mode so I can move the document around and had to put in different xy coordinates because the toolbar moved. I do hope they come out with some sort of color wheel or even if they just made the color palette bigger that would be a start.

Good luck!

[coolgraphs]

Originally Posted by rogfa

Add the following command:
#x::Click 27, 422
"#" is for the Windows Key. So when I press Windows Key + X, it goes to the color swatch area and clicks once and up pops the Color Picker Window.

And just so everyone wasn't thinking that I'm sniffing glue I created a quick video of how it works. Note that my cursor is way off the right of the screen and I'm pressing my shortcut to open the color picker window.

http://www.roger-adams.com/ColorPickerMacro.mov (300Kb)

Thankyou rogfa, That is nice information and great help for artists. I do not know this. Thank you for sharing a valuable assistance for artists.

[Nils]

rogfa, thanks this is just what I needed

I'm curious how did you solve it so it works in fullscreen mode when the toolbar is hidden? That is if it works at all, doesn't seem like it would work since the script just simulates a mouse movement

[rogfa]

Hey Nils,

When you go full screen the toolbar moves slightly so you have to get the coordinates again for the foreground swatch. I find if you work mostly fullscreen to just setup the shortcut for full screen.

Roger

[Idiot Apathy]

Woooooooooooooooo! (Thanks!) (Why didn't I think of that...) (p.s. I hate the windows key so mine is shift+x, just replace # with !)

[Nils]

Originally Posted by rogfa

Hey Nils,

When you go full screen the toolbar moves slightly so you have to get the coordinates again for the foreground swatch. I find if you work mostly fullscreen to just setup the shortcut for full screen.

Roger

Oh, I mean when you hit F two times and then Tab, so there is nothing but the canvas...then it must be impossible for it to work?

[rogfa]

Hmmm... I haven't tested it with true fullscreen mode. I mostly work in the first "F" mode so I can move the canvas around. But I don't see why it wouldn't work the toolbar moves up slightly in both fullscreen modes, so if you positition it back to original spot it should still work. I'll try it report back.

[Nils]

Any luck? But it isn't important, I find that I like to use the first F mode more than total full screen aswell

[Inkin]

juuuust great

[mirskov]

thanks! big help..
something like this is working for me to work in the regular window mode -
z::
Click -5,-5
Click 26, 397
return

[Creatinity]

Just wanna say thank your for the wonderful tip...
i had to change my workspace though because click on my second monitor created a huge mess with windows....anyone having pb with dual screen?
i'll report to the author of the software...

This program seems very handy...and i realize that we could go further that
autokeying the color picker...it is also possible to change Hue/Saturation/Lightness on the fly while we are painting...it seems easily doable...

anyone thought of that? i mean i've seen a lot of people asking for this...

btw if you put in the script:
CoordMode,Mouse,screen

you'll be fine in either F modes, because the coordinates are now in reference to the screen and the active window (as it is by default)

bye guys...
jimmy

[Idiot Apathy]

I believe photoshop has built in scripting available to change things like that (hue value sat etc), not sure all the versions do - and not sure at all how to do it... look in the scripting guide in your adobe folder.

[Creatinity]

Originally Posted by Idiot Apathy

I believe photoshop has built in scripting available to change things like that (hue value sat etc), not sure all the versions do - and not sure at all how to do it... look in the scripting guide in your adobe folder.

man i never thought i would ever look into photoshop scripts...
but you are right, it seems to be a real piece of cake...it's a one or 2 lines job...basically incrementing a variable...

thanks

[Idiot Apathy]

Ha, I feel too dumb to figure that stuff out. Let us know what you make, post it even !

[Creatinity]

I would feel the same way if i was not working all day with programming language...however i'm quite new to scripting but here the simple move i managed to produce:

create a file: toto.jsx (jsx means that it contains javascript)

you put in it:

#target photoshop
app.bringToFront();

var dummy=app.foregroundColor.hsb.hue
app.foregroundColor.hsb.hue=dummy+10


you save the file....

then let's say you assign to F12 an action which opens this script...
every time you press F12 the hue of your color is incremented by 10 without dialog box of whatsoever....

then the plan is to create several small scripts like this one....which decreases hue by 10....same thing for Value and Saturation...
also files with smaller increments (like +or- 1 for fine-tuning)

i choose HSB but i could esaily have been RGB ou CMYK

this is very rough but it's working...
there's probably a cleaner way to do it...if people are interested i can maybe look for it....

bye

[Dan.v.D.]

is it possible to make the layers tab and the navigator smaller than photoshop allows by default with this app?

[xanda]

hi, the hotkey works fine if i just press the windows then x key normally in photoshop...but i would like to map it to a key on my Wacom Intuos3 Graphics Tablet.
When i program the button in the settings to use windows + x whenever pressed it doesn't work and just opens the start menu.
So i was going to try using autohotkey to get the tablet key to initiate the colour picker...but i do not know what to type in as the key?

any help would be much appreciated thankyou

[Idiot Apathy]

xanda, much simpler to use a different modifier, instead of the windows key use ctrl or shift. Then put that into your wacom drivers control panel.

[Datameister]

Yeah, it should work just fine. I've got ctrl-space configured to open the Color Picker via AutoHotkey, and that works on the tablet.

[Dile_]

wow, now photoshop is completly short-cutted for me I have
shortkeys for Hue + and - Saturnation + and - and brightness + and -
(based on Creatinity's script.) and Im really thankful for bringing up how to apply the colour picker! thanks alot man! =)

Also, heres some other scripts im useing, I stole em from meatswhorthys thread, awesome. [To change the HSB / RGB sliders.]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...&postcount=499

Check em out.

[Maestro Andres]

Thought it is a good idea to bump up this thread since having a shortcut for the color picker can be extremely helpful for many, at least for the lazy It's so quick to be able to open the color picker on the spot.

Also, I add more lines to the previous code so that when you use the command, your mouse position stays in the same spot than moving to the color picker toolbar. In that way, the color picker box appears where your mouse is at. It is the following:

+Z::
MouseGetPos, xpos, ypos
Click 30, 400
MouseMove, xpos, ypos,0
return

Of course the "+Z" is the button combination you are using for triggering the command, in this case, Shift + Z

[peous]

Hi,
The following website hosts a software that can open Photoshop color picker with a keyboard shortcut. It works wherever the color toolbar is.
http://www.peousware.com/?p=16
Hope it will be helpful !
PW

[EVIL]

Nice one peous, to bad that one doesn't work when you tab the screen to full size.

Photoshop could have so many time saving features!
for example how about being able to favourite brushes, so when you are painting and hitting a key it shows a small star menu enabling to you to hit the favourite brushes fast.
and indeed a standard short-cut for the colour pick window.

If any of this would be able with a plugin or photoshop script it would be a huge time saver!
to bad I have 0 programming skills

[slug45]

Anything for mac users?
Thx in advance.

[BeBob]

Great App, but not working for CS4.
Can you make it work for that?