Chapter Six: Using Color

EXPRESS color dialog boxes let you choose “ready-made” colors from a list or mix over 16 million custom colors using any of three color models. CMYK is the color model for four-color separations; RGB and Hues are best for spot color separations and other work.

The Two Color Dialog Boxes:

There are two color dialog boxes: the Color Palette dialog box and the Custom Color dialog box, which appear when you click on the appropriate command.

To display the Color Palette dialog box, choose Color then Color Palette from the Styles menu, or click with the left mouse button on the Colors button in the Style bar.

To display the Custom Color dialog box, choose Color then Custom from the Styles menu or click with the Content menu button on the Colors button in the Style bar.

The Color Palette dialog box lets you choose from a chromatic palette, in which colors are arranged approximately according the spectrum. (See Loading Color Palettes) To create new colors, use the Custom Color dialog box.

Mixing Color with Hues

1. To display the Custom Color dialog box, choose Color then Custom from the Styles menu, or click with the Content Menu button on the Colors button in the Style bar.

2. Choose Hues from the Model window in the Custom Color dialog box. The color mixing bars at the top right of the dialog box show the Hues mixing model.

The Hue scroll bar varies the hue of the color. The White scroll bar adds white to the color to make progressively lighter tints of the color. The Black scroll bar adds black to the color to make progressively darker tints of the color.

The number boxes above the White and Black scroll bars show the relative percentage of White and Black added to the color. The sliding bar is split for the Hue, for White and for Black, with the top part showing the effect on the mixed color if the button were to be moved to that part of the bar, and the bottom part showing only the effect on each element (Hue, White, or Black).

Grays can be mixed by setting White to 100%, then adjusting Black for the desired Gray level.

Note: For best results, only solid colors should be used for line colors.

3. To start, choose a named color from the list box. The scroll bars adjust to show the hue, white, and black values.

4. Drag the white scroll box in the Hue, White, or Black bar to set the value for the bar.

5. Repeat Step 4 until you achieve the desired color as shown in the Screen Color Preview sample box. (Take note of whether the color you’ve created is solid on your printer and/or screen - colors that aren’t solid on a device are represented by a “dither” pattern.)

6. Click on Apply. The newly created color becomes the current color and is used to redraw any selected objects. To remove the edits you made, press Z while holding down the Ctrl key.

Mixing Colors with RGB (Red-Green-Blue)

The procedure for mixing RGB colors is similar to that used for Hues.

1. Choose RGB from the Model%!JI("useguide.mvb>second","model_menu") window in the Custom Color dialog box. The color mixing bars at the top right of the dialog box show the RGB mixing model.

The sliding bar is split for Red, for Green and for Blue, with the top part showing the effect on the mixed color if the button were to be moved to that part of the bar, and the bottom part showing only the effect on each element (Red, Green, or Blue).

2. You create new colors by changing the amount, from 0-255, for Red, Green, and Blue. Note the appearance of the Sample patch to see whether the color you have created will be solid (not dithered) on the current printer or screen.

Mixing Colors with CMYK

The Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black, or CMYK, color model will be familiar to users who have worked with photographic color separation specifications used in 4-color process printing. This model makes it easier for Windows users to produce color separations using PostScript color printers.

The procedure for mixing CMYK colors is similar to that used for Hues and RGB.

1. To display the Custom Color%!JI("useguide.mvb>second","NEW_colorpal") dialog box, choose Color then Custom from the Styles menu, or click with the Content Menu (outside) button on the Colors button in the Style bar.

2. Choose CMYK from the Model window in the Custom Color dialog box. The color mixing bars at the top right of the dialog box show the CMYK mixing model.

3. Vary the amount of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (from 0 to 100 percent) to create the desired color. Note the status of the Solid Color indicators to see whether the color you have mixed will be solid (not dithered) on the current printer or screen.

Note: Several activities for using color are accessible through the Activity Manager. They contain ready-to-print color charts, which allow you to see at one time all the colors of the pre-made Arts & Letters Color Palettes. The appearance of these samples will vary depending on the make and model of the monitor and monitor card you are using.

Screen and printer colors may not match exactly. To compare them, make a file of each color palette and print it.

Naming Colors

You can assign names to colors that you mix, and then select these names from the Named Colors list as needed.

To name a color:

1. In the Custom Color dialog box, mix a color then choose Name. The Name Color dialog box appears.

2. Enter a Name for the Color.

3. Click on Name. The color name appears in the Named Colors list, and can be selected like any other named color.

To rename a named color:

1. In the Custom Color dialog box, select the named color you want to rename.

2. Choose Name. The Name Color dialog box appears.

3. Enter a new name and click on Rename. The new name replaces the old name in the Named Colors list.

To delete a named color:

1. In the Custom Color dialog box, select the named color you want to delete.

2. Choose Name. The Name Color dialog box appears.

3. Click on Delete. The name is deleted from the Named Colors list.

Color Palettes

EXPRESS provides many color palettes for your use. When you choose Color then Open from the Styles menu, a list of these palettes will be displayed in a selection box.

The “Chromatic” palette (_chroma.pal), in which colors are arranged in a spectrum-like progression, loads automatically when you start EXPRESS. The “Real” palette (_real.pal) gives you colors that correspond to real-world objects, such as people, metals, food, and so on. There are nineteen other palettes that are keyed to the printed “Color Palettes” card included with EXPRESS’ documentation.

The “Color Palettes” card gives you a good representation of what colors look like when printed by a commercial printer on an offset press; there may be slight variations from printer to printer because of the paper and inks used.

Four activities (Color Palettes 1-4) are included in the “Test” activity collection, accessible through the Activity Manager. These palettes are duplicates of those displayed on the color card. To see how they look when printed on your output device, make a file of each palette and print it.

The color palettes are provided for convenience. You can add, delete, and change colors in them as desired.

Saving Color Palettes

Colors mixed using the RGB, CMYK, or Hues methods can be saved to a custom palette for use in any EXPRESS document. To do so:

1. Name your custom colors as described in Naming Colors.

2. In the Styles menu, choose Color then Save As. The Save Palette As%col_pal>dialog dialog box appears.

3. Save the palette by entering a name in the Filename box and clicking on Save.

If you do not specify an extension, the file is saved with the default extension .PAL.

4. You can reset the palette to a set of eight default colors by choosing Color then Open in the Styles menu. Under the a&l\palettes directory double-click on defaults.pal.

Loading Color Palettes

To load a saved color palette:

1. Choose Color then Open from the Styles menu.

2. The Open Palette dialog box appears.

3. Select the filename of the palette.

4. Clear the As New check box to append the chosen palette to the current one.

or

Check the As New check box to replace the current palette with the chosen one.

To reset the palette to a set of eight default colors, double-click on defaults.pal.

Viewing Colors Only

The Color Palette dialog box shows only color patches for the colors in the current color palette. If you want to see their names, either click on the down arrow beside the view window in this dialog box, or open the Custom Color dialog box and click on the down arrow under Named Colors.

Using Color Filters

EXPRESS allows you to adjust the colors of selected objects or an entire file in a variety of ways — without breaking apart groups.

To adjust the color of a selected object or objects:

1. Either pull down the main Styles menu %!PI(`useguide.mvb',`help_attribMenupic') and select Color then Color Filters, or click with the Content menu button on the Colors button in the Style bar and choose Color Filters.

The Color Filters dialog box appears.

Along the right side of the dialog box are two vertical columns of color boxes. The left column shows the color(s) currently selected in the object(s); the right column acts as a preview of the color correction effect before you apply it. The check marks outside the boxes, which toggle on and off, indicate which colors will be affected by the adjustments you make.

You can choose to make your adjustments in the Artistic mode with a gallery of predefined adjustments (operations), or you can choose the Technical mode, which allows you to directly add and subtract color yourself. You can also choose what parts of the selected image will be affected: beginning fill, end fill, and lines.

You can make many adjustments to an image. (See Options, below)

2. If, while still in the Color Filters dialog box, you want to return to the colors present before your editing, press the Reset Controls button. After you have made your choices, click on Apply. If you are dissatisfied with the effect, choose Undo from the Edit menu.

Adjustments Available in Color Filters

The colors in a selected object, group of objects, or entire file can be adjusted using any of the following predefined adjustments (operations).

• Brightness/Contrast: Brightness is used to adjust the intensity of a color. Increasing the brightness of a color moves (in the color space) the color toward white. Brightening a color makes it more pastel and less saturated. Decreasing the brightness of a color moves the color toward black. There is not necessarily a simple relationship between the effects of this filter on a color and the components of the color in the hues model. Increasing brightness does not necessarily affect only the %White component. Likewise, decreasing brightness does not necessarily affect only the %Black component.

Contrast is used to affect the similarity of groups of colors. Decreasing contrast causes affected colors to appear more similar. Increasing contrast causes affected colors to appear less similar. As contrast is decreased for a collection of colors, the colors move (in the color space) toward middle gray (RGB: 128,128,128). As contrast is increased for a collection of colors, the colors move away from middle gray. Geometrically, Contrast applies a scaling filter that stretches or compresses the component ranges so that colors become closer or farther apart in the color space.

Brightness and Contrast operate in parallel. That is, one can adjust both simultaneously.

• Replace Hue: Replace Hue fixes the Hue of a color to a specific value. Replace Hue provides the best results for objects which contain tones, tints, shades of the same or similar hues.

• Saturation/Shade: Saturation adds white to or removes white from a color. In the Hues model, Saturation affects the %White. Shade adds black to or removes black from a color. In the Hues model, Shade affects the %Black.

• Add/Remove (Mix) Paint: Add/Remove Paint affects an object’s color by either removing the pigments that can be thought of as comprising that object’s color or by adding a pigment to the color. The pigments that can be added or removed are represented as any named colors plus the default primary colors and are available in the drop down list box. Add/Remove Paint is intended as a tool by which one can mix (and unmix) colors in a way analogous to the way in which an artist mixes paints on his palette.

• TV Controls: TV Controls uses the YIQ color basis for adjusting a color. The YIQ color basis is the what the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) uses to encode color television signals. TV Controls provides a novel way to “colorize” grayscale images as well as add color to objects in interesting ways.

• Convert to Grays: Convert to Grays changes a color to its corresponding grayscale color. The K (black) value of the original color is preserved as much as possible. A color with a K of 0 will be converted to a gray with K of 0. A color with a positive K value will be converted to a gray with a positive K value.

• Convert to Grays (K only): Convert to Grays (K only) changes a color to its corresponding grayscale color with the CMYK values: C=0, M=0, Y=0, K=grayscale value.

• Convert to Pure Shades: Convert to Pure Shades sets the %White of a color to zero.

• Convert to Pure Tints: Convert to Pure Tints sets the %Black of a color to zero.

• Convert to Pure Hues: Convert to Pure Hues sets the %White and %Black of a color to zero.

• Convert to Primaries: Convert to Primaries changes a color to the closest or most similar primary color: White, Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, or Black.

• Convert to Color Negative: Convert to Color Negative replaces the color with its complement color. For example in (CMYK), the color (20, 30, 40, 0) becomes (80, 70, 60, 0). The K component is preserved as much as possible.

• Convert to Gray Negative: Convert to Gray Negative replaces the color with the complement of its corresponding grayscale value.

• Convert to Display Solids: Convert to Display Solids replaces the color with the most similar Windows System Color for a 16 color display, replaces the color with the most similar EXPRESS Windows Palette color for a 256 color display, and is not available for a high color or true color display.

• Convert to Opti-Pal Colors: Convert to Opti-Pal Colors replaces the color with the most similar dithered EXPRESS Windows Palette color. This filter is available only for 256 color displays. This filter can remove dithering artifacts without substantially changing the color of an object and is used to optimize the 256 color displayed appearance of an object.

• Color Wash: Color Wash replaces the color with a selected percentage of another color (wash). E.g., if you wash a 100% cyan object with 40% yellow, the result is an object that is 60% cyan and 40% yellow.

• Colorize with Base Color: Colorize with Base Color replaces the color with percentages of a selected base color, in a manner similar to Convert to Grays.