Color Picker Gone Berserk

JD
Posted By
Joe_Dempsey
Feb 5, 2004
Views
551
Replies
11
Status
Closed
My color picker has taken on a strange appearance. Instead of the white to whatever the color of choice is, the picker area is full of color. There is little gradation except between the colors. It looks more like a well brushed oil or water color pallette than a PS color picker. I’ve checked everything I know to do … all to no avail. I’m sure it’s something simple, but it’s apparently beyond my little pea brain’s power to comprehend. Windows XP Home, Photoshop CS, 2.8 P4, 1 Gig Ram.

Thanks!
Joe

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

AP
Alpha_Papa
Feb 5, 2004
Sounds like you’ve toggled the real color "Picker" – what about clicking on the "Swatches" tab?
JD
Joe_Dempsey
Feb 5, 2004
Alpha:
I knew it was something simple … ususally is. Where in the tunket do I find that tab. I found the dialog box with styles, color and swatches. Maybe it’something in the water.
Thanks!
Joe
AP
Alpha_Papa
Feb 5, 2004
LOL. Try Window>Swatches and then drag the Swatches palette back up to other color tabs to nest it or to another spot on the screen where you’d like to dock it.

This is another huge thing imo PS has going for it over other programs I’ve used, true flexibility over setting up the workspace. I mean real flexibility.

Btw once you’ve got the palette back where you want it – try Window>Save Workspace and give your set-up a name. If ever anything goes awry again you’ll always be able to call things back up the way you want it.

Adam.
JD
Joe_Dempsey
Feb 5, 2004
Adam:
Thanks for your yeoman assistance from your new friend in LA (Lower Arkansas).

Kindest Regards,
Joe
S
sboerner
Apr 22, 2004
I know the trail has probably grown cold on this topic, but I thought I would jump in. We are having what sounds like the same problem with the color picker on one of our Windows machines here in the office. The picker has stopped displaying the full spectrum of RGB colors. Joe’s description of the problem is perfect.

Alpha: Not sure what selecting the Swatches palette has to do with this. We need to fix the picker.

We’ve checked the preferences setting (it is correct), restarted, rebooted, etc., all the usual stuff. No luck.

Is there a preferences file in Photoshop/Windows that we can toss out to fix the problem? I’m a Mac guy, myself, and that’s what I’d do at this point. Not sure where to look for the prefs file (if there is one) on Windows NT.

Cheers,
Steve
J
JasonSmith
Apr 22, 2004
Hold on, before you go re-installing anything, let’s check something out.

In the color picker, you have the choice of various display methods – it defaults to Hue, in the HSL section.

If it’s set to ‘L’ in Lab, you will get a vastly different preview.

What setting is the color picker on?
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 22, 2004
Redo your display profile, as explained in the FAQ.
S
sboerner
Apr 22, 2004
Jason, thanks for the quick response. That sounds like the setting I’m looking for. Where is it? We’re using PS 6.0.

Chris, this isn’t a calibration problem. It’s the color picker.

Steve
CC
Chris_Cox
Apr 22, 2004
Steve – if the Adobe color picker is showing, then it has to be a color calibration problem or an RTFM problem.

Your choices are: the display profile is bad, your color preferences are bad, or you clicked on a different color channel as the main channel and failed to read the instructions about how that works.
S
sboerner
Apr 22, 2004
Chris,

Thanks. But this was not a calibration issue. It was as Jason said: simple human error — the user had accidentally clicked the wrong radio button in the picker — and I didn’t see it for what it was.

It happens in the best of homes, whether you RTFM or not.

Steve
J
JasonSmith
Apr 22, 2004
Often times I get chastised for it – but I usually try with the simplist possible solution first.

Glad it was that easy!

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections