The vast majority of the time, the vast
majority of us use Photoshop's Color Picker in the default
configuration. Perhaps we use Custom Colors to select a spot
color, but when using the Color Picker itself, we ignore the
eight optional modes. (What? You didn't know that the Color
Picker has different modes?)
By default, Photoshop's Color Picker opens in Hue mode. The
color field, the square area to the left, shows variations in
saturation from left to right and variations in brightness
from top to bottom. The hue is selected in the color slider,
running vertically to the right of the color field. However,
you can change the operation of the color field and the color
slider by selecting a different mode button.
When the button to the left of S is selected, saturation is
displayed in the color slider and the color field is used to
determine hue (left-right) and brightness (top-bottom). Using
the Saturation mode makes it easy to change the current
foreground color's saturation with the color slider.
Click on the button to the left of B to switch to Brightness
mode. The color slider is used to select brightness, while the
color field determines hue (left-right) and saturation
(top-bottom). Brightness mode is an excellent choice when
creating a gradient from two tints of the same color.
You can also use red, green, or blue as the basis for
selection in the Color Picker. In these modes, the selected
color appears in the color slider, while the other two
component colors are determined in the color field.
Using the Red mode as an example, you can best see the
relationship between the color slider and the color field when
the selected color is set to zero (the bottom of the color
slider). Black is located in the lower-left of the color
field, where all three component colors are zero. White is in
the upper-right of the color field (when the color slider is
also dragged to the top).
When the color slider is positioned higher, the component
color value is higher than zero. The relationship among the
colors in the color field is less clear.
You can use the R, G, and B modes of the Color Picker to
maintain one or more component color values when defining a
new foreground color. To retain one color value, use that
mode, ignore the color slider, and make changes in the color
field. To maintain two color values, use the mode of the
component color that needs to be changed and adjust the color
slider only.
In the upper-right of the Color Picker are buttons that enable
you to use the Lab values as modes. In L (luminance) mode, the
color slider determines the luminance value and the hue is
selected in the color field. L mode is best used to change the
luminance of an existing foreground color.
The Color Picker's a and b modes use the color slider to
adjust that component, determining the other color value and
the luminance in the color field. [The Lab color model defines
color according to luminance (L), a red-green component (a),
and a blue-yellow component (b).] You may find no use for the
a and b modes of the Color Picker.
Note that you there are no buttons to the left of the CMYK
fields.
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