Academy

Colors

Mastering color is something that many might consider a privilege reserved for advanced creators. But with Curve’s Color Picker and Color Widget tool it's easier to become a color Jedi than you think.

You can quickly modify the hue of an object by selecting it, and also access more color options, like interacting with the Eyedropper, set a gradient, or swapping the Fill and the Stroke.

The Color Picker menu

The Color Picker allows you to change the color of your selected object's Fill, Stroke, or Shadow inside the corresponding sections within the Style Tab.

To open the Color Picker, tap the Color Well (1) for any Fill, Stroke, or Shadow you want to change.

Color well
  • The Fill Options – At the very top of the Popover menu, you can switch between Solid (A) and Gradient (B) to change the fill of your selected shape.
  • The Preview – It shows the final result (C) of your color settings. On the right side (D) it will preview the previous color you used.
  • The Color Picker (E) – Drag the point around to pick your color. If you move from left to right you can change the color’s saturation, and up or down can change its brightness. It uses the HSB (hue, saturation, brightness) Color Model. If you have an object selected, the new color will change immediately as soon as you release your finger/pencil from the picker.If you tap the color picker point inside the Color Picker Window, you will get a numeric display of the RGBA values of your sampled color at the bottom of the Color Picker Window. The RGB numbers signify the separate color ID and value of the channels R (red), G (green), and Blue (B) of your currently selected color. The number A signifies the current opacity value (Alpha channel) of your currently selected color.
  • The Color Slider  (F) – The Color Sliders control the color hue of your selected shape.
  • The Alpha Slider (G) – The Alpha Slider controls the opacity (the Alpha Channel) of your color. The lower the value is, the more transparent the fill of your shape will be.
  • Color History (H) – Below the Alpha Slider, you can see a palette of six small boxes that display the last six colors that you have used previously.
  • Color Palette (I) – You can pick a color while drawing and save it to your customizable color palette as a color or as a gradient.

To close the Color Picker, simply swipe the popover down.

The color picker menu

Note:

When you enter a color’s HEX code in the field, its Alpha value will return to 100%.

The Color Slider Space

The Color Picker Popover contains two different tabs which allow you to choose a color depending on the Color Space you prefer to use.

In the Color Picker, you can simply move your cursor around the Color Picker or use the Color Sliders at the bottom.

In the second tab (2), you have the option to manually set a specific color using the RGB (red, green, blue) Color Space and Alpha values. Alternatively, you can also use the sliders. Tapping the RGB label (C) below the sliders will take you to the HSB (hue, saturation, brightness) color controls. Tap again to switch back.

The color slider

The Color Widget

Located at the bottom of your Toolbar on the left side of your screen, the Color Widget allows you to change fast and easily the color properties of your selected shape among other features such as:

  • The Color Picker and the History Panel.
  • All the sliders from the Color Panel.
  • The Color Palette functions.
  • The adjustable Effect options.

These two new additional buttons below the Toolbar allow you to select and change easily and fast the Fill (1) and the Stroke (2) colors of your Vector Paths without the need to open the Inspector menu.

The color widget

Tap the Fill Widget to open the Color Picker. Here you can choose between a Solid and a Gradient Fill.

Tap the Stroke widget to open the Color Picker. The Stroke Widget can be used exactly the same way as the Color Picker in the Style Tab. The functions and properties are identical to the Color Picker.

You can find the Eyedropper ic-eyedropper icon at the top left corner of the Color Picker which allows you to pick any color from the canvas. When the Eyedropper is active, a magnifying circle will appear on top of your artwork. Hold and move it around until you find the color you want to sample.

By long-pressing on the widget, a context menu will appear from which we can:

  • A – Open the Color Picker ic-color-picker icon
  • B – Use the Eyedropper ic-eyedropper icon
  • C – Swap between Fill and Stroke options ic-swap-colors icon
  • D – Disable the stroke/fill color ic-hide icon . When disabled, the circle will appear with a diagonal red line on top.

When the Stroke or Fill Color is disabled in the Color Widget, a diagonal red line will appear on the corresponding circle to show its deactivation.

context menu

The Eyedropper

The Eyedropper ic-eyedropper icon allows you to pick & copy a color from any image or vector path you have on your canvas. Just tap the Eyedropper icon (1) in the Style Tab, which you can find close to the Fill, Stroke, or Shadow Well. A magnifying circle (2) will appear on top of your artwork. Hold and move it around until you find the color you want to sample.

If you have an object already selected, tap on the color you want to copy, and the eyedropper will automatically apply the chosen color to the selected object.

The eye dropper tool
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