How to Customize the WYSIWYG Color Pallet

All Mac computers have access to the WYSIWYG color pallet.

When using design programs like Adobe Photoshop or Apple Pages on a Mac computer running the OS X operating system, you will see a "Color" button in the list of design tools. Clicking on this button will display the Mac color palette, which is considered a "What You See Is What You Get" tool, or WYSIWYG, because it displays color options like they will appear on your screen. If you find a color that you want to use at a later time, you can customize the WYSIWYG palette and save it.

Things You'll Need

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later

Instructions

1. Launch any design application that uses the Apple WYSIWYG color pallet. These applications include the Adobe Creative Suite programs and the Apple iWork and iLife programs.

2. Click on the "Color" button in the list of design tools. The "Color" button is usually located in a toolbar along the top of bottom of the screen.

3. Go to the wheel tab in the upper-left corner of the WYSIWYG color pallet.

4. Scroll around the color wheel with your mouse's cursor until you find the color you want to use or save in the pallet.

5. Adjust the bar on the right-side of the pallet to increase or decrease the color's brightness. The visual representation of your color will be displayed in the rectangle at the top of the pallet.

6. Double-click anywhere in the rectangle to use the color for the current object you have selected in your design application.

7. Save the current color to the WYSIWYG pallet by clicking on the rectangle and dragging your mouse cursor to one of the white square spaces in the lower half of the window. When you release the mouse button, the color will be saved to the WYSIWYG pallet.

References

• Robin Wood: The Macintosh OS X Color Picker