How to Set the Foreground in Photoshop CS3

The Foreground Color is the black square on top of the white one.

One basic piece of knowledge that will help get you started using Photoshop CS3 is learning how to select the Foreground Color. The Foreground/Background Color display is located at the bottom of your Toolbox. You can choose the Foreground Color by either selecting a color from the Adobe Color Picker or by using the Eyedropper tool.

Instructions

Adobe Color Picker

1. Locate the Foreground/Background Color display, which appears as two squares at the bottom of the Toolbox on the left side of your screen. Click once on the top-left square -- Foreground -- and the Adobe Color Picker box opens.

2. Drag the vertical sliding scale in the center of the box to choose a hue. As you drag the scale, the color field to the left of the scale changes, displaying the hue along with all its possible value and saturation variants. Click anywhere in the color field to choose a color. The color appears in the small rectangle to the upper-right side of the scale that says "New."

3. Enter numbers into the appropriate boxes to choose a color if you prefer this method over the color field. You can select from the following color modes: RGB, CMYK, Lab, HSB, or a hexadecimal value. These entries are helpful for printing and Web design color selection.

4. Click "OK" once you have chosen a color by using one of these two methods. The color appears in the Toolbox's Foreground Color display.

Eyedropper Tool

1. Open an image from which you want to sample a color by clicking "File," then "Open." Choose an image from its folder.

2. Click the "Eyedropper" tool, located three tools up from the Foreground/Background Color display. Choose the Sample Size in the menu bar at the top of the screen. You can choose a single pixel of color, or create an average color from a sample of up to 101-by-101 pixels.

3. Click anywhere in your image with the Eyedropper tool and the Foreground Color display changes in the Toolbar according to the Sample Size.

Tips & Warnings

• To set the Foreground Color as your current Background Color selection, click the two-sided arrow to the upper right of the two color squares. The two colors switch.

References

• "Photoshop CS3 for Windows and Macintosh"; Elaine Weinmann, Peter Lourekas; 2007

Resources

• Adobe: Photoshop CS3