CorelDRAW

Choosing colors

You can choose fill and outline colors by using fixed or custom color palettes, color viewers, color harmonies, or color blends. When you want to use a color that already exists in an object or document, you can sample the color to achieve an exact match.

For information about applying the colors you choose, see “Applying uniform fills” and “Formatting lines and outlines.”

Default color palette

A color palette is a collection of color swatches. In some programs, color palettes are known as “swatch palettes.”

You can choose fill and outline colors by using the default color palette, which contains 99 colors from the CMYK color model.

The selected fill and outline colors appear in the color swatches on the status bar.

Fixed or custom color palettes

Fixed color palettes are provided by third-party manufacturers. Some examples of these are PANTONE, HKS Colors, and TRUMATCH. It may be useful to have on hand a manufacturer’s swatch book, which is a collection of color samples that shows exactly what each color looks like when printed.

Some fixed color palettes — PANTONE, HKS Colors, TOYO, DIC, Focoltone, and SpectraMaster — are collections of spot colors. If you create color separations when you print, each color from these color palettes requires a separate printing plate. This can significantly affect the cost of your print job. If you want to use these colors, but you don’t want to use spot colors, convert the spot colors to process colors when printing. For more information, see “Printing color separations.”

Custom color palettes can include colors from any color model or fixed color palette. You can save a custom color palette for future use. For more information about working with custom color palettes, see “Creating custom color palettes” and “Opening and editing custom color palettes.”

The PANTONE solid coated palette is an example of a fixed color palette.

Sampling colors

When you want to use a color that already exists in a drawing, you can sample the color to achieve an exact match. By default, you sample a single pixel from the drawing window.

Color viewers provide a representation of a range of colors by using either one-dimensional or three-dimensional shapes. The default color viewer is based on the HSB color model, but you can use this viewer to choose CMYK, CMY, or RGB colors. The default color viewer is based on the HSB color model, but you can use this viewer to choose CMY or RGB colors. For information about color models, see “Understanding color models.”

Examples of color viewers

Color harmonies

Color harmonies work by superimposing a shape, such as a rectangle or a triangle, over a color wheel. Each vertical row in the color grid begins with the color located at one of the points on the superimposed shape.

The colors at each corner of the shape are always complementary, contrasting, or harmonious, depending on the shape you choose. The color harmonies let you choose a color model, and they are most useful when you need to choose several colors for a project.

Examples of color harmonies

Color blends

When you choose a color by using color blends, you combine base colors to produce the color you want. The color blender displays a grid of colors that it creates from the four base colors you choose.

Examples of color blends

To choose a color by using the default color palette

A pop-up color palette

To choose a color by using a fixed or custom color palette

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To choose a fill color, click the Fill tool , and click Uniform fill.

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To choose an outline color, click the Outline tool , and click Outline color.

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You can display or hide the names of fixed or custom colors by clicking Options Show color names.

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You can swap the Old color (of the selected object) and the New color (which has been chosen in the color selection area) by clicking Options Swap colors.

To choose a color by using a color viewer

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To choose a fill color, click the Fill tool , and click Uniform fill.

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To choose an outline color, click the Outline tool , and click Outline color.

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Click Options Color viewers, and click a color viewer.

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You can swap the Old color (of the selected object) and the New color (which has been chosen in the color selection area) by clicking Options Swap colors.

To choose a color by using color harmonies

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To choose a fill color, click the Fill tool , and click Uniform fill.

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To choose an outline color, click the Outline tool , and click Outline color.

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Click Options Mixers Color harmonies.

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You can swap the Old color (of the selected object) and the New color (which has been chosen in the color selection area) by clicking Options Swap colors.

To choose a color by using color blends

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To choose a fill color, click the Fill tool , and click Uniform fill.

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To choose an outline color, click the Outline tool , and click Outline color.

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Click Options Mixers Color blend.

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You can swap the Old color (of the selected object) and the New color (which has been chosen in the color selection area) by clicking Options Swap colors.

To sample a color

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In the toolbox, click the Eyedropper tool .

If you want to apply the sampled color to an object, click the Paintbucket tool , and click the object in the drawing window. The pointer changes as you hover over an area to indicate whether an outline or fill area is chosen. For example, as you hover over the center of a square, the pointer displays a solid color swatch; as you hover over the outline of the square, the pointer displays an outline shape.

Choosing colors