InDesign

Create color swatches

Swatches can include spot or process colors, mixed inks (process colors mixed with one or more spot colors), RGB or Lab colors, gradients, or tints.

When you place an image that contains spot colors, the colors are automatically added as swatches to the Swatches panel. You can apply these swatches to objects in your document, but you cannot redefine or delete the swatches.

The selected color or gradient appears in the Swatches panel and in the Fill box or Stroke box in the Toolbox, and is applied to the fill or stroke of all selected objects.

Create a new color swatch

  1. Choose New Color Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.
  2. For Color Type, choose the method you’ll use to print document colors on a printing press.
  3. For Swatch Name, do one of the following:

    • If you chose Process as the color type and you want the name always to describe the color values, make sure that Name With Color Value is selected.

    • If you chose Process as the color type and you want to name the color yourself, make sure that Name With Color Value is deselected, and type a Swatch Name.

    • If you chose Spot, type a Swatch Name.

  4. For Color Mode, choose the mode you want to use in defining the color. Avoid changing the mode after you define a color.
  5. Do one of the following:

    • Drag the sliders to change the color values. You can also enter numeric values in the text boxes next to the color sliders.

    • For spot colors, choose from color libraries in the Color Mode menu.

  6. If an out-of-gamut alert icon  appears, and you want to use the in-gamut color closest to the color you originally specified, click the small color box next to the alert icon.
  7. Do one of the following:

    • Click Add to add the swatch and define another one. Click Done when finished.

    • Click OK to add the swatch and exit the dialog box.

To directly define a spot color using the New Swatch button in the Swatches panel, make sure that no swatches are selected, and then hold down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or Option+Command (Mac OS) as you click the New Swatch button .

Create a swatch based on the color of an object

  1. Select the object.
  2. In the Toolbox or Swatches panel, select the Fill box or the Stroke box.
  3. In the Swatches panel, do one of the following:

    • Click the New Swatch button  and double-click the resulting new swatch.

    • Choose New Color Swatch in the Swatches panel menu.