In the Adobe Color Picker, you choose colors using four color models: HSB, RGB, Lab, and CMYK. Use the Adobe Color Picker to set the foreground color, background color, and text color. You can also set target colors for different tools, commands, and options.

You can configure the Adobe Color Picker to let you choose only web-safe colors or choose from specific color systems. Photoshop Extended users can access a HDR (high dynamic range) picker to choose colors for use in HDR images.

The color field in the Adobe Color Picker displays color components in HSB color mode, RGB color mode, and Lab color mode. If you know the numeric value of the color you want, you can enter it into the text fields. You can also use the color slider and the color field to preview a color to choose. As you adjust the color using the color field and color slider, the numerical values are adjusted accordingly. The color box to the right of the color slider displays the adjusted color in the top section and the original color in the bottom section. Alerts appear if the color is not web-safe  or is out of gamut  for printing (non-printable) .

Adobe Color Picker

A.

Picked color

B.

Original color

C.

Adjusted color

D.

Out-of-gamut alert icon

E.

Not web-safe alert icon

F.

Web Colors option

G.

Color field

H.

Color slider

I.

Color values

When you select a color in the Adobe Color Picker, it simultaneously displays the numeric values for HSB, RGB, Lab, CMYK, and hexadecimal numbers. This is useful for viewing how the different color models describe a color.

Although Photoshop uses the Adobe Color Picker by default, you can use a different color picker than the Adobe Color Picker by setting a preference. For instance, you can use the built‑in color picker of your computer’s operating system or a third party plug‑in color picker.