Do you know all keyboard shortcuts and all the different ways in which you can apply
a color swatch in Photoshop? If not, then check out this Photoshop tutorial.
Hi. Welcome back to the Photoshop Training Channel. I'm Jesus Ramirez.
In this tutorial, I'm going to show you all the different methods in which you can apply
color swatches in Photoshop. Make sure that you stick around to the very
end of the tutorial so that you can find out all the keyboard shortcuts and techniques
that will help you work better with color swatches.
Okay, let's get started. In Photoshop 2020, the easiest way to add colors from the swatches
panel is to simply drag and drop the color swatch directly onto a layer in the layers panel.
You don't need to select the layer; Photoshop
will automatically select the layer as you drop the swatch onto it.
But how the color is applied depends on which kind of layer you have selected or what keys
you are holding down as you do. Let's start with the background layer; the
layer that has a lock next to it. Then we're going to go into the swatches panel.
If you don't have the swatches panel active, you can go into Window and select Swatches.
From here, you'll have a list of colors, including your recently used colors.
If you don't see your recently used colors, click on the fly-out menu and make sure that
you enable Show Recents. So make sure that you enable that so that
you can see your recent colors. So when you select a new color, notice how it appears
here on the top in the Recents bar. So, from the swatches panel, all you need
to do is click and drag a swatch and drop it onto the background layer, and that will
automatically create a color fill layer directly above the background layer.
Another way to do that is by simply clicking and dragging a swatch onto the background,
and it will create a fill layer right above that. And when you have a fill layer active,
you can just click on any swatch to automatically set that color as the color fill.
Or you can double click on the color fill thumbnail, and then click and drag on the
color and on this slider to change the color. I'll press Okay, and I'll set my background
to a dark gray. Next, we're going to look at a pixel layer.
By the way, anything that I do to a pixel layer will be the same with a smart object.
This is the pixel layer here on the left, and you'll notice that I have this sun shape
that was created by using the custom shape tool and using the sun shape right here.
But anyway, this is a pixel layer, so this is not a vector graphic, it's all pixels.
So, when I click and drag a swatch directly onto that pixel layer, Photoshop will fill
it using a color fill layer, and the method that it uses is a clipping mask.
See how the layer now has this down-pointing arrow pointing to the layer below? A clipping
mask makes it so that the layer that is being clipped is only visible by the pixels of the
layer below. So, in this case, it takes the shape of the
sun. Notice that the stroke is also included because it's part of the visible pixels. So
with the pixel layer, you'll just cover all the pixels in that layer. Like so.
If you wanted to create a fill layer above the pixel layer without clipping it to the
layer below, all you need to do is select the color, hold Alt on Windows, Option on
the Mac, and drag it down onto that layer and Photoshop
will create the fill layer above the layer where you dropped it. So, in this case, right
above that pixel layer. Another way of adding a color swatch onto
a layer is by holding Ctrl Alt on Windows, Command Option on the Mac, and dragging that
color swatch onto a layer, and Photoshop will then apply it as a layer style.
See that color overlay, and you can double click on that color overlay. It brings up
the layer style, and you'll see the color swatch that we selected as the color overlay
for that layer style. Next, we have a vector graphic. These are
vectors, so if I select the direct selection tool and click on the vector, you'll see all
the vector points, and I can, of course, make adjustments to the vectors.
I'm going to undo those changes by pressing Ctrl Z on Window, Command Z, in the Mac. Next,
I'm going to go back into my swatches panel, and I'm going to drop a color onto this vector
graphic. So if I select this blue color and drag it
onto my vector graphic, notice that Photoshop will only fill the fill color. See that? The
fill color is here, it made it into that blue, or I can make it red.
And notice that Photoshop only changes the field. It won't affect the stroke. The stroke
is a separate property. And as far as I know, there's no way of dragging a swatch and affecting
the stroke. Maybe in future releases of Photoshop, this
will be a possibility, but as of now, it's something that you cannot do.
And another thing you can do is click on the color swatch and drag it directly onto the
vector layer here in the layers panel, and it will give you the same result.
A text layer will offer similar results, notice the word sun here, right in the center. I
can click and drag a color swatch directly onto the layer, and Photoshop will fill the
layer. Notice that if I select the horizontal type
tool, that is now the color of the text layer, and I can again click on a different color
and drop it directly onto the text, and Photoshop will fill it.
You could also select two layers at the same time, hold Shift, and click on both layers.
In this case, I've selected a text layer and a vector layer, and simply clicking on a swatch
will fill both of those layers with that color. And I can continue clicking on swatches, and
you will see how both layers will change. Again, this only changes a fill. Notice that
the stroke is not changing in the vector graphic. Now, what happens if you select a text layer,
a vector layer, and the pixel layer, and then click on one of the color swatch as well?
The text layer and the vector layer will change, but the pixel layer will remain unchanged.
And notice that this pixel layer also had a color overlay, and the color overlay was
not affected. So when you select multiple layers, and you select the color swatch, the
only layers that will be affected will be the text layer and the vector layer.
Now, before we conclude the tutorial, I would like to go into the libraries panel and show
you what happens when you do the same with a color saved onto a library.
So, with a color that you have saved onto a library, if you click-and-drag it directly
onto the layer, nothing will happen. I can do that to the vector layer, the text layer,
or the pixel layer, and the color will not change.
The only way to apply these colors in Photoshop 2020 is to select the layer, like in this
case, the vector layer, and then click on the color, and Photoshop applies it onto the
fill once again, leaving the stroke unaffected. And for a text layer, the same thing.
You can select a text layer and then click on the color in the Libraries panel, and Photoshop
will apply it. If you double click on one of these colors, Photoshop will apply it,
but it will also bring up the color picker. So, remember, one-click applies the color,
two clicks applies the color, and brings up the color picker. And in case you're wondering
how to save a color into a libraries panel, well, it's quite simple.
You can select any color that you want from the swatches panel or simply double click
on the foreground color, and from the color picker, you can select any color that you
want and press Okay. Go into the libraries panel, and from this
plus icon, you can set the foreground color, or in this case, the text color as a color
in the libraries panel. So, if I select foreground color, you'll see
that color appear here. It will add it into the library, and it's currently in that group.
But that's okay. The color is here, and this will work just
like the colors that I have grouped right up here. By the way, let me know down in the
comments below if you think that these techniques will help you increase your productivity.
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Thank you so much for watching. I will talk to you again in the next Photoshop tutorial.