Selecting the primary color from other color pickers

[RobG4]

I promise I have read the docs and searched the forums, and I still feel like I'm missing something: In Affinity Photo (I'm on Mac) it's a pretty awkward process selecting the current primary color in any color panel other than the main Color panel. For example the text tool has its own color panel, which stays on whatever color I last used for text. But I very often want to set it to my current primary color and the only way I know of to do this is to drag the eyedrop from the text color panel to the primary color panel and drop it over the circle... and then go back to the text color panel and click the sampled color.

This just seems a super janky workflow to me, and it's the same deal when using color panels for shapes, effects, etc, etc. There's got to be a quicker way to just "set to primary color", no? Isn't this the entire point of having a primary color in the first place?

Thanks for any suggestions and I apologize if I'm missing something obvious

Edited August 1, 2020 by RobG4
clarify "panel" vs "picker"

[thomaso]

How about using the "Recent" color icons in the Swatches Panel?

[RobG4]

That works as long as all my recent colors are different enough from each other. But typically I'll be trying out various shades of a color until I find the exact one I like, and then I want to apply that one to a bunch of different things. At which point my recents all look so similar that it's hard to pick the right one. Which is why I want to set my chosen color as the primary and go off that.

I know I can also add my chosen color to a custom swatch set, but that's even more clicks than the eyedropper rigamarole. 

[thomaso]

9 minutes ago, RobG4 said:

typically I'll be trying out various shades of a color until I find the exact one (...)

I know I can also add my chosen color to a custom swatch set, but that's even more clicks than the eyedropper rigamarole. 

You can auto-create a bunch of shades of your primary color with one click via Colour Panel > burger menu > "Add Chord to Swatch" > ..., there select "Shades", "Tints" or "Tones".

If you prefer to assign colours without swatches you might want to use the eyedropper tool to transfer a color between objects with a single click. It works different than the eyedropper in the colours panel.

[RobG4]

Ok.. you've helped me realize my question doesn't actually apply to objects (shapes, text) because they interact directly with the main Color panel (the primary color is always the color of the active object). My question really only applies when adding effects to a pixel layer: color overlay, outline, glow, etc. For example, say I want to make these blue dots the specific pink shown in the Color panel. The fill tool is not practical, so I use the color overlay effect. What's the easiest way to set it to that pink?