Edit color throughout the document

[LaraJ]

Hi,

Is it possible to change a specific color everywhere it appears in a document in one click (more or less)? This was a very useful feature in InDesign where you would simply change the hex code of the color and it would automatically change everywhere that color was used in that document. 

Also, is it possible to edit a gradient and automatically update it everywhere it was used in a document?

[Old Bruce]

If you use Global Colours then yes you can, just make a Document Pallet and put in some global colours, give them some relevant names not just the default global colour 1, 2, 3, etc.

[LaraJ]

Thanks you so much, @Old Bruce This is brilliant! Do you know if it's also possible to automatically change a gradient made using global colors? For example, if I have a gradient that goes from red to yellow and both the red and the yellow are global colors, if I change the red to blue, is there a way for the gradient to become blue and yellow everywhere it is used in that document?

[Old Bruce]

16 minutes ago, LaraJ said:

Thanks you so much, @Old Bruce This is brilliant! Do you know if it's also possible to automatically change a gradient made using global colors? For example, if I have a gradient that goes from red to yellow and both the red and the yellow are global colors, if I change the red to blue, is there a way for the gradient to become blue and yellow everywhere it is used in that document?

Yes...

Make your document palette and put your Global colours on it, name them descriptively, Gradient Palette with Grad Color 1, Grad Color 2, and so on. When you choose the colours for the gradient's stops use the Swatchs panel to choose the colours. You can have more than one Document Palette per document, just use descriptive names along the lines of What Does This Palette Do? Gradients.  What is this Colour For? Gradient Stop number 1.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

You can have more than one Document Palette per document...

Thanks! I never realized that was possible.!

[LaraJ]

Thanks, @Old Bruce Unfortunately, I must be missing something because the gradient doesn't update when I change the colors... Do the global colors have to be spot or overprint? I didn't select any. I'm attaching a screen recording.

[Old Bruce]

Hi @LaraJ

I was less than clear, do not edit the colour the way you are doing. Edit the spot colour on the Swatches Panel.Have nothing selected, if you do have something selected that will have the colour assigned. Just edit the Global colour

 

[LaraJ]

Thanks @Old Bruce I see that you don't have the gradient saved in the same Document Palette where you have the Global Colors saved. Where should the Gradient be saved? Sorry, I'm still struggling with this  

[Old Bruce]

Just now, LaraJ said:

Thanks @Old Bruce I see that you don't have the gradient saved in the same Document Palette where you have the Global Colors saved. Where should the Gradient be saved? Sorry, I'm still struggling with this  

Wherever you want to, this was just a quick demo to clear up my less than concise earlier information. Same Palette makes a sort of sense.

[LaraJ]

I'm thinking the problem is in the way I choose the colours for the gradient's stops... since I use the color picker and they probably don't get properly defined. But I just don't know any other way to do it. Neither can I find any information online on how to create a gradient in Affinity Publisher.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, LaraJ said:

I'm thinking the problem is in the way I choose the colours for the gradient's stops... since I use the color picker and they probably don't get properly defined. But I just don't know any other way to do it. Neither can I find any information online on how to create a gradient in Affinity Publisher.

Use the gradient tool to set the stops, then use the predefined global colours to colour those individual stops by (still using the gradient tool) choosing a stop on the page and then clicking on a global colour on/in the swatches panel.

Then if you want to edit the colours in the gradient use the edit global colours by double clicking on the global colour swatch in the swatches panel.

As far as I know Publisher works the same way.

[LaraJ]

Thank you @Old Bruce for all your help and my apologies for coming back to this but I'm still struggling to create gradients that can be updated by simply changing the global color. I managed to create the gradient as instructed and the stop colors change when the global colors are modified but only when the gradient is applied to shapes (like the rectangle tool). When I apply it to a table frame or a table row and change one of the global colors that form the gradient, no change takes place. Is it possible that changing gradient global stop colors works for shapes only and not for tables?

[lacerto]

(...)

[LaraJ]

Thanks, @Lagarto So I managed to change the global color of the stops for table frames, but only if I define the gradient stops for each table in particular. However, if I want to apply a predefined gradient to a table frame, the color doesn't change, in spite of the fact that when I select any of the stops the global color attributed to it also gets selected in the swatches panel. I work with gradients that have 5 stops or more. Redoing the gradient and placing the stops exactly where they should be every time I add a table it's a chore. But maybe I'm missing something? 🤔

[lacerto]

(...)