Palette improvements

[ronnyb]

Just some thoughts to streamline the use of palettes in AD

 

1. Please default to loading the Document specific palette if it is stored with the document; right now, it's always on gray... that's a bleak, bleak world, and time waste to have to switch to the doc palette everytime I load a document with custom colors, which is always.

 

2. Import Palette - it's great that AD allows exporting palettes to share. However, it would be a great timesaver to allow direct selection of a file's palette without having to export first, then import. Meaning, the user could just go to Import Palette pop-up menu, and select an AD file which has an embedded palette. Saves time and extra files...

 

3. Add Palette - as soon as one creates a custom palette from the Add XXX Palette pop-up menu item, it would be very beneficial to have the (Re)Name Dialogue box come up to name the palette. Again, this saves precious time...

Edited November 25, 2017 by ronnyb

[Hokusai]

ronnyb,

 

Good suggestions and I agree with you. I've inquired about your 1st request in regards to the colours ever since Designer 1.5 (that is when I noticed it) because as it is now, even if you set up a CMYK document, the colour palette that loads by default is RBG values for Black (under the "Greys" palette), which is confusing and can cause some big problems. I believe as it is now, the document settings (RGB or CMYK) don't affect the colour palettes that load. If you set up a document in CMYK, I would think it should present you with a CMYK colour palette by default (and then if you need an RGB or other palette, you can load it yourself) but as it is now you are always given a "GREY" - RGB values colour palette which I never use. 

 

Hokusai

[MikeW]

Personally I think the palette system needs a total makover both in function and as regards when the document color space is CMYK. To add to the list, so-called global colors are a mess and when it is a spot color being added, it ought to use the color name. And the choices for a color in a palette should be reduced anyway. If I add a color to the palette, I expect it to be global by default else I will ad hoc mix colors. This will be especially important whenever APub arrives.

 

In any case, I redid my palettes. So when Grays are used, they really are shads of K. And they output as such without any fiddling around.

 

 

My Default palette adds the C,M,Y,K colors as well...And they output as such, too.

 

 

I have a backup of them for the possibility that a future update will wipe them out. And if the swatch system changes, as long as I can import them, I'll be fine.

[R C-R]

@ronnyb I like your first & third suggestions very much. I am not so sure about the second one, mostly because I think it would be easy to lose track of which documents used (or even had) a particular document palette. For palettes I intend to use in more than one document, I save them as application palettes & give them a descriptive name. That way, there is no need for a separate window to sort through what could be hundreds of different files in different folders, & it minimizes confusion about what the palette is for.

 

Does this not work for you?

[ronnyb]

On 11/27/2017 at 7:13 AM, R C-R said:

@ronnyb I like your first & third suggestions very much. I am not so sure about the second one, mostly because I think it would be easy to lose track of which documents used (or even had) a particular document palette. For palettes I intend to use in more than one document, I save them as application palettes & give them a descriptive name. That way, there is no need for a separate window to sort through what could be hundreds of different files in different folders, & it minimizes confusion about what the palette is for.

 

Does this not work for you?

 

Hey R C-R, sure it works; I was just suggesting additional functionality for importing a palette directly from one document into another, without exporting and saving an additional file. If I'm creating a new document for the same client, I probably want to use (or at least start with) the same palette as a previous doc. I certainly DON'T want ot have every client palette stored as an application-wide palette, that would be insane... are you trying to get us all killed?!?!  I think application palettes are appropriate for color systems like Pantone, etc. Hopefully other systems are translated, like artists markers (like the wonderful Concepts app in iOS) or Berol Prismacolor coloring pencils, etc...

 

 

[R C-R]

35 minutes ago, ronnyb said:

I was just suggesting additional functionality for importing a palette directly from one document into another, without exporting and saving an additional file.

At least on Macs & I assume similarly on Windows, all the application palettes are stored in a single per user binary encoded "fills.propcol" file, not as individual files. So while you can export individual palettes to .afpalette files for portability, you do not have to do that, nor does adding application palettes have much of an impact on file space requirements.

 

1 hour ago, ronnyb said:

I certainly DON'T want ot have every client palette stored as an application-wide palette, that would be insane...

Why? As I said, each application palette can have its own distinctive name, so there should be no confusion about that. I suppose if you have a great many clients, each with one or more standard palettes, it could be inconvenient to have to sort through a huge list, but I think for that a better solution would be a new category/subcategory organizational feature, similar to Affinity Designer's Assets one.