Just about every app on a Mac that has a color option uses a tool called the Color Picker. On my personal Mac, Color Picker is used in the following and in several other third-party apps:
- Preview
- Notes
- iMovie
- Keynote
- Pages
- Numbers
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Stickies
- TextEdit
In today’s quick tutorial, I’ll show how Color Picker is used, how to save color swatches, and more.
Where can I find Color Picker?
Color Picker is used within other apps. It’s not a standalone application in macOS, so you won’t find it in the Applications or Utilities folders.
Instead, it is found in most apps where a color needs to be selected. As an example, let’s look at Pages. Selecting a text color under the Format tab, there’s a small button next to the swatch showing the existing text color. It’s outlined in red in the image below.
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Click that button, and the Color Picker appears. A similar button works the same magic in Numbers and Keynote.
In Mail, clicking the text color reveals a variety of colors arranged in a grid. If none of those colors suit your fancy, click Show Colors to reveal the Color Picker.
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It’s that easy! Now you’re ready to have fun with colors on your Mac. Have questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments.
How can I find out what color is already being used for a particular word or text block? When I go to match that color, it’s pretty much a guessing game—and one I seldom win.
Mail and Preview…. Third party apps?