Skip to main content
F
FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
May 19, 2015
Under Review

P: Ability to sample colors from the Libraries panel

  • May 19, 2015
  • 26 replies
  • 836 views

I think it would be a great improvement if I could sample colors from my CC Library anywhere within Photoshop. Presently, for example, if I am editing a Gradient Overlay for a layer and I want to change a color to one I have already defined in my Library I can't! I can click on the swatch I want but it doesn't translate to the color picker for the gradient I am trying to edit. So I have to hover over and look for the hex value and manually type that in. This seems so counter-intuitive to the way the Library should work. Yes I can set the foreground color, but that is only in the toolbar and that doesn't help while I am editing a Layer Style.

    26 replies

    A
    ashley28339604eug5
    Participant
    March 30, 2023

    It's 2023 (nearly 8 years since this original post) – Adobe, can we get a response?? This is an EVERY DAY headache for so many designers and should really be a standard feature. What's the point of libraries if we can't click on a swatch and have it simple apply to our selection – partial text selections, color overlay layer styles on smart objects, etc. It's absurd this hasn't been fixed by now.

      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      April 6, 2020
      That's @2377939 for sharing, but this doesn't work for me (I'm on a Mac). And besides, it sounds like the UX is not great, scrolling the artboard out of the window like that.

      This is something that has puzzled and infuriated me for years. Especially when I want to recolour text. Why can't I click the Text colour in the Character panel and then sample direct from the library.

      Yes, I can simply black-arrow select the text and colour all the text, but what if I want to highlight some words and colour those?

      Can we get this fixed, please? This seems like a complete no-brainer, yet it has remained like this since CC Libraries were introduced.
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      June 27, 2019
      Thank you to Gener7 for the post two years ago. In case anyone missed it:

      THIS WORKS AND DOES NOT INTERRUPT WORKFLOW TOO MUCH
      You can click and drag the eyedropper tool from [anywhere inside] the document window to any part of Photoshop, including the colors in the Library Panel and select them that way.
      It scrolled my image almost off the screen but it DID work. I just had to press space to bring the hand up and move it back. This is much easier than setting the FG color first. (If I remembered EVER to set the FG color first, then I would not be here looking for a solution! lol )

      I am on a PC. Unsure if this works on MAC. Maybe someone else can confirm...

      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      June 25, 2019
      Brilliant! This suggestion just saved me a ton of time and headaches.
      A
      angelaw90591685
      Participant
      March 18, 2019
      The only workaround I've found is to select the color from the library and set it as your foreground color, THEN select it from there when you need it when updating Layer Styles.  I was frustrated about this too but this seems to work for now.
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      March 18, 2019
      Thought it was just me missing something, but this actually isn't possible. This is ridiculous. Libraries work great, but mostly just to group and share assets across other apps. Not for colors within Photoshop, apparently. 

      Edit: hang on, I think I just found something. With a layer selected, you van right-click the color in the library and choose 'Apply Fill/Stroke Color' or 'Apply Color Overlay'. 
      That's one way to approach this.. 

      In case anyone else stumbles across this post. 
        A
        angelaw90591685
        Participant
        January 28, 2019
        +1 - I love the library feature and would like to use it in Layer Styles.
        F
        FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
        Inspiring
        August 9, 2018
        Agree, this could be a really nice feature.
        F
        FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
        Inspiring
        August 7, 2018
        Wow, +1000 for how utterly ridiculous this is : /
        J
        jesslouwagie
        Participant
        May 9, 2018
        Agree with the previous two posts! And technically not a bug, but a user experience design fail. The addition of Libraries and sharable assets is great - but the fact they cannot be used within the context or normal, expected user tasks is obviously a miss. Would greatly appreciate a fix to this in the near future (I posted to this thread 2 years ago!), its something that frustrates me EVERY day, no exaggeration.
        Show more replies
        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices