Skip to main content
chrissyf98888097
Inspiring
August 30, 2018
Answered

Eyedropper does not work as it used to in Animate CC

  • August 30, 2018
  • 7 replies
  • 4721 views

I just purchased the new cintiq pro 24.  Previously I had the 21 UX and the eyedropper worked normally, if not exceptionally, picking any color used on the stage regardless of it being in a symbol, group, png, or otherwise.  It was a great time to be alive, knowing that if I used the tool for its intended purpose, it would do its job.  I'm using windows 10.

Suddenly, with the new 4k monitor, it will turn any color I pick into grey.  It will only work if I open the group or symbol and use the eyedropper on a selected, flattened drawing.  It is insanely annoying to have to constantly go into a group or symbol to select a color that I was just using.

I searched the forums and saw a post saying 4k monitors do this - and I have 2 displays currently so I did what the forum post said and tried using it on my other monitor.  Eyedropper works fine.  I tried making my cintiq the main display, and that changed nothing.

How on earth do I fix this?  I am massively annoyed that I'm constantly having problems using Animate and other programs with my new monitor, all because Windows is awful and hates me, and also Adobe has made their entire line of programs completely useless to use with one another.

Correct answer chrissyf98888097

After much f*ckery with the dpi settings for the program I somehow got it to work. So here's what I have -

in display settings I have the 4k monitor set to 200% so that the UI is readable.

On the program icon on my desktop, Right click and go to properties.

In properties tab, click "compatibility"

In "change high dpi settings" -  I have both "program DPI" and "high dpi scaling behavior" checked.

In the compatibility tab, nothing is checked.

Click Apply and restart Animate.  Eyedropper works now and the UI scaling is good.

The only thing that is still NOT good, is the right click menus.  They are still scaled to 100% for the monitor, therefore they are SUPER SMALL.  Any ideas?

7 replies

Participant
January 17, 2025

Hello. I'm a mac user running OS Sequoia, using Adobe Animate version 24.0.7 and using a Wacom cintiq. I'm having the same issue with the eyedropper sammpling a color that is slightly lighter than the selected color.  I don't know how to achieve what you did on your PC. Can you help?

JohnnyESG
Participant
May 30, 2023

OMG chrissyf98888097 thank you SO MUCH. A blessing upon you and your kin!!!       

Participant
April 21, 2023

GOD BLESS YOU! I didn't even have a ew cintiq, I have a super duper old one.....and I was having this problem with the latest update. This solved it! You're a hero!

Participating Frequently
January 20, 2021

This has been driving me crazy forever! Thank you so much for sharing this magic:)

Participant
March 19, 2020

Dude, you just saved me! Thank you so much!

chrissyf98888097
chrissyf98888097AuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
September 4, 2018

After much f*ckery with the dpi settings for the program I somehow got it to work. So here's what I have -

in display settings I have the 4k monitor set to 200% so that the UI is readable.

On the program icon on my desktop, Right click and go to properties.

In properties tab, click "compatibility"

In "change high dpi settings" -  I have both "program DPI" and "high dpi scaling behavior" checked.

In the compatibility tab, nothing is checked.

Click Apply and restart Animate.  Eyedropper works now and the UI scaling is good.

The only thing that is still NOT good, is the right click menus.  They are still scaled to 100% for the monitor, therefore they are SUPER SMALL.  Any ideas?

Preran
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 9, 2018

Hi, am sorry for being late to this post. I suggest getting in touch with Contact Customer Care​ for more assistance.

Thanks,

Preran

_keyframer
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 30, 2018

"It was a great time to be alive..." 

Okay well, I agree - the ability to grab any color on screen using the eyedropper is a massive advantage. As we know the inability to do so with 4K monitors is weird. I suppose that may be the issue but not sure that we can blame Adobe since they do not develop monitors. As far as Adobe not making their software useful to one another (meaning compatible) nothing could be further from the truth.

But the issue at hand is the ability to grab color from anywhere on the screen even when using a 4K monitor. Have you tried this?
Ultra Key eyedropper not working on PC

Animator and content creator for Animate CC
chrissyf98888097
Inspiring
September 4, 2018

I've had an enormously difficult time getting animate to properly work with After Effects, specifically with frame rate issues.  Most recently I had a file in animate, using an imported mp4 as reference to animate on top of - every bit of animation lined up perfectly in animate, then I take it in to after effects and its all off by one measly frame.  I realign everything in animate, which doesn't match the mp4 file in animate, but matches the mp4 file in AE, then I go to render the file using AME as I only needed an mp4 for a reference for approval purposes, and everything is again, off by one frame, even though it lines up perfectly in my AE file.  Rendering a full res quick time resolved the issue, but what gives?  Anyway, my experiences with AE and Animate have been frustrating to say the least, and while I'm sure the rest of the adobe suite works perfectly, as their programs do not have legacy programming from another company entirely (macromedia) as well as being re-purposed for things it was not initially intended to be used for (originally made to be a coding program for flash, which is now becoming obsolete, therefore they gave the program over to animators) and the last time the program was worth using was cs3, at least for my purposes anyway, as an animator for TV/film.  Anyway, my gripes with it are vast, as I've been using the program since macromedia had it.

But yes, the issue at hand is that the eyedropper tool does not work on my brand new cintiq, and I don't know how to fix it, and find picking colors to be a huge time sink.  Any advice would be amazing!