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M
MehmetSaygin
Participant
February 14, 2026
Question

In Animate 23.0.1 I can no longer drag from the Fill Color swatch to sample a single flat color from a gradient — it selects the object instead of sampling color.

  • February 14, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 94 views

Hello, I’m having a color sampling workflow issue in Adobe Animate 23.0.1 (Mac) and I’m trying to confirm whether this is a bug or a removed feature.

In older versions of Animate, I used the following workflow:

  1. Select a filled shape with the Selection Tool

  2. Press and hold on the Fill Color swatch in the Tools panel

  3. Drag the cursor over another shape (even a gradient fill)

  4. Release on a specific pixel inside the gradient

  5. The originally selected shape would take that single sampled flat color (not the whole gradient)

This worked like a “drag eyedropper from color well” behavior and was very fast for picking intermediate colors inside gradients.

❌ Current Behavior in Animate 23.0.1

Now when I try the same workflow:

  • Dragging from the Fill Color swatch does not sample color

  • Instead, the object under the cursor becomes selected

  • I lose the original selection

  • No color sampling happens

Additional notes:

  • Object Drawing Mode is OFF

  • Shapes are merge shapes (not objects/symbols)

  • Workspace reset did not help

  • Preferences reset did not help

🎯 What I Need

I want to restore or replace this workflow:

Sample a single flat color from inside a gradient and apply it to the currently selected shape — without selecting the sampled object and without copying the full gradient.

❓ Questions

  • Was color-well drag sampling removed in Animate 23.x?

  • Is this a known regression/bug?

  • Is there a hidden preference or tool modifier to restore this behavior?

  • Is this fixed in a newer version?

Thanks — this is a critical speed workflow for coloring and shading work.

    1 reply

    tasogare_95
    Community Expert
    tasogare_95Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 15, 2026

    Hello, I do not have a version earlier than 2023 in my environment, so I cannot confirm how it behaved before.

    However, what you are trying to do might be possible using the following method.

    When you select a shape, the Fill and Stroke colors shown in the Tools panel on the left side of the screen do not change.
    However, in the Properties panel, under Color and Style, the Fill and Stroke values do change.
     


    If you press and hold on the area where the Fill color is displayed there, and then drag over another shape in the same way as in the steps you described, and release on a specific pixel, the color changes.

    I am using the Japanese version, so I am not sure about the exact terminology in the English version, but please check and see if this works for you.

    If I misunderstood your question and answered something completely different, I apologize.

      M
      MehmetSayginAuthor
      Participant
      February 15, 2026

      Thank you very much

      — this works, and your method is valid. I really appreciate you taking the time to test it and share screenshots.

      Using the Properties panel Fill color and dragging from there does allow single-pixel color sampling from another shape, and that helps for flat colors.

      However, my main remaining issue is specifically about gradients:

      When I want to apply a gradient fill to a new shape, I open the gradient editor in the Color/Fill panel. Inside that panel, I can click the small gradient stop color box and choose a color from the color space dialog — that part works.

      But in my previous Animate workflow, I was also able to sample a color for a gradient stop directly from the stage (from another shape or from inside a gradient) by dragging / sampling from the screen.

      Now when I try to sample from the stage while the gradient stop color box is active, Animate switches selection to the shape under the cursor instead of sampling the color. So gradient stop colors cannot be picked from on-canvas artwork anymore.

       

      So to clarify, the remaining question is:

      Is there currently a supported way in Animate 23.x to sample a color from the stage directly into a gradient stop color (without selecting the underlying shape)?

      Thanks again — your workaround definitely helped for flat fills.

        tasogare_95
        Community Expert
        tasogare_95Community Expert
        Community Expert
        February 15, 2026

        For example, how about this method?
        If you double-click on the gradient stop, an eyedropper will appear just like it does with flat colors.


        By carefully selecting very close to the edge, you can change the color of the gradient stop.

        Do you think this might work for you?

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