AE eyedropper tool pulls wrong color from Color Theme window

[Wa524c]

As the title states, I cannot get the eyedropper tool to pull the correct color from the Color Theme window. I assumed this was an issue with color space or color management, but I can't seem to figure out how. I am not using any color management (even though I tried several to see if this would correct it), isolated down to just using one monitor, changed from 8 to 16 and 32 bit color depth, changed the hardware acceleration to all available options and I cannot seem to fix it.

I am on an iMac retina 5k, 27 inch 2017

4.2 Ghz Intel Core i7

32 GB 2400 DDR4

Radeon Pro 580

After Effects CC is up to date, version 16.0.1 (Build 48)

I have done all I know to do, including clearing the cache and clearing settings.

No matter what I do, the eyedropper tool will not work with the color theme window, and always pulls a different color, usually a darker, muted version of the color I wanted. If I use the eyedropper within the comp however, it pulls the correct color every time. I have a coworker with an identical rig and software that does not have this issue, so I assume it MUST be in some setting I just don't know to check. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

[Roland Kahlenberg]

I believe the issue has to do with your Project Color Space and whether you have enabled Display Color Management for the Comp.

Enable these two options; then see if the issue persists.

[Dave Merchant]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Roland+Kahlenberg  wrote

I believe the issue has to do with your Project Color Space and whether you have enabled Display Color Management for the Comp.

No, it's just broken. AE's user interface is not properly rendered - only the preview window is affected by DCM - and so eyedropping from the extension gives the wrong result no matter what the settings are. The only option is to manually type in the slider values.

Frankly, Adobe's attitude to color fidelity has always been rather pathetic. I would never trust the color displayed on a UI swatch. The numbers are usually correct (in the sense that if you export a frame and check it in Photoshop they come out as expected) but the UI is all over the place.

[Roland Kahlenberg]

I'd prefer to call matters, "work in progress" and this is what it is. 😉

I did a test; using the Fill Effect to pick up colors from the Color Theme extension.

The image below shows a screen cap (with white borders) superimposedonto AE's UI. All the colors match, as expected.

[Dave Merchant]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Roland+Kahlenberg  wrote

I'd prefer to call matters, "work in progress" and this is what it is. 😉

Color fidelity has been broken since the days of Creative Suite. No "progress" since then. Glaciation moves faster.

Some parts of the UI are accurate, some of the time, on some computers. There is no way to predict or to identify whether a swatch chip is wrong or not, but the software is sending numerical data to the display driver so in the examples I posted above, it absolutely knows that the colors under the eyedropper and in the palette area are different. It would be trivial for programmers to indicate there's a mismatch (e.g. with an alert icon as Photoshop does for 'non-web' colors, or even by blocking the eyedropper from taking the sample) but they just don't care. AE's help documentation on color management is as useful as a Dan Brown novel put through Google Translate by a drunken baboon.

The competition takes a very well-understood approach by not bothering to play with any color management in the UI. It gives everyone predictable results for eyedroppers etc. but to see an accurate preview of your footage you have to run it through a hardware output card to a calibrated reference monitor.

[cendrick1]

Hello,

a bit late to the game but does your picker select the proper color in the library themes when using color space Rec 2.4?

Please read below:

I've recently noticed that all my Library color themes / Color Swatches are not accurate due to the gamma shift when using Rec 709 2.4. When you try to pick a color using the dropper tool on any swatch color, it will not be accurate. If you hover you mouse over the color, it will display the proper colors in the pop up window but you can't select them for any text or solid. Any ideas on when this will be fixed so that when a user changes the project color settings, the color themes update to match?

[Dave Merchant]

I have explained several times that color swatches in CC Libraries are NOT yet implemented in After Effects. They show up on the panel, but they are absolutely not intended to be used in any way. Just forget they exist. The people that built CC Libraries (who are not part of the After Effects team) designed it to be used in two ways, and two ways only:

1. Drag a color between the Library and the application's own "swatches" gallery.
2. Use the right-click menu to "apply" a color or pattern to the selected item.

1 is impossible as AE has no swatches gallery. You cannot drag colors in After Effects to or from anywhere, period.

2 doesn't exist.

It is not simply a case of adding the menu. How do you "apply" a Pantone spot color to a YUV colorspace video? What do you do with patterns and gradients, neither of which exist in AE in the same way they do in Photoshop or Illustrator?

Doesn't matter what your project color settings may be, it is completely wrong to try and 'eyedrop' from anywhere outside of the After Effects video monitor frame.

[Wa524c]

Issue persists

I greatly appreciate you attempting to help, but with those options enabled I am running into the exact same issue. I would post screenshots but they would be identical to my earlier screengrabs.

[Wa524c]

I also should have mentioned, my coworker with identical rig and software builds has this feature working properly for him without any color management profile. Even after I matched any preference I could find to the same on the other machine I am still encountering the problem.

[Roland Kahlenberg]

Just double-checking - I assume you tested with the same variables on both machines?

Addtionally, may I know which effect you are using to eye-drop to the Color Theme?

If you look at my screengrab, you'll notice that I used Generate>Fill.

And you're most welcome.

[Wa524c]

Yes sir, that is correct. Every variable I know to check is the same, to include using the same color theme within the color theme window. I have the issue when I use the effect "Generate>Fill" as well as within the shape layer "Contents>Rectangle1>Fill1." I can also replicate the issue with text using the eyedropper from the "character" panel. It seems it doesn't matter which version of the eyedropper I use, if it is picking from the color themes window it will be incorrect.

[pep30115335hen7]

I just reseted all preferences and finally worked.
Adobe why. I mean. I didnt touch anything about the color settings or whatever and one day it appears like this.
Please, you have the monopoly of graphic design apps and you dont care about nothing.
Have a good day, 6 years later.