eyedropper tool not picking up color (InDesign) - LOCKED

[kims02]

Hi,

I'm trying to pick up color from an image using the eyedropper tool.

But it only will pick up white as a color and fill the other object with white, and not the actual pixel color I am trying to grab.

This doesn't always happen but I can't figure out why it is happening in this instance.

Thanks!

Kim

[AaronPDX]

I have this problem on InDesign CS6. I tried putting the object I'm trying to sample from, onto its own document -- so no question about interfering layers. The (very basic) object was pasted from Illustrator and has a gradient blend applied. But once pasted in InDesign it seems to occupy some weird world of its own where it doesn't have a proper InDesign style gradient, but is vector. It is not a linked file. The fill shows as '?'. Cannot color sample any piece of the gradient, nor edit it in any way other than to scale it which of course changes the gradient. Quite annoying.

[cnekos318]

please keep me in the loop, mine won't work anymore either. Cheryl

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[Barb Binder]

Cheryl: what is the scenario for the eyedropper tool not working for you?

[cnekos318]

it's not working at all  - for color or for text. I just recently had to re-download all of my programs because I had to get a new hard drive. I didn't want CC, I wanted to stick with CS6. Don't know if that version is faulty now or what the heck happened -  but I'm hating not to be able to use it.

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[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

I have CS6 installed and the eyedropper is working as expected.

What operating system are you using? Is CS6 supported on it? If you are on an unsupported OS, then that could be the issue.

• WIN: Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 3 or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. Adobe® Creative Suite® 5.5 and CS6 applications also support Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. See the CS6 FAQ for more information about Windows 8 support.*
• Mac: Mac OS X v10.6.8 or v10.7. Adobe Creative Suite 5, CS5.5, and CS6 applications support Mac OS X v10.8 or v10.9 when installed on Intel-based systems.**

Did you read this whole post? Reasons for it not appearing to work on any version include:

• Clicking on a empty frame that is above the object you think you are clicking on (try bringing your object to the front)
• Having already clicked the Eyedropper once, and forgetting to Alt/Opt click for additional attempts
• Disabling one or more checkmarks in Eyedropper Options (visible when you double click the Eyedropper tool in the Toolbox.)

[cnekos318]

I now use windows 10 - OMG, is that the problem?

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[Barb Binder]

InDesign CS6 is not supported on Windows 10—so it's possible. Did you rule out all other potential user errors?

The rule of thumb on upgrades it to remember that if you don't want to upgrade your software, refrain from upgrading your operating system.

[cnekos318]

oh damn! I think that's what it is!! I'll re-download CC! Thanks everyone for you help!

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[Barb Binder]

Always happy to help.

[rob day]

When you are cutting and pasting from Illustrator the app's Clipboard Preferences might affect the paste.  Make sure the AI pref is set to AICB before you make the copy

And in ID make sure you don't choose Prefer PDF when Pasting, otherwise the paste is a PDF object and no gradient swatch comes with the paste

The apps handle gradients differently so vector objects don't always paste unchanged.

[AaronPDX]

Thanks Rob. But I don't understand why the Prefer PDF when Pasting preference would keep InDesign from being able to color sample a point on a gradient just as it does with photos!

Also your suggestion about AI preferences is well noted, but made no difference in my situation. Any combination of Preference changes among the 2 programs made no difference; the eyedropper would not pick up a color from the vector gradient even though all the Eyedropper options are turned on.

Happy to send file to anyone who wants to try on their own CS6, Mac.

[rob day]

Thanks Rob. But I don't understand why the Prefer PDF when Pasting preference would keep InDesign from being able to color sample a point on a gradient just as it does with photos!

The reason I brought up the preferences is they can result in different kinds of pasted objects. To see the difference you have to have the prefs set before you make the copy and paste.

If the object is a PDF, the eyedropper would sample an RGB value from the PDF proxy—the eyedropper can pick up accurate values from placed image files, but not PDF objects because PDFs can have any number of color spaces inside.

So here I had my prefs set to Prefer PDF (note that no swatch was created when I pasted because the paste is a PDF object). I believe OSX's clipboard is always PDF, I can't tell you if Windows OSs will paste PDF objects. When I sample the gradient I get an RGB color:

With my Illustrator prefs set to AICB (again before the copy) I get a vector object and a new gradient swatch.

Now if I sample the gradient the resulting color is the imported gradient:

I'm using OSX and CC2014, but this behavior works the same with CS6. You may be up against an OS difference with the pasted object.

[AaronPDX]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the thorough reply.

I did realize the pref changes take effect only if set prior to an operation...

I get the same result as you when sampling a pasted-in gradient coming from AI CS6: an RGB color sampled from the gradient.

Well, I just retried pasting the same gradient object that i couldn't sample from in my prior post. Now it's working -- I can sample one of its values in ID. I don't know why it's working now, because from what i can see my Prefs are back to how they were, but i'm not arguing.

For the record, my AI has always had a few unpredictabilities. And I'm on ye ole Mavericks (10.9.5), which may be a factor.

[Om Nath Jha]

Hi Cheryl,

Just a suggestion, please refrain from sharing personal information on a public forum link this one. If you are replying to the notification email, please make sure you remove your details from your signature, it may invite unwanted junk.

Regards,

Om