In the Color panel, click the foreground or background color box to make it active (outlined in black). When the background color box is active in the Color panel, the Eyedropper tool changes the background color by default.
Learn how to use the Color and Swatches panels, and edit foreground and background colors.
The Color panel (Window > Color) displays the color values for the current foreground and background colors. Using the sliders in the Color panel, you can edit the foreground and background colors using different color models. You can also choose a foreground or background color from the spectrum of colors displayed in the color ramp at the bottom of the panel.
The Color panel may display the following alerts when you select a color:
An exclamation mark inside a triangle appears above the left corner of the color ramp when you choose a color that cannot be printed using CMYK inks.
A square appears above the left corner of the color ramp when you choose a color that is not web-safe.
A. Foreground color B. Background color C. Slider D. Color ramp
To change the color model of the color panel sliders, choose the Sliders option from the Color panel menu.
Choose an option from the Color panel menu — RGB Spectrum, CMYK Spectrum, or Grayscale Ramp, to display the spectrum of the specified color model. To change the spectrum displayed in the Color panel, you can select:
To change the spectrum of the color ramp quickly, shift-click the color ramp until you see the spectrum you want.
In the Color panel, click the foreground or background color box to make it active (outlined in black). When the background color box is active in the Color panel, the Eyedropper tool changes the background color by default.
Drag the color sliders. By default, the slider colors change as you drag. To turn off this feature, navigate to Preferences > General and deselect Dynamic Color Sliders.
Enter values next to the color sliders.
Click the color selection box, choose a color using the Color Picker, and click OK.
Position the pointer over the color ramp (the pointer becomes the eyedropper), and click to sample a color. Alt-click to apply the sample to the non-active color selection box.
Updated in Photoshop 21.0 (November 2019 release)
To apply a color swatch to text layers or shape layers, do any of the following:
To apply a color swatch to pixel layers, drag a swatch from the Swatches panel on a pixel layer in the Layers panel. Photoshop automatically creates a fill layer on top of the pixel layer.
To create nested groups:
To show legacy swatches, open the Swatches panel menu and select Legacy Swatches.
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