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Palettes are sets of solid colors. You can select any color from them, to colorize the current generated image. AbstractCurves provides you more than 30 built-in palettes. You can choose any of them, by clicking on the color field, or on the down arrow, located on the right of the color field.
 
Large dialog
 
When you click on the color field, the 'Select color' dialog will appear in the middle of the main window. The dialog is thematically splitted to 2 equal parts. At the left part there is a list of colors included in the current palette; the right part contains information about a selected color and the 'Add color to palette', 'Add color to group', 'Ok' and 'Cancel' buttons.
 
 
Also, AbstractCurves gives you the ability to create and save your own palettes, adding them to the existing list. Palettes are .plt files stored in C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Roaming\AbstractCurves\1.1\Presets\Palettes\ folder.
 
Selecting palette and color
 
At the upper left of the dialog, on the right of the 'Palettes' inscription there is a popup list. You can click on it and choose a palette from the list.
 
 
In the selected palette, you can choose any color; and the generated image will be colorized with it instantly. To apply this color to the image and quit the dialog, press 'Ok'. To quit without applying, press 'Cancel'.
At the lower left of the dialog, there is information about a number of colors in the selected palette. If the list of colors cannot be fully displayed in the palette preview area, use the scroll slider to get an access to colors, which are not visible. The scroll slider is located at the middle of the 'Select color' dialog.
 
Viewing color list in palette
 
At the bottom middle of the dialog there are the buttons for changing a view of color list.
 
 
To select a view you need, press a relevant button or use the context menu, by right clicking on a color in palette and choosing a relevant icon.
 
 
There are 3 types of view:
 
1) List
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A color is represented as a horizontal color stripe with a color name and its parameters in RGB color space (decimal and hexadecimal view) on it.
 
 
2) Small icons
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Colors are represented as small color fields. When you move your mouse over a color field, a popup tip with the color name will appear.
 
 
3) Large icons
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A color is represented as a large color field with a color name and its parameters in RGB color space (hexadecimal view) on it. If the color name cannot be fully displayed on a color field, it will appear as a popup tip when you move your mouse over the color field.
 
 
Adding palette
 
There is the 'Add new palette' icon on the right of the list of palettes.
 
 
When you click on it, a new window will appear where you can enter information about new palette (name, author, description).
 
 
The Name field is mandatory, you can leave the other fields blank. After entering information, press 'Ok' and new palette will be added to the list of palettes. Then you can add color groups, if necessary, and colors to your palette.
 
Importing palette
 
AbstractCurves gives you the ability to import palettes from other programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel PaintShop Pro, GIMP. To load palettes, which have other applications formats, press on the 'Import palette' icon. It is on the right of the 'Add new palette' icon and looks like an inclined pencil.
 
 
After you click it, a new dialog will appear, prompting you to select a palette file for import. The following palette file formats are supported: .plt (Abstract Curves Pro), .aco (Adobe Photoshop), .PspPalette (Corel PaintShop Pro), .gpl (GIMP).
 
Note: When you close the 'Select color' dialog, a message will appear informing you that some palettes have been modified. To save imported palette(s) press Save. The palette files will be automatically saved to the C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Roaming\AbstractCurves\1.1\Presets\Palettes\ folder when you quit the program. If you don't want to save imported palette(s) press Discard. Press 'Cancel' to return to the 'Select color' dialog.
 
 
Editing palette info
 
 
After you click on the 'Edit palette info' icon, a new window will appear where you can edit information about the current palette (see Adding palette).
 
 
Removing palette
 
If you want to delete a selected palette, click on the icon depicting a trash can.
 
 
A confirmation window will appear. Press 'Yes' if you really want to remove the current palette. Press 'No' to cancel deletion.
 
 
Show/Hide details
 
When you click on the 'Show details' icon, a popup window containing information about the current palette (author, description) will appear. The icon name will change to 'Hide details'. If you press this icon again, the window will collapse.
 
 
Adding color groups
 
For your convenience, you can combine colors into groups inside a palette. To create a new group, press on an icon depicting 4 squares with the '+' sign. It is on the right of the information about a number of colors in palette.
 
 
The 'Add color group' window will appear. Enter a group name into the field and press 'Ok'. Press 'Cancel' to abort. After you create a new group, its name will appear in the list of colors of the current palette.
 
 
Now you can add a color to new group, by choosing its parameters at the right part of the 'Select color' dialog and pressing the 'Add color to group' button, then clicking on the new group name. Also you are able to add color group using the context menu. To do this, right click on a field free of colors and select the 'Add color group' item.
 
 
Note:  If the current palette contains colors and/or groups, a new group will be placed to the end of the list of colors/groups.
 
Rename color group
 
To change a color group name, first select it with a click, and then press on the 'Rename selected color/group' icon. The icon is located at the bottom of the dialog and looks like an inclined pencil.
 
 
You can also rename color group, with a double click on it, or by selecting it and pressing F2 on your keyboard, or using the context menu (right click on color group and choose the 'Rename' item).
 
 
Removing color group
 
To remove a color group, first select it with a click, and then press on the 'Delete selected color/group' icon. The icon is at the bottom of the dialog and looks like a trash can.
 
 
A confirmation window will appear. Press 'Yes' if you really want to remove the current color group. Press 'No' to cancel deletion.
 
 
Also you can drag a color group into the trash can or use the context menu. To do this, right click on a color group you want to delete and choose the 'Remove' item.
 
 
Adding color to palette/Color information
 
Use the right part of the 'Select color' dialog to add a color to palette. You can choose there a color with a tool that displays 3D color space or input color parameters in RGB or HSV color systems. Enter color parameters into relevant fields, using your keyboard or the Up and Down arrows of the spin boxes. Also you can input color parameters into the 'Hex/Html' field as a hexadecimal code. After you choose a color, it will be applied to the generated image displayed in the Preview Area.
For your convenience, you can give a name to a color, entering it in the 'Color name' field or leave it unnamed. After you have entered all color parameters, press the 'Add color to palette' or 'Add color to group' button and the current color will be added.
 
 
Rename color
 
After you click the 'Rename selected color/group' icon, a new window will appear, where you can change a name of the selected color.
 
 
Also you can rename color, with a double click on it, or by selecting it and pressing F2 on your keyboard, or using the context menu (right click on a color and choose the 'Rename' item).
 
 
Removing color
 
To remove a color from palette or color group, first select it with a click, and then press on the 'Delete selected color/group' icon. The icon is at the bottom of the 'Select color' dialog and looks like a trash can. A confirmation window will appear. Press 'Yes' if you really want to remove the current color. Press 'No' to cancel deletion.
 
 
Also you can drag a color into the trash can or use the context menu. To do this, right click on a color you want to delete and choose the 'Remove' item.
 
 
'Ok' and 'Cancel'
 
If you want to apply the current color to generated image, press 'Ok'. To quit the dialog without applying, press 'Cancel'.
 
Small dialog
 
When you click on the arrow, located on the right of the color field showing the current curve color, a new small dialog will appear under the color field. You can select there a palette and color you need. The small dialog differs from the large dialog by having no options for editing and saving. It is for quick choosing a color you need from existing palettes (see Large dialog).