Artur Rataj
Copyright © 2000 Artur Rataj
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
KColorEdit is a palette files editor. It can be used for editing color palettes and for color choosing and naming.
Table of Contents
Introduction
KColorEdit is a palette files editor. It can be used for editing color palettes and for color choosing and naming.
File operations
The palette files installed by KDE can be either system-wide or the user ones. The latter are in you private KDE configuration directories, and they are named Custom Colors and Recent Colors.
In KColorEdit, you may open all of these palettes, as well as palettes in arbitrary files.
Opening a file
In the Open File dialog, you may choose from a list of installed palettes, or browse directories for files.
Editing
The cursor is visible as a line in the palette view. It can be moved by clicking on an area beside a color.
The cursor has the following functions:
It points to the color after it. The color, if any, is described below the palette view. You may edit its name there.
It can be used to make a selection. A selection can be made by clicking on an area beside a color, so to move the cursor there, and by moving the mouse then with the left mouse button pressed.
If the After cursor check-box near to the Add a Color button is checked, a color from the color chooser is put after the cursor. The color is either inserted or it overwrites another one, depending on whether the Overwrite mode is chosen. The mode can be chosen by checking the Overwrite check-box, that is next to the After Cursor one.
Selection
A selection, that can be made as it was written in the previous section, can be used with the copy, cut and paste operations.
Clipboard format
KColorEdit uses the following format for clipboard data: for each color three numbers for red, green and blue components, respectively, and an optional color name, followed by a new line character if there is another color. Therefore, if for example three numbers are in the clipboard, they can be pasted by KColorEdit as a color.
Selecting a color from an RGB space
A color can be selected from an RGB space in KColorEdit in the following ways:
By editing the HSV or RGB components.
By selecting a color from color gradient panels. In the left one, two from HSV components can be selected, and in the right one, the third one. The third component can be chosen by clicking on one of the buttons labeled H, S and V. The one component panel display colors with the other two components equal to these selected in the two components panel. The two components panel may display colors with the third component fixed, or, if the Variable check-box is set, with a value equal to the one selected in the one component panel. In the Replace mode, the color selected in panels replaces the output one instantly, and in the Change mode it modifies the output color after each click, or a mouse move while a mouse button is pressed. Therefore, in the latter mode the color selected in the gradient panels may be different from the output color. To synchronize the colors, the Synchronize button can be used.
Drag and drop
The palette colors and the color selection output color can be dragged with a mouse.
Menu Reference
- File->New Window
Open a new window
- File->New (Ctrl+N)
Start a new palette in the current window.
- File->Open (Ctrl+O)
Open a saved palette.
- File->Open Recent
Reopen a palette that you have recently been editing.
- File->Close (Ctrl+W)
Close the current KColorEdit window.
- File->Save (Ctrl+S)
Save the currently open palette.
- File->Save As...
Save the currently open palette with a new name.
- File->Quit (Ctrl+Q)
Quit KColorEdit.
The Edit Menu
- Edit->Cut (Ctrl+X)
Cut the currently selected color to the clipboard.
- Edit->Copy (Ctrl+C)
Copy the currently selected color to the clipboard.
- Edit->Paste (Ctrl+V)
Paste a color from the clipboard.
The Color Menu
- Color->From Palette
Find the color currently selected in the palette, in the color selector on the left.
- Color->From Screen
Pick a color from anywhere on the screen, and find it in the color selector on the left.
The View Menu
- Color->Color Names
If the currently open palette has color names, display them alongside the colors.
- View->Toolbar
Toggle on and off the toolbar icons.
- View->Statusbar
Toggle on and off the status bar.
The Help Menu
- Help->Contents... (F1)
Invokes the KDE Help system starting at the KColorEdit help pages. (this document).
- Help->What's This? (Shift+F1)
Changes the mouse cursor to a combination arrow and question mark. Clicking on items within KColorEdit will open a help window (if one exists for the particular item) explaining the item's function.
- Help->Report Bug...
Opens the Bug report dialog where you can report a bug or request a ‘wishlist’ feature.
- Help->About KColorEdit
This will display version and author information.
- Help->About KDE
This displays the KDE version and other basic information.
Credits and Licenses
KColorEdit copyright 2000 Artur Rataj
Documentation copyright 2000 Artur Rataj
This documentation is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
This program is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
Installation
KColorEdit is part of the KDE project http://www.kde.org/.
KColorEdit can be found in the kdegraphics package on ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/, the main FTP site of the KDE project.
In order to compile and install KColorEdit on your system, type the following in the base directory of the KColorEdit distribution:
% ./configure % make % make install
Since KColorEdit uses autoconf and automake you should have no trouble compiling it. Should you run into problems please report them to the KDE mailing lists.