Switching from PageMaker to InDesign CS2
Creating colors with the Swatches palette
You can use the Swatches palette to create spot and process colors, mixed-ink colors (process
colors mixed with one or more spot or process colors), RGB and LAB colors, multicolor gradi-
ents, and tints.
The Swatches palette (Window > Swatches) lets you apply colors to objects. The Swatches palette menu
includes commands for creating new color, tint, gradient, and mixed-ink swatches and for managing swatches.
The Color palette (Window > Color) lets you create unnamed colors on the fly and, optionally, add them to the
Swatches palette.
You add color swatches to the Swatches palette by using the palette’s menu and buttons. A new
color or gradient appears in the Swatches palette. It also appears in the Fill box or Stroke box in
the toolbox, and it is therefore applied to the fill or stroke of all selected objects.
To directly define a spot color using the New Swatch button in the Swatches palette, make
sure you have not selected any swatches, and then hold down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or
Command (Mac OS) as you click the New Swatch button.
Creating colors with the Color palette
The Color palette is most useful for mixing unnamed colors on the fly. For example, if you’re not
sure what color you want to apply to text or an object, you can use the Color palette to experiment
with several different colors. If you decide on the color you want, you can add the current color in
the Color palette to the Swatches palette by choosing Add To Swatches from the Color palette menu.
