Selecting Object Color

When creating objects, you may need to select or adjust their color, particularly in the Object Properties dialog box. Flying Popcorn provides a number of different color selection techniques for each kind of object, and they are discussed in this section.

Standard color selection

The standard color selection tab allows you to select a non-gradient color. It provides you with palette from which to select the color, and also allows you to adjust primary color (RGB) values directly. In addition, you can adjust the opacity (alpha value) of the color.

1. Color palette: Click on a color in the honey-combed palette to select it. Colors are arranged with the brightest in the middle and the darkest on the outside, according to the primary colors they contain. At the bottom are different levels of gray that you can choose from.
2. RGB Color: The RGB color sliders work by blending different levels of red, green, and blue (R, G, and B) to create any possible color. The sliders work according to basic color theory. Color values can range from 0 to 255. If all values are the same, the color will be a shade of gray. If all values are 0, it will be black, and if all values are 255, it will be white. If, for example, the red value is on 255 and the other two values are at 0, the resulting color is pure red. If both red and blue are at 255 and green is at 0, the resulting color is purple. Check the Lock to grayscale checkbox to lock all three sliders to the same value and therefore create a shade of gray.
3. Opacity (Alpha): Use the opacity slider to adjust how transparent the color is. Values range from 0 to 255 with 0 being totally opaque and 255 being totally transparent.
4. Preview: The preview panel shows what the color was before any modifications and what it is now. It also shows the red, blue, and green values that make up the color, as well as the hexadecimal color code.
5. Custom: Click the Custom button to open the standard Windows color picker window.
6. Eye Dropper : The eyedropper tool is used to set the color being selected to another color on the screen. To use it, click it and drag it across the screen. You can see that it sets the color to whatever you drag the mouse cursor over. To pick a color, simply release the mouse button. This is useful when you want to match the color to a pre-existing object.

Custom color selection

The custom color selection tab allows you to create gradient colors. A gradient is a blend of colors that smoothly transitions from one color to the next. You can add and delete colors from the gradient to make multi-color gradients. You can also select the gradient's shape.

Custom color settings

1. Preview window: Preview the custom color through this window.
2. Initialize: Reset the custom color to the initial settings.
3. Add to template: Add the color to the color template.
4. Gradient color: Create a color gradient with this tool. A gradient is a smooth transition from one color to another. Using the gradient color tool, you can create gradients with many different colors. First, you must set the color type (see below) to a gradient type. Then you will see the colors of the gradient being blended in the rectangle that is in the gradient color tool section. Above the rectangle are two small triangles. Click and drag the triangles to change the points at which the colors are blended. If you click a triangle and then click (Color) you can change the colors in the gradient. Click Add to add another color. You will see that another triangle appears above the gradient rectangle. You can move this triangle and change its color as well.

   

5. Type & Control: Choose the color type between a solid color or a kind of gradient. At the top of this section, you can see a row of buttons. The leftmost represents a solid color. All the other buttons are gradient types. Click on a button to choose the type. If you choose a gradient type, the Rotate, Center X, and/or Center Y sliders may become active. These are parameters that determine the shape of the gradient. Click and drag the sliders to adjust the shape of the gradient.