Working with RGB and CMYK Colours With the Colour Palette

InDesign’s Colour Palette

Here are two screenshots of the same palette. The first screenshot shows you the palette in CMYK mode and the second one shows you the palette in RGB mode. You can choose which mode to use from the Colour palette’s menu (which pops up when you click on the arrow on the top right of the palette). InDesign allows you to choose a third colour mode, but it is rarely needed and I won’t take it up in this tutorial. Ignore it.

Colour Palette in CMYK mode
[1] (Enlarged Version)

Colour Palette in RGB mode
[2] (Enlarged Version)

The way you determine a colour is by either typing percentages on the left of the sliders, or by dragging the sliders with your mouse. Like for the Tools palette, you have your fill colour and your stroke colour which can be applied to objects and/or to text. You will notice that when you change a colour that way, also the colour swatches in your Tools palette will change. So you now have different ways to apply colours to your objects.

If you did not select any object and you change your colours in the Colour palette, then any object you will draw from that point on will have that colour. To the contrary if an object was selected and then you changed your colours in your Colour palette, then the colour you made will be applied to that object only. If there was an object in your layout already and you made up a colour without selecting the object, you can still apply your new colour to that object. Just select the object now, and click on on your new colour either on your Colour palette or on your Tools palette.

Let’s practice this. Open a document, size and margins do not matter right now. Press D to get your default colours, which are nothing for the fill colour and black for the stroke colour. (Nothing is represented by a white box with a red stripe which goes across it). Draw a box. If you have gone through the various tools and their names in the first lesson, you will know where the Rectangle Tool is. Click on that tool and draw a rectangle on your page. You do this by clicking on any point of your page and then, by keeping the left mouse button clicked, drag your mouse along the page to the size desired of your rectangle. If you want a rectangle with all sides of the same size, i.e. a square, keep Shift pressed as you drag your mouse.

Now you have your shape there. Play around with the Colour palette and apply different colours to your shape. Change fill, change stroke, etc. Change your colours by using the sliders (less precise) or by typing in the percentages (more precise).

One thing to keep in mind: when you do a desktop publishing project you should not mix RGB colours with CMYK colours as you will use your job either for print or for on-screen viewing. There can be cases where you will use your project for both, but not at the same time. So if you want to print your job, make sure you create all of your colours with your Colour palette in CMYK mode. If you mix the two modes you will have unexpected shifts in colour when you go to press (or when you view your document online).

This brings to another point. If you have studied the resources I have provided you earlier about CMYK, RGB and how they related to each other, you will understand that there are colours that are in the RGB spectrum which cannot be made by mixing CMYK. If you are using your Colour palette in RGB mode, InDesign will tell you when you have made a colour which cannot be reproduced exactly once you convert it to CMYK and will show you the closest colour. If you look at the illustration below you will see the Colour palette in RGB mode. At the bottom left of the palette, just above the RGB spectrum, you will see a yellow triangle with an exclamation point and a small swatch. The triangle tells you that the colour you are mixing in RGB cannot be reproduced in CMYK and the swatch just next to it tells how the colour will actually look like when printed.

[3] (Enlarged Version)

So when do you use the RGB mode and when do you use the CMYK mode?

You use the RGB mode when:

1. You are doing a project for online viewing.
2. You are doing a project which will be printed by your desktop colour printer. Desktop printers are set up to convert RGB images to CMYK, because the less expert users don’t know the difference between the two. Also some photo-quality printers, have more than the usual CMYK colours, they can even have 6 colours that mix up together, so they can print more colours than the ones of the CMYK spectrum.
3. Your printer or whoever will produce your job, specifies that they need RGB artwork.

You use CMYK when:
You are printing at external print shop and you have been asked to provide CMYK artwork (which is usually the case).

Next: [4] Working with Colour in InDesign CS Part 2