Attributes Palette
Use the Attributes palette and its various ink managers to create your own inks. Each ink type has its own manager. Flip open the managers to create inks, adjust inks in objects, and change the Presets palette’s inks.
To Open the Attributes Palette:
Do one of the following:
- In the Presets palette, click the Edit button.
- Choose Window | Palettes | Attributes.
Ink Managers
Six icons are located at the top of the Inks managers, which you click to access the available ink types and their respective managers: color, gradient, hatch, texture, symbol, and pattern. The circular icon with a diagonal line represents “no ink”.
Each ink type has its own manager so you create custom inks and add them to the Presets palette.
If you select color as the ink type, you can access the RGB, CMYK, HSL, and Pantone color systems.
Using the Ink Managers
Every ink manager shows a preview of the current ink. The preview changes as you modify the ink. If an object is selected, the ink is applied immediately. You can also drag the ink from the preview box to deselected objects.
To Edit an Object’s Ink:
Click the Pen Ink icon or Fill Ink icon. Then select an object; its ink becomes the current ink in the manager. Modify the ink.
To Make a New Ink:
Use the appropriate manager to customize the current ink.
Type a name in the text box to name it.
To Add an Ink to the Presets Palette:
Click the Add Preset button.
To Make an Ink the Current Ink:
Deselect any objects and click the Pen Ink icon or Fill Ink icon. Then select an ink in any of the managers.
To Apply an Ink Fill to a Deselected Object:
Drag the color from the preview box to the object.
To Apply an Ink Outline to a Deselected Object:
Shift + drag the color from the preview box to the object.
Creating Color Inks
The Color Manager gives you the ability to maintain and manage color inks by providing access to RGB, CMYK, HSL, and Pantone models. A Color Spectrum Strip is also available for quick color pickup of any color supported by Canvas X Draw.
Color Manager Controls
The Color Manager’s controls depend on the selected color system and model. Some controls are common among the different color models.
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Current ink |
Shows the current ink. |
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Last-applied ink |
Shows the last applied ink. |
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Bars |
Use the sliders, or enter values in the text boxes, to specify color values. RGB values go from 0 to 255. CMYK values go from 0 to 100%. HSL values go from 0 to 360° (hue) and 0 to 100% (saturation and lightness). |
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Select to set up a spot color. Type a color name in the text box. Spot colors print on separate plates when you make color separations. |
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Tint Color |
Select the color to apply to the current color. |
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Tint value |
Enter the percentage of tint to be applied. |
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Swatchbook |
Shows colors made from 0-100% mixtures of two CMYK colors. To select a color, click in the swatchbook; the color values appear in the text boxes. Select the two colors for the swatchbook. To add a third or fourth color, enter percentages in the C M Y K text boxes. |
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Color wheel |
Click in the wheel or drag the selector to pick a color, or enter values in the HSL text boxes. |
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Lightness |
Drag the slider or enter a number in the L text box to set the lightness for the entire color wheel. |
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Gamut warning |
When the current color can’t be printed with CMYK inks, a warning symbol and color box appear. Click the color box to replace the current color with the closest color that is within the CMYK gamut. Gamut warnings appear only in RGB and HSL systems. |
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You can use commercial reference system colors for process and spot colors. Choose PANTONE in the pop-up menu in the Color manager. (See PANTONE.) The PANTONE System includes hundreds of spot colors designed to be printed with special inks. You should select the correct color group for the paper stock on which the colors will be printed; e.g., the PANTONE CVC colors are calibrated for printing on coated paper stock. The PANTONE Pro-Sim colors are not spot colors. These colors are designed to be printed with standard process inks. |
Color Systems
Use the drop-down menus to access to the various color controls. This will allow you to select a color matching system and select colors that are needed for commercial printing.
To Access the Color System Controls:
In the Attributes palette, click on a color system icon.
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CMYK |
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RGB/Grayscale |
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HSL |
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PANTONE |
To Define Colors in Canvas X Draw:
Use CMYK, RGB, and Grayscale color systems.
Colors displayed on a monitor can only approximate the appearance of printed colors. Be sure to discuss color reproduction with your commercial printer and obtain accurate proofs for color projects.
CMYK
The CMYK color system is used in four-color process printing. Define colors as mixtures of Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y), and Black (K) printing inks; e.g., to create green, mix cyan and yellow.
The CMYK system is appropriate for illustrations that will be separated for commercial printing.
RGB
The RGB color system is used in computer monitors. Define colors as mixtures of Red (R), Green (G), and Blue (B) light; e.g., to create purple, mix red and blue.
The RGB system is appropriate for graphics displayed on a monitor, such as presentations and Web pages.
Avoid RGB colors in documents intended for commercial printing. Canvas X Draw will convert RGB colors to CMYK colors if you output color separations.
Grayscale
The Grayscale model lets you define shades of gray. Grayscale colors are neutral when used with RGB or CMYK colors. In RGB Color images, grayscale colors are equal amounts of red, green, and blue. In image channels, Grayscale colors are pure gray. In vector objects, text, or CMYK Color images, Grayscale colors are percentages of black. In color separations, Grayscale colors appear as percentages of black.
HSL
The HSL models let you define RGB colors using Hue (H), Saturation (S), and Lightness (L) values. This way of defining colors is familiar to artists. HSL models let you adjust saturation and lightness, without changing a basic hue, such as red or green.
PANTONE
When you choose a PANTONE reference system color set, you can search for and select colors by name.
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Color name |
The selected color’s name. Names of reference colors can’t be changed. |
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Color system |
Choose the reference system you want to use in the pop-up menu. |
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Color list |
Click a color in the list to select it. Use the scroll bar to scroll the list. |
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Current color preview |
Shows the current color. |
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Page |
The page number of colors shown in the color list. Type a number to go to the page. |
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Find |
Click to select a color by name. In the Find dialog box, type the color name or number and click OK. Canvas X Draw selects the color (if found) in the color list. |
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Tint Value |
Not available for process colors. Enter a screen percentage to apply to the selected color. Use 100% for solid color and lower values for screens of the solid color. |
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Spot Color option |
Available with the Pro-Sim and Process systems, this option lets you specify colors to use as spot colors in separations. |
Specifying Tints
Specify a tint color and amount in the CMYK or RGB system. Tinting with white screens the original color. The screen percentage is 100 minus the tint value; e.g., 80% white tint results in 20% of the original color.
For other tint colors, Canvas X Draw multiplies the tint values by the difference between the original and tint color values, and then adds the result to the original color values.
After creating a new ink, make sure you click the Add Preset button on the Attributes palette.
To Create New Color Inks:
- Choose a color system and model from the drop-down menu. (See Color Systems.)
- Use the Color manager controls to change the ink’s color values.
- Click the left preview box to restore the original ink.
- To name the ink: Type the name in the text box.
- To define it as a spot color: Select the Spot Color box.
- To apply the ink to non-selected objects: Drag it from the preview box to the objects.
- To add the ink to the Presets palette: Click the Add Preset button on the Attributes palette. The new ink is added to the appropriate ink type; i.e., if you create a Pattern ink, the new ink is added to the Pattern type.
Creating Blends of Color Inks
Select two color cells and create a blend of colors to add to the color inks tab of the Presets palette.
To Blend Colors:
- Select the Ink tab of the Presets palette.
- Select color as the Ink type.
- Click the ink cell that is to start the blend, then Ctrl-click the cell to end the blend.
- Open the palette menu and choose Blend.
- In the dialog box, enter the number of steps you want in the blend and then click OK. Canvas X Draw creates the blend and adds the new cells to the color inks at the end.
The Color Editor
In Canvas X Draw, dialog boxes and palettes that let you choose colors have a color icon that opens a pop-up color palette. On the color palette there is a color editor icon so you can access the Color Editor dialog box to create a custom color.
To Open the Color Editor:
- Click the Color icon to see the color palette.
- Click the Color Editor icon to open the Color Editor dialog box.
The color icon appears in the following dialog boxes and palettes:
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Attributes (Ink) |
Color manager (CMYK Tints & RGB Tints only) Gradient manager Hatch manager (pen color pop-up only) |
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Attributes (Pen) |
Neon manager Parallel manager |
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Layers |
Layer Options dialog box |
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Color calibration |
Gamut Warning dialog box |
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Image editing |
Duotone Options dialog box New Channel dialog box Channel Options dialog box Create Image dialog box |
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Effects |
Extrude palette |
Click the Color icon to open a palette that has the color inks that are currently available in the Presets palette. Click the Custom icon to open the Color Editor dialog box.
Color Editor Dialog Box
To Create a Custom Color with the Color Editor Dialog Box:
- Open the Color Editor dialog box. This dialog box is almost identical to the Color manager.
- To use a different color model, click on the Color Model button and choose an option in the menu. Depending on the chosen option, the Color Editor shows a different set of controls. (See Color Manager Controls.)
- Use the color controls to create a custom color.
- To specify that you want the color you define to be a spot color, make sure you enter a name in the text box. Then select Spot Color.
- When you have the color you want, click OK. The color appears in the Color icon.
If you plan to export a document to another application in EPS format and make spot color separations, be sure the spot color names match exactly in both applications. Any variation will cause problems.