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Color Nab

Eyedrop anything
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Every computer art (2d) program should have some sort of universal eyedropper, to allow a user to pick colors across windows and applications. (vague smacks of the transparent widgets interface?)
absterge, Jan 29 2001

[eli]'s link http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.html
as a link. [angel, May 30 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

[link]






       I thought many programs already had the capability to capture colors from anywhere on the screen?
egnor, Jan 29 2001, last modified Feb 01 2001
  

       Many programs have the ability to eyedropper within the same program; I think absterge means that while you're in the program, you should be able to eyedropper colors from documents in a different program (which usually cannot be done, if I'm not mistaken). That would be a nice feature, to be able to do it without having to screen capture. It would probably need to make use of a modifier key, since normally when you click in another window you expect that window to become active.
PotatoStew, Jan 29 2001
  

       Exactly, PotatoStew; forgive my lack of clarity. The screen capture works, sure, but it would be nice to just be able to grab one color without doing all that.
absterge, Jan 30 2001
  

       There is such a system wide tool for the Macintosh, called DigitalColor Meter, it translates any on screen pixel into its RGB value. Handy! I think it is distributed with System Software 8 and 9 but I'm not positive and who knows about OSX.
nail, Jan 31 2001
  

       The standard NeXT color picker had this feature. (It let you bring up a little magnifying glass cursor, which would let you click anywhere on the screen to pick up a color.) So that makes this idea baked for, hmmm, 5 or 10 years now.   

       They're still messing with the color picker on OS X, so I'm not sure if it'll get that feature or not. I hope so.
krevis, Feb 01 2001
  

       Macromedia Flash does this with its eyedropper. It's beautiful.
jester, Apr 02 2002
  

       As does MM Fireworks and Dreamweaver. I wish all apps that worked with color adopted this practice but MM probably has a patent on it.
bristolz, May 12 2002
  

       For Windows platform just take a look at Pixie - this is exactly what you are looking for. http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.html
eli, May 30 2002
  
      
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