Greyscale colourpicking.

[MrToM]

E L James wrote about fifty of them but I bet she never used photoshop to do it!

Maybe its just me but trying to quickly select a shade of grey has turned out to be a headache and a half, and that's being kind. Yes, you can click the foreground/background icon(s) to bring up the colourpicker dialog box, and yes you can click a greyscale colour, and yes you can then click 'OK' just to confirm that you do actually want that colour as the foreground colour......yawn.

That's a lot of clicking, for a simple task, so its pretty cool then that there is the 'colour' window (panel) with 3 convenient RGB sliders to make the task easier....great!

What about greyscale though?

Ah ha! You can right click the colour bar underneath the sliders and change it to 'Grayscale Ramp' !!!! Brilliant! All my troubles are over, I can now choose colour AND greyscale all from the one panel.......WRONG!

Indeed you do get a 'Grayscale Ramp', but its logarithmic grrrrr!

So the question is....
Can this be changed to a linear scale?

OR....
Is there a shortcut key combo which will set the RGB sliders to the same value?

OR....
Is there a shortcut key combo that will move all 3 sliders at the same time?

OR....
Is there a totally different, but just as easy way to select a shade of grey? (Without the RCI (Repetitive Click Injury))

OR....
Do I just vent my spleen out of the nearest open window?

Regards.
MrTom.

 

[dv8_fx]

Good question.....

I've been trying ever since to find a shortcut for that but never found one. So my workaround was to use the K of CMYK in the colorpicker dialog, click on K , use the numbers pad up and down arrows and see the corresponding mix in RGB.

Are you by chance attempting to create a 256 shade grayscale swatch?

 

[MrToM]

Hi dv8_fx,

Good question..... I've been trying ever since to find a shortcut for that but never found one.

Ha Ha........I glad I'm not on my own.......spleen venting looking favourite at the moment then!

I'm not looking to do a 256 shade grayscale swatch no, but if I'm reading you right then yes, the problem would be solved with a handy 'Smoothness' slider as with gradients.

All I'm trying to do is select a shade of grey, without the hassle of opening the picker every time......we have RGB sliders why not a [linear] greyscale one?

I've read THIS post in which you were involved, which is excellent at explaining the workings of greyscale, colourspace, k values, gamma etc.....but I just want to pick a colour...of grey....with one click......is that too much to ask? :banghead:

Thanks for the reply though, maybe we'll both find that elusive shortcut sometime.

Regards.
MrTom.

 

[Tom Mann]

When I've needed such a thing, I simply made a little black-to-white gradient and posterized it to as many different levels as I needed. You can then use the eyedropper to select one of the patches for use somewhere else.

If you don't like the linear spacing, you can change it using contrast, gamma, curves, gradient map, or any other similar adjustment to the equally spaced steps.

The attached image shows exactly this. "Ref" stands for "reference", and is the equally spaced steps.

HTH,

T

 

[dv8_fx]

Hey Tom... I was looking for something like that which I think you posted somewhere around here... .

I'm not looking to do a 256 shade grayscale swatch no, but if I'm reading you right then yes, the problem would be solved with a handy 'Smoothness' slider as with gradients.

Regards.
MrTom.

I thought you were. I had a greyscale 256 shade swatch from my PS6 days. Been a while since I've loaded it. I'll try and find it......

sorry... just noticed your post was moderated..... and took me 4 or 5 tries to get it approved.... forum's acting up on me on my side....

 

[MrToM]

Sorry guys......I AM replying to your excellent suggestions but for some reason, despite being the OP, my posts now need to be moderated......hence I'm now not actually part of my own conversation and my posts will all be out of sync

I'd draw a line under it for now until I catch up....I wouldn't want you guys to waste time on something I may have already solved.

Hopefully we can pick this up again later.

Much appreciated.

Regards.
MrTom.

 

[Tom Mann]

Hey Tom... I was looking for something like that which I think you posted somewhere around here... ....

V, I presume you were addressing TomM, not MTom, LOL.

Anyway, you're right, I posted a set of equally spaced patches (both in gray, as well as in each of the three RGB channels) in a recent thread where someone seemed to have a problem with monitor calibration, and it turned out that indeed, this was the case. The only problem is that for the life of me, I can't remember who that was, and I can't find that post of mine. OTOH, it was only a few weeks old, as I recall.

T

 

[dv8_fx]

Yup... I was addressing you, Tom not Tom.... the Mann I mean, not the Mr. ... lol

That's what I thought.... a couple of weeks old if I'm not mistaken.....

V, I presume you were addressing TomM, not MTom, LOL.

Anyway, you're right, I posted a set of equally spaced patches (both in gray, as well as in each of the three RGB channels) in a recent thread where someone seemed to have a problem with monitor calibration, and it turned out that indeed, this was the case. The only problem is that for the life of me, I can't remember who that was, and I can't find that post of mine. OTOH, it was only a few weeks old, as I recall.

T

 

[MrToM]

Sorry guys for being a bit slow on this one, things to do an all ya know.

Really appreciate all the help given, I understand there's been a similar question before so my apologies for making you all repeat yourselves.....all repeat yourselves.

There IS good news though!

Hooray!

Although I haven't found a shortcut to our dreams...

Boo!

I have solved the problem!

Hooray!

Although I did cheat a little...

Boo!

I made my own linear greyscale selector!

Hooray!

Wait, you did what?

Yeah I know, a bit drastic but if you can't beat 'em!
Its not perfect, needs a polish, but it works ok.



Life is soooooo much easier now.

Thanks again for all your help guys, very much appreciated.

Regards.
MrTom.

PS.
I have it in a zxp package if anyone wants to try it.