Interactive color palette tools.

Color is fundamental in computer graphics imagery. But despite the importance of good color selection and the difficulty most people have making those color selections, current graphics applications provide only minimal tools for mixing and organizing colors; exploring color combinations; and soliciting historical, theoretical, or expert sources.This article describes a new tool set that addresses these needs. The tools are based on artists' methods, perceptual science, and a task analysis survey conducted by the authors. With these tools, users can quickly experiment with color within the context of their compositions to arrive at deliberate, confident selections. The article describes the tools' rationale, inner workings, and interfaces, and discusses important implementation issues.