How To Use the Color Picker Tool in Affinity Designer

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to use the Color Picker Tool in Affinity Designer. The Color Picker tool allows you to sample colors from anywhere on your screen. The sampled colors are then stored in Affinity Designer’s swatches for easy access. This also helps when consistency is needed across projects.

The Color Picker Tool can be accessed two ways, which we will discuss below. We chose to use the Shape Tools during this tutorial but you can use any design. You can even use the pen tool to create your own shapes.



Method One - Use the Color Tab on Right Side

When you open a new document in Affinity Designer, you will find the Color Panel on the right hand side. If you don’t see the Color panel, go to View > Studio > Color and tick to open the panel.

Step 1 - Access the Color Picker Tool

You can choose to view the colors as a Wheel, Sliders, Boxes or Tint. We are using the Wheel for this tutorial. If you don’t see the Wheel you can change this by going to the burger menu on the top right. Now, click to open the menu and select Wheel.

You can see the color picker tool on the right of your design area.

We drew out various shapes as examples for this tutorial.

Step 2 - Apply Color from Color Wheel

To apply color to an object from the color wheel, first select your shape. Then, click on the outer ring of the wheel to select a color. Clicking anywhere in the triangle will make the color lighter or darker.

As you click on the Wheel, the color of your object will change. You can also change the Opacity of the color.

Step 3 - Sample the Color

In the Color Panel you will also see the eyedropper tool. Once you click this tool, you need to hold down your mouse button then drag over anywhere on the screen. Wherever the eyedropper preview is placed, that color will be sampled when clicked.

You can also sample color outside of the program’s workspace. You can even sample a color from a website.

Step 4 - Apply the Sampled Color

Your sampled color will now be visible next to the eyedropper. To apply the color, make sure your object is selected, then click on the small circle next to the eyedropper. Your sampled color will now be applied.

Method Two - Access Color Picker Tool from Left Toolbar

On the left side toolbar you will also find a Color Picker Tool. However, this option is more restricted. You will only be able to select a color from within the workspace.

Make sure your object is selected. Then either sample a color with the eyedropper tool or just click on a color from the wheel.

To sample a color, just click on the Color Picker Tool on the left side toolbar. Then move your cursor over an area in the workspace and click on a color to sample. You won’t need to hold down your mouse button for this action.

You will know the Color Picker Tool is active by the crosshairs, unlike the preview mentioned in Method One. When you click to sample, the color is automatically applied.

You can also use photos to sample colors and create color palettes. Now you know how to use the Color Picker Tool in Affinity Designer. You can effortlessly sample colors from any object or image and customize your designs.