Saving Custom Colors

[ShannonM]

Hello,

I regularly use custom colors on my layouts. Each time I exit the program, I lose all of the custom colors I had previously set. Does anyone know if there is a way to save or store these custom colors between sessions? It is so frustrating to have to set them all up each time I open FileMaker.

Thanks!

[Lee Smith]

You can save colors you use in a layout, for the file, by choosing the "Other" from the color palette, and the using the Magnify Glass. Once you have selected the color, you can drag the color to one of the blank squares below the wheel.

HTH

Lee

[color:red]p.s.

I forgot to mention that you can do this from another file, as long as you can get the other file to show on your screen at the same time. Takes a bit of maneuvering when you have a small screen like I do.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Guest
_ PS _

[David Jondreau]

The color palette is one big undiscovered country. I'm still finding whole features. The color picker was one I didn't know about until a year ago. More recently I found you can create and save custom color schemes.

From the top left of the color palette floating window (after selecting "Other Color..." from the Color tool bar) I've got 5 icons, Color Wheel, Color Sliders, Color Palettes, Image Palettes, and Crayons. Choose Color Palettes. From the top drop down you can create lists of colors, so can save different lists for different files. Then from the little drop down towards the bottom, you can add colors to a list.

There's a bunch of little features in this window that I won't go in to, but if you play around you can figure it out.

[comment]

This is not a Filemaker feature, but a Mac OS X feature. You get this in any application that lets you select a color - and needless to say, you don't get this in Windows.

I am curious what is meant by "custom colors" in the original post.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Guest

[ShannonM]

Does this mean that I am out of luck using a PC?

"Custom colours" are created when you choose the 'other colours' option at the bottom of the colour palette. There are blank boxes where you can add your own colours. These boxes seem to reset each time you close the program though.

[David Jondreau]

This is not a Filemaker feature, but a Mac OS X feature.

Whoa! I had no idea. Apple integrates pretty well with its apps.

[comment]

Filemaker saves the color you assign to any Filemaker object. I believe the boxes you see belong to the Windows color picker (just as similar boxes on the Mac belong to the Apple color picker), not to Filemaker. At least that's how it works on a Mac - any colors you save in the color picker are available system-wide. You should check what happens in other applications.

[comment]

Apple integrates pretty well with its apps.

It's the other way round, I think: Apple provides many system resources for programmers to integrate in their applications, to save them the hassle of re-inventing the wheel. This goes back a long time, Quicktime being a prime example.

[K1200]

Does this mean that I am out of luck using a PC?

Yes.

Windows throws away custom colors when an application closes. The only "shortcut" I've ever found is to use the Tab and arrow keys to move through the different custom color blocks to make restoring your palette a tiny bit easier. Not much help, I know.