Tip#59: Move all brushes from Photoshop’s Brush Presets into MagicSquire groups

You can quickly move all your brushes from native Adobe® Photoshop Brush Presets into MagicSquire panel colored groups.

Move brushes from Brush Presets into MagicSquire groups in Photoshop
Move brushes from Brush Presets into MagicSquire groups in Photoshop
  1. Click on Brush Presets menu and then click Save Brushes…
  2. Export brushes into .ABR file
  3. Now you can remove all your brushes from Brush Presets (highly recommended to improve performance!)
  4. Load this .ABR file into MagicSquire using menu -> Add brushes from .ABR…

That’s it! Now you can rearrange your brushes to different groups using color coding inside MagicSquire! Works in CS5, CS6, CC, CC2015 and CC2017+.

Tip#58: Assign transparent color to vector shapes in Photoshop and Illustrator

New MagicPicker allows to assign transparency to Fill or Stroke of the currently selected vector shape in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator with one click on the panel!

Assign transparency to vector shapes
Assign transparency to vector shapes

1) Select your shape
2) Hold Ctrl (or ⌘) and then click with mouse or your tablet pen on the appropriate Fill or Stroke swatch on the MagicPicker panel

That’s it! The transparency will be applied immediately.

*In Adobe Photoshop Colorize Shapes and Text mode must me ON. In Illustrator it’s on by default.

MagicPicker is the professional color picking plugin and color wheel for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Tip#57: Change Fill & Stroke colors of Shapes with one click in Photoshop

New MagicPicker’s superpower is ability to easily work with Fill & Stroke colors of Shapes (and Text) in Adobe Photoshop.

Change color of Stroke & Fill for Shapes in Adobe Photoshop
Change color of Stroke & Fill for Shapes in Adobe Photoshop

To use it:
1) Open MagicPicker’s fly-out menu on the top right
2) select Colorizes Shapes and Text*.
3) Select a Shape layer (or text layer) – MagicPicker will automatically switch to Vector mode
4) Change its color with one click on the color wheel!

MagicPicker 5.0 supports advanced professional design tools for modifying Shapes and Shape groups all at once:
– Assign transparent color with Ctrl(or ⌘)-click on the color swatches
– Rotate Hue° of the multiple shapes – select a group of shape layers and move Hue° slider
Exchange colors of Fill & Stroke with Exchange button on the MagicPicker panel
– Assign Black & White colors with one click on the B&W button

Even more tools for creating best designs with the plugin:
– Use Tone Lock to keep colors of all the selected shapes in the same range of brightness
– Use Color Temperature Wheel to make all your shapes warmer or colder as you select group of layers

Go to MagicPicker home page or upgrade to new MagicPicker 5

*(this feature works in Photoshops that support Shapes: Photoshop CS5, CS6, CC, CC2014, CC2015 & CC2015.5)

Tip#56: New color spaces and current color name on the corner of color wheel

New color spaces and color name on color wheel
New color spaces and color name on color wheel

New MagicPicker 5 brings new feature! Display HSL/HSB/RGB/CMYK/YUV/YCbCr values in realtime on the corner of color wheel with MagicPicker 5! It lets you also display current color’s name. Ever wondered how “Crioiser Blue” or “Pastel orange” look like exactly? We got you covered! Even when bottom color sliders are hidden and color boxes are unavailable you can see current color’s name or values.

To use new feature:
1) Click on three dots on the left botton of the color wheel
2) Continue clicking to switch between modes!
3*) To copy current color’s values to clipboard click once small copy button near the values

MagicPicker, the advanced color wheel and color picking plugin panel for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Tip#55: The secret to printing brilliant uniform colors: using Tone Lock together with K-Lock in MagicPicker

Keep colors bright or dark when rotating Hue° while saving low level of K ink of CMYK – all at once! That lets you find colors on the color wheel within the same dynamic gamut range that look bright when printed! To do that switch on both Tone Lock and K-Lock in MagicPicker – they work together very well! Then rotate Hue° on the color wheel and you will see how MagicPicker adjusts the color so it sustains same perceived brightness and the same K value!

Tone Lock and K-Lock in MagicPickae
Tone Lock and K-Lock in MagicPickae

This technique works in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop CS6, CC, CC2014, CC2015, CS5, CS4 and CS3.

From series of tutorials for MagicPicker, the advanced color picking plugin and color wheel for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Tip#54: Find colors with the same brightness but different temperature

It’s easily possible with MagicPicker! In the Color Temperature Wheel mode switch on Tone Lock and start shifting the slider on the wheel. This option lets you quickly find corresponding colors having the same brightness for lights and shadows or for foreground and background. Or keep the same brightness level across the surface when editing textures.

Change color temperature while keeping color's brightness
Change color temperature while keeping color’s brightness

MagicPicker is the advanced color picking plugin and color wheel for Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

Tip#53: Make use of MagicPicker’s versatility (Feel free to indulge yourself!)

MagicPicker is designed to be easily dockable and to fit automatically any kind of Photoshop or Illustrator environment. In any combination with other panels, like Layers, Brushes it will smartly take up your space. With quick access to all of its numerous controls and modes.

Use MagicPicker in horizontal or vertical layout inside your favorite Adobe software. Dock it to any part of the interface or leave as a standalone panel. Or even keep it incredibly small in Compact Mode if you’re a fan of ascetic UI configuration!

Magic Picker: versatility

MagicPicker, the color wheel and advanced color picking panel

Tip#52: Background/foreground and fill/stroke color picking in MagicPicker

Picking foreground/background colors in Photoshop and Fill/Stroke in Illustrator
Picking foreground/background colors in Photoshop and Fill/Stroke in Illustrator

Pick foreground or background colors separately with MagicPicker! Click the appropriate color swatch on the panel to make it active in Adobe Photoshop. In Adobe Illustrator switch between Stroke and Fill colors

MagicPicker, the advanced color picking and color wheel panel for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Tip#51: K-Lock in MagicPicker 4

K-Lock lets you keep your colors bright in CMYK and decrease K level to 10% or zero in any given color! You can make colors darker or brighter while keeping value of K the same so they all come out vivid when printing. Just set the value and then click the button to lock it down. You can adjust K on the fly in that mode making colors even darker!

MagicPicker, the advanced color wheel and color picker for Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

Image © Marcelo Maiolo, colorist on Batman Beyond, Pacific Rim

Tip#50: MixColors 2 and new swatch groups

New MixColors 2.0 is the fastest way to organize swatches in groups in Photoshop.

  • Click on the folder icon to create new group
  • Click on the group name to activate it
  • Click on arrow next to group name to hide/show colors in the group.
MixColors panel with swatch color groups in Photoshop
MixColors panel with swatch color groups in Photoshop

You can move colors between groups and inside one group using drag’n’drop! The feature works across all modern versions of Photoshop from CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS6 up to CC 2015.

MixColors, the color mixer and swatch group manager for Adobe Photoshop