Keeping colors in proportion

This post was originally posted on March 12, 2014 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.

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NOTE: While this page may have useful insights, be aware that it was published more than 10 years ago and may not be relevant for current software versions.

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In InDesign, you want to modify a color slightly, keeping it in the same basic hue. Maybe you’ve duplicated a color and need a slightly lighter or darker color to complement your design. You double click the swatch in the palette and you get this:

Moving the sliders individually will radically alter the color. You need to move all the sliders at once, keeping them in proportion. And InDesign has a way to do this. Simply hold down the shift key as you click and drag the sliders. They will all move together:

Look at the numbers in the screenshot above. I simply clicked on the Cyan slider and moved it to the left while holding down the shift key. All of the sliders moved in proportion. Cyan went from 72% to 62%. And the other colors moved, too. Here’s another screenshot where I’ve moved the Cyan slider to 52%:

And the same trick works in Illustrator, too. Just hold the shift key to move the Color palette sliders together. It’s a simple and powerful way to adjust your color palette.