Just Color Picker
Quick links: Download, Online Manual, FAQ
Graphic designers tend to look at things differently. They see the arrangement and colour scheme of things that mere mortals would just take for granted. Anything can be art, and it takes a discerning eye to really see it sometimes. While taking part in normal computer functions, some designers may see colours that they would like to use in their own projects. Identifying the type of colour can be very difficult, but with Just Color Picker, you can get the exact colour value of any pixel.
Features:
- Five formats of colour value: HTML, RGB, HEX, HSB/HSV, and HSL.
- Averaged colour picking for easy colour noise handling.
- 3x, 9x and 15x magnifier to see precisely which color you want to pick.
- Colour list to save and reuse picked colours.
- Comments for each picked colour.
- RGB and RYB colour wheels to display triads and complementary colours.
- Two harmonious colour finders. With this feature you can easily find a good combination of colours, for example, for your web site. Just choose the primary colour of your design, and the colour picker will offer colours harmoniously matching with it.
- RGB & HSV colour editors to adjust and edit colours.
- Gradient between two latest-picked colours to allow you to pick a colour from a wide range between the chosen colours.
- Optional stay-on-top.
- User-defined hotkey to capture colour info (Alt+X by default).
- Copying the colour value or its selected part to the clipboard just by button click.
- Conversion of HTML, HEX or RGB colour codes into corresponding colours.
- No installation required. Just Color Picker is a portable application and can be run directly from a USB stick.
- Multilingual interface: Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Taiwanese, Thai and Turkish.
Supported platforms: Windows 2000, XP 32 bit & 64 bit, Server 2003, Vista 32 bit & 64 bit, Server 2008, Seven 32 bit & 64 bit.
No installation required.
License: the best – freeware.
Latest version: 2.5 (9 May 2010). Averaged colour picking has been added to make it easy to pick colours of areas with colour noise.
Minor updates of version 2.5:
12 May 2010: Traditional Chinese interface has been updated.
18 May 2010: Spanish interface has been updated.
9 June 2010: Italian interface has been updated.
11 June 2010: Catalan interface has been added.
Download Just Color Picker 2.5 (EXE), size 417 KB
Download Just Color Picker 2.5 (ZIP), size 396 KB
Please contact me if you have any questions. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
1 November 2009: Just Color Picker became Unicode, so all the languages should now be displayed correctly. If some parts of the interface are not displayed in your language, it means the translation is old or incomplete. You can correct or complete the existing translations; your help is always appreciated.
Please note, earlier versions of Windows do not support Unicode, so, if you use Windows 95, 98, ME or NT, you should download non-Unicode version 2.1:
Download Just Color Picker 2.1 (EXE), size 286 KB
Download Just Color Picker 2.1 (ZIP), size 267 KB
Online Manual
Commented screenshot | PDF version of the Online Manual
Manual en Español - Spanish Manual for Just Color Picker 2.5 (PDF)
Main window
Just Color Picker is a tool that captures the colour of any pixel in any screen area and displays its code in a variety of formats: HTML, RGB, HEX, HSB/HSV and HSL.
To pick a colour and its code, choose the desired format in the color code formats list, then point the mouse cursor at the pixel/area and press the hotkey to capture this colour. The default hotkey combination is Alt+X.
To copy the code of the colour to the clipboard, click the Copy Value button. The Copy Value button copies the whole content of the colour code field or its selected part if you selected a part of the code with the mouse cursor beforehand.
Colour list
All the colours you have picked since you launched the program are displayed in the colour list.
To select a colour from the list, simply left-click the colour line in the list and the colour will become active. A right-click on a colour line will allow you to copy the code of the colour to clipboard, add/edit a comment for the colour in the list, or delete the colour from the list. You can also delete a colour from the list by selecting it with a left-click and then pressing the Delete key.
Main window extension
The button with up/down arrows expands the program window and opens the RGB/HSV colour editor, gradient and harmonious colour finder.
The RGB/HSV colour editor contains the latest picked colour or the selected colour, which you can modify and then pick the resulting colour for your further needs. Use the RGB mode to change red, green or blue components of the colour. Switch to HSV mode if you need to change the colour’s hue, saturation or value.
Two harmonious colour finders (contrasting and similar) suggest six colours that may be a good combination with the picked, selected or edited colour. The colour finders are a suggestion, a guide, while the final choice of harmonious colours is up to you, your creativity and your taste.
The gradient feature provides you with a wide range of nuances and gradations between the two latest-picked or selected colours, in case if you need to pick something in-between.
Code-to-Colour conversion
For the inverse process of conversion of colour codes into corresponding colours, enter the colour code into the colour code field and press Enter. The colour will appear in the colour list and its code will be shown in the colour code field, in exactly the same way as if you picked it with the mouse from your screen.
Just Color Picker can convert HTML, HEX and RGB codes into colours:
- To convert an HTML code, enter the six-character colour code with or without the preceding # symbol and press Enter.
- To convert a HEX code, enter the six-character colour code with or without the preceding 0x symbols and press Enter.
- To convert an RGB code, enter the three digital parts of the colour code (from 0 to 255) separating the parts with commas and/or spaces and press Enter.
If Just Color Picker does not display the colour after you pressed Enter, it means the colour code has been entered incorrectly. Correct the input and press Enter again.
Main menu
Options
There is 3x, 9x and 15x zoom of the mouse cursor area. Use the Zoom menu item to change zoom magnification or to switch it off.
Colour Picking Area menu item offers an option for picking either the exact colour of a single pixel, or an average colour value of a 3 by 3 or 5 by 5 pixel area with the pointed pixel in the centre of the area. When the 3 by 3 Average or 5 by 5 Average option is chosen, a grey rectangle bounding the averaged area and a “3x3 Avg” or “5x5 Avg” label will appear in the zoom field.
Here you can also enable or disable the Stay on Top feature which keeps Just Color Picker window over all other programs until you close or minimize it.
To change the hotkey, go to the Hotkey menu item. Select a new hotkey combination by pressing the keys (will be displayed in the window), then click OK. Be careful: do not choose a combination that is already assigned to another program, as the combinations will clash and may not work correctly in either of the programs.
Show # in HTML code option shows or hides the hash symbol in HTML colour codes.
Colour Wheels
The Colour Wheels menu displays triads and complementary colours for the latest picked or selected colour. Both RGB (Red, Green, Blue) and RYB (Red, Yellow, Blue) colour wheels are supported. You can open any number of wheel windows to compare the colours. Please note that white, black and shades of grey do not have saturation, and, therefore, they have no triads or complementary colours.
Colour List
If you want to keep the list of picked colours after you close Just Color Picker or need the chosen colours for a future use, use the Save As menu item to save the colour list to a file, and the Open menu item to load it back later. The Clear All command clears the list.
Colour code formats
HTML, HEX and RGB colour codes consist of three parts that define the combination of Red, Green and Blue colour values. The first two characters of HTML/HEX code (or the first number of RGB code) define the red component, the next two characters (or the second number) define the green component, and the last characters/number define blue. The value of each part of the colour code can vary from 00 to FF for HTML/HEX, from 0 to 255 for RGB, and from 0 to 1 for RGB [0,1].
HSB/HSV. The HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) or HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) colour code defines a colour in terms of three components:
- Hue (H) is the name by which colours are distinguished, such as red or yellow. Hue ranges from 0 to 360 degree, with red at 0 degree, green at 120 degree, blue at 240 degree and so on.
- Saturation (S) is the purity of a colour. The lower the saturation of a colour, the more grey, faded and dull the colour looks. The higher the saturation, the purer, brighter and more intense the colour appears. Saturation ranges from 0 to 100%.
- Brightness (B)/Value (V) of a colour refers to its lightness or darkness. As this component is called Brightness sometimes, it makes it a bit confusing with Saturation. Value ranges from 0 to 100%.
Some applications use different ranges of the components. For example, S and V/B can vary from 0 to 1, H may be normalized to 0–100%, or all three components can vary from 0 to 255. Just Color Picker uses the “degree, percent, percent” notation.
HSL. The Hue, Saturation, Lightness (Luminance) code is similar to HSB/HSV. The main difference is that L is a linear parameter while B/V is a non-linear one. Just Color Picker sets the value of every HSL parameter from 0 to 255, and from 0 to 240 for every parameter in HSL(Win).
If your application requires a parameter in 0–1.0 range while Just Color Picker shows it in the 0–100% range, you can easily convert one to another: e.g. 73% = 0.73.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. I press the default hotkey combination (Alt+X), but the Color Picker doesn’t pick the colour.
Sometimes a hotkey combination may not work if it is already assigned to another program installed on your computer. To fix the problem, you just need to choose another hotkey combination in the Color Picker’s Options menu.
2. When I run Just Color Picker from my USB stick, it creates jcpicker.ini file. What is it?
Just Color Picker recognizes when it is run from a portable device and creates jcpicker.ini file that contains all its settings. It saves you from setting them up every time you use a new computer.
When you run Just Color Picker from your computer’s disk, it does not create the settings file. It saves all its settings on that computer, therefore there is no need to create an additional file in this case.
3. May Just Color Picker be used in a process of creation of commercial products (in a professional design studio, for example)?
Yes. You may use Just Color Picker wherever you like. The only condition is that the program should not be modified.
4. I plan to publish a note about your software in a magazine/ include your software into cover CD/ publish on a web-site/ etc. I'd like to ask your permission to do so.
You may give this software to your friends, burn it onto CD-ROMs or other media, include it onto cover CDs, publish notes in magazines and upload it to software archives without asking author’s permission. Any web links to this page are appreciated. Thank you for making Just Color Picker more popular.
Also I would be glad to see any notes about my software, so, if you found an article about Just Color Picker, please send me a URL to the web-site or a scan of the magazine’s page (if the magazine does not forbid to scan its pages).
As long as the program remains unmodified, Just Color Picker has no limits on its usage and distribution. The determination is final and may not be appealed.
5. What is the relation between Anry Color Picker, TakeColor and Just Color Picker? They look quite similar.
These are different names of the same Color Picker created by the same person. The program changed its name with time as well as new features were added. It was TakeColor in 2003–2005, Anry Color Picker in 2005–2007, and it became Just Color Picker in 2007 along with changing its location to annystudio.com.
6. I like your free software. What can I do for you?
A happy user is already a sufficient reward for me, however, if you have 15–20 minutes of free time, you can make Just Color Picker better for people in your country by translating its interface to your native language, correcting or completing the existing translations.
Just Color Picker has Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Taiwanese, Thai and Turkish interfaces at the moment. Some of these translations need to be updated and completed. Also, I would also be glad to add new languages.
To translate the interface, you need to download the zip-archive with language text file and translate the words and sentences after the “=” signs in each line. After that, save the text file as UTF-8 and send it to me via the form at the Contacts page. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding translation.
Also, if you wish, you can make a PayPal donation.
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Download3K.com has downloaded from annystudio.com and tested Just Color Picker, JPEG Lossless Rotator and Domino Solitaire with 4 of the best antivirus engines available today and found the software to be clean of any form of badware (viruses, spyware, adware, etc.)
Softpedia.com guarantees that Just Color Picker and JPEG Lossless Rotator, when downloaded from annystudio.com, are 100% Clean, which means they do not contain any form of malware, including but not limited to: spyware, viruses, trojans and backdoors. These software products were tested thoroughly and were found absolutely clean; therefore, they can be installed with no concern by any computer user.