Colour Palette
The Palette panel holds colour swatches for quick picking during material editing. Open it from View ▸ Palette. If the entry is greyed out, choose View ▸ Unlock Advanced UI first.
Panel layout
The toolbar across the top contains:
- Scope dropdown — switches between This Document (document palette plus built-ins) and Shared library (palettes saved to the shared library).
- Add a swatch to the document palette — adds a new grey swatch to the document palette.
- Save the document palette to the shared library — saves the current document palette to the shared library under the fixed name "Document palette".
- Reload shared palettes from the library — refreshes the shared palette groups from the library.
Below the toolbar the grid shows colour swatches that reflows as the panel is resized.
Document scope
When the scope is This Document, the panel shows:
- Document Palette — swatches you have added or that were saved into the document. These travel with the file.
- Five built-in groups (read-only):
| Group | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Product Neutrals | Whites, greys and blacks common in product photography |
| Brand Primaries | Saturated primary and secondary hues |
| Metallics | Chromatic finishes — gold, silver, copper, gunmetal and anodised tones |
| Pastels | Desaturated light tints across the full hue range |
| Automotive | Standard car-body colours |
Shared scope
When the scope is Shared library, the panel shows palettes saved to the shared library — typically brand colours and approved surface finishes. These swatches are read-only; you can import a group to your document palette via the context menu.
Using a swatch
Click any swatch to set the base colour of the selected parts' material. A selection is required; nothing happens if nothing is selected.
Drag a swatch onto an open colour picker to set that colour directly. Open a colour's picker first, then drag the swatch onto it.
Drop a colour (from a colour picker or another panel) onto the palette grid to add it as a new document swatch.
Adding and editing document swatches
- Add — click Add a swatch to the document palette in the toolbar to add a new light-grey swatch named "Colour N" at the end of the Document Palette. The colour picker opens immediately so you can set the colour; the swatch is saved when you close the picker. Add, Rename and Delete work only in This Document scope; the Add button does nothing in Shared library scope.
- Edit — double-click a document swatch to open a colour picker and change its value.
- Right-click a document swatch for: Edit colour… · Rename… · Delete · Add swatch…
The Add swatch… context item is also available when right-clicking empty space in the document section.
Shared scope context menu
When scope is Shared library, right-clicking a swatch (not the group caption) shows:
- Import to document palette — copies the group's swatches into the Document Palette. After import the panel switches back to This Document scope automatically.
- Reload shared — refreshes the shared palette data from the library.
If no shared palettes are available the panel reads "No shared palettes (library unavailable)."
Usage dot
A small blue dot marks a document swatch that a material is linked to. Links come from imported or older documents — no current gesture in the panel creates a new link. Editing a marked swatch recolours those materials.
Related
- Materials — surface controls and colour pickers
- Colourways — colour variant sets
- Library — saving materials and shared assets