10 - Working with Color Styles

I'm just completing a basic business card.
To maintain branding and look I'm using 'Object Styles'.
Be sure to watch the ‘Working with Object Styles’ video
to learn more, they are very powerful.
I'm going to select this PowerClip frame,
[Shift] on the keyboard and select the background card.
[C] on the keyboard centers the rectangle to the background.
Now up to [Window] - [Dockers] and open the Connect [Tray].
I have added a new logo.
This logo is identical to the other but it's a vector image.
This means that I can fill it with any color I want.
[Click+drag+drop] into the PowerClip frame.
Close down the tray.
And choose [Fit Contents Proportionately].
Now I will change the color of the logo and number 7.
Double-click to edit.
This is a group of objects.
To select one object in a group of objects,
hold down the [Ctrl] key and select the object.
I'll fill it with a lilac color.
Holding [Ctrl], select 7 and fill with the color below,
a darker version of the same shade.
Then click 'Stop Editing Contents'.
Selecting all objects below, Ill tap [R] to right align.
Using alignment guides I'll align to the rectangle edge.
[Click+drag] and align to the right edge.
That's great.
Select & right-click the X to remove the PowerClip outline.
I’m going to use this business card throughout this video.
I need to create three duplicates.
So I'll [Ctrl+C] this card and then [Ctrl+V] paste down
and move this one to the right while holding down [Ctrl].
Use arrow keys to space some more.
Again, [Ctrl+V] and move to the left.
I use [Ctrl] to horizontally constrain the card as I move it
so it doesn’t move up or down.
Turn off Alignment Guides, & close the 'Layout toolbar'.
It's good to save so that I have a point of reference.
Now from the [Tools] menu, I'll select [Color Styles]
which opens the [color Styles] docker.
Reading the text in this gray box, it says,
'Drag here to add color style and generate a harmony'.
If I select this entire business card,
and drag it onto the color harmony area,
CorelDRAW collects colors of similar hue and value
& decides how many color groups to create, which are these.
I can increase or lower the number of groups.
Slide to the left for less or to the right for more.
These three options will determine
the number of colors and harmony groups I have.
'Object outline', displays outline colors, I only have one
so we only see one color.
'Object fill' displays all the fill colors.
I want to use both fill and outline and have two groups.
A quick note: whichever color space you're working in,
if you have alternate colors, such as spot colors,
For the spot color to work inside of a harmony
it has to be converted CMYK,
or to RGB if you are working in the RGB space.
Remember: when you create a document using spot colors,
its very important those colors stay as spot colors.
Converting to CMYK or RGB will lose those values
and you can’t restore those values at a later point.
This is important to remember if you use spot colors.
I don't have other color types, so I'll click [OK].
I'll pull down the grab handle so you can see
the two color groups that have been created.
I'm going to select the first harmony folder
which only contains the color white.
Notice below in the color harmony editor
there is one selector ring for the color white.
The second folder has four colors hence four selector rings.
To start, I'll select the single color folder.
I can move the selector ring anywhere on the harmony wheel.
The color updates on screen when I release the mouse.
The color changes in the folder and on screen.
Originally the text was white in color.
There is now a direct link to this color folder.
Changing the color in the folder always updates the design.
Further down is a saturation slider.
Be sure to experiment with this slider.
Moving to the right gives a perfectly accurate result
of where the color ring is sitting.
Moving left I get a darker, less saturated result.
Further down is the color editor and some
familiar tools for editing colors.
I could use the 'Eyedropper tool' and sample a color
or even sample a color from the color mixer.
Here are the familiar CMYK sliders,
the color viewers, or I can type in a value.
I'll go back to white by entering 0, 0, 0, 0.
Scroll up.
I'll now select the second folder.
Four colors in the folder, means four color selector rings.
A selector ring is selected when its outer perimeter
has a white circle around the outside.
When all are selected, I can drag one
and they all move at the same time.
To select one, select a color or the selector ring.
To select more than one color, hold [Shift] and select
more than one color or more than one selector ring.
It's very easy to use.
All the selected colors move together as I move one.
I'm going to change the color of the plum background.
I'll select the plum color which selects the selector ring
and I’ll move it toward an autumn shade.
That looks good.
I'll increase the saturation a little also.
I’m happy with that.
I also want to re-color the fish and number 7
but I want to maintain their same shade relationship.
Finger on [Shift], select both & drag.
I want colors that will work with the autumn background.
To individually alter colors, select one
and drag to adjust the color of that one.
I don't think the pink works, so I'm going to move it
toward an autumn green. The result is very nice!
Click away from the selector rings to select them all.
As I drag the rings, they maintain their same relationship
to each other as they move together.
This is such a great way to use the harmony wheel
to see combinations of colors I might never have considered.
I can move in or outward for different looks and effects.
So many great looks and a good way
to demonstrate color options to a customer.
Color harmony groups can also be created by selecting
a number of objects while holding [shift], then right-click
and choose [color Styles] and [New from Selected].
I want both fill & outline and one harmony group.
Then click [OK].
I'll repeat using the fish this time.
Right-click, choose [color Styles] & [New from Selected].
Click [OK].
Now I have two color harmony groups.
Watch this.
The first group changes the background and the line.
What a great way to maintain that same color relationship.
The other group changes the fish logo and provides a
unique way to find different color combinations.
I’ve shown you how to change colors and create color groups.
But you need to know how to break the link between objects
and colors also. If I right-click on the fish and choose
[Color Styles] and [Break Link to Color Style],
and change colors, the fish now remains the same.
There maybe times when you'll need to break the link.
Now that the link is broken to this color harmony group,
I'm going to select the folder & delete.
I'm now going to add colors to the color styles area.
I can do this a few ways.
Drag & drop a color from the color palette.
or drag & drop an object or two.
I can also click on the 'New color style' icon,
click the flyout and choose 'New Color Style'.
By default the color will be red.
The red can be changed using the color selector options.
move the selector, manually type in a value,
62, tab, 0, tab, 22.
Hit [Enter].
I’ve created an aqua color.
I'm going to add an empty color harmony folder.
'New Color Harmony'.
It has no colors right now.
I can drag and drop colors into the folder
and I can extend the color range of this folder
with gradients.
Choose 'New Color Harmony' and [New Gradient].
I can make a number of selections.
These colors will be added to the folder.
I can increase or decrease the number of colors.
For 'Shade Similarity' a high number means a closer match
very little difference between the colors.
A low number means more distance between each shade.
I will stay with a value of 4.
'Lighter Shades' is lighter, 'Darker Shades' is darker.
'Both' is a combination of darker and lighter
and creates a palette of colors that work well together.
I will use 'Lighter Shades' and click [OK]
All the shades are now added to the folder.
Look at the color selector rings.
Notice how they're in a perfect straight line,
this is because they are a perfect gradient of colors.
To link any color with an object is easy.
Just drag the color onto an object,
It's easy to build up a color theme with this method
I've used all the colors here that I want to
leaving unused colors. The best way to remove them
is to click [Select unused] then click [Delete].
Only the colors being used remain.
I'm going to select the bottom 'Harmony folder'
and rotate through a range of colors for ideas..
It's so easy to create interesting color combinations.
As I’ve shown you in the previous video,
exporting styles is quite valuable for later use.
I can export color and object styles to a 'Style Sheet'.
Click to export and in the [Export] dialog box
I'll call this 'ColorStyle' and click [Export].
Then the same dialog box you saw for 'Object Styles' opens.
This time I only want to save 'Color Styles'.
Click [OK].
Should I want to pass these styles onto another designer
or use them as I extend this project
I only have to [Import] the style sheet and use them.