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https://github.com/cyotek/cyotek.windows.forms.colorpicker

Color picker control suite for Windows Forms applications.
https://github.com/cyotek/cyotek.windows.forms.colorpicker

c-sharp colorgrid-control cyotek hacktoberfest winforms-controls

Last synced: 3 months ago
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Color picker control suite for Windows Forms applications.

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README 

        
# ![Icon][icon] Cyotek Color Picker Controls for Windows Forms



[![Build status][cibadge]][ci] [![NuGet][nugetbadge]][nuget]



The **Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPickers** library contains a

series of custom controls and utility classes for Windows Forms

applications that work with colours. Controls are available to

allow colour selection via a HSL `ColorWheel`, a `ColorGrid`

with many customisation options, a `ColorEditor` for entering

colours via RGB or HSL, and a `ScreenColorPicker` for capturing

colours from running applications.



Color palettes can be loaded and saved in a number of different

formats, including Adobe PhotoShop Color Swatch files, JASC

Palettes, Gimp Palettes and more (see Color Palettes and

External Palette Files below).



For more information on these controls, see the [articles tagged

with `colorpicker`][blogtag] at cyotek.com.



## Getting the library



The easiest way of obtaining the library is via [NuGet][nuget].



> `Install-Package Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker`



If you don't use NuGet, pre-compiled binaries can be obtained

from the [GitHub Releases page][ghrel].



Of course, you can always grab [the source][ghsrc] and build it

yourself!



## Controls



There are three primary controls (`ColorGrid`, `ColorWheel` and

`ColorEditor`), along with 5 utility controls

(`ScreenColorPicker`, `RgbaColorSlider`, `HueColorSlider`,

`LightnessColorSlider` and `SaturationColorSlider`), a

management component (`ColorEditorManager`) and one dialog

(`ColorPickerDialog`). Combined together, these provide a decent

array of tools for colour selection.



### ColorGrid Control



![ColorGrid control demonstration][colorgridscreen]



This control displays a grid of colours, and supports both a

primary palette, and a custom colour palette. Several properties

are available for configuring the appearing of the control, and

there are behaviour options too, such as built in editing of

colours and support for automatically adding new colours not in

the primary palette.



### ColorWheel Control



![ColorWheel control demonstration][colorwheelscreen]



This control displays a radial wheel of RGB colours and allows

selection from any point in the wheel. The `ShowAngleArrow`,

`ShowCenterLines` and `ShowSaturationRing` properties can be

used to display useful adornments, while the `Lightness` and

`Alpha` properties can be used to compose the final colour while

not being directly editable on the wheel.



The `SecondaryColors` and `SecondarySelectionSize` properties

allow you to display additional colours on the wheel, for

example for showing relationships.



### ColorSlider Controls



![ColorSlider controls demonstration][colorsliderscreen]



A bunch of controls (inheriting from a single base) that allow

selection of values via a colourful bar. Similar to the

`TrackBar` control you have a few options for specifying the

drag handle's position and bar orientation. You can also

customise the fill and outline colour, or replace it completely

with a custom image.



### ColorEditor Control



![ColorEditor control demonstration][coloreditorscreen]



This control allows the editing of a RGB or HSL colour via a

standard interface. You can also enter colours via 6 or 8

character hexadecimal notation, or choose from named web and

system colors.



Use of the alpha channel can be configured via the

`ShowAlphaChannel` and `PreserveAlphaChannel` properties. The

`ShowHex`, `ShowHsl` and `ShowRgb` properties can be used to

show or hide groups of editors.



Alternatively, the `NubSize`, `NubColor` and `NubOutlineColor`

properties can be used to customise the appearance of the

sliders.



### ScreenColorPicker Control



![ScreenColorPicker control demonstration][screenpickerscreen]



This control allows the user to pick a colour from any pixel

displayed on the screen. The user can either trigger the

operation by clicking and dragging the control, or it can be

done programmatically via the `CaptureMouse` method, allowing

selections to be triggered via other actions, for example a hot

key. The `Zoom` property can be used set the grid size of the

preview.



### ColorPickerDialog Form



![ColorPickerDialog form demonstration][colordialogscreen]



This form puts together the previous controls in a ready to use

dialog.



Custom colours are supported via the `CustomColors` property,

and users can also load or save external palette files into

these. You can use the `ShowLoad` and `ShowSave` properties to

enable or disable this, and the `CustomColorsLoading` and

`CustomColorsSaving`events to override the built-in behaviour

and provide your own logic.



### ColorEditorManager



![ColorEditorManager compnent demonstration][coloreditormanagerscreen]



This is a non-GUI component that you can drop onto a form, and

bind to other controls in this library. When the `Color`

property of one control changes, it is reflected in the others

without having to lift a finger. Useful if you're creating

composite displays from multiple controls.



## Color Palettes and External Palette Files



The `ColorGrid` control has `Colors` and `CustomColors`

properties which return a `ColorCollection`. These two

properties make it easier as a developer to keep separate a

primary palette whilst having the flexibility of custom colours,

although it does complicate the control's internal logic a bit!

The grid will automatically populate custom colours if you try

and set the control's `Color` to a value not currently defined.



As well as manually populating `ColorCollection` instances, you

can also load in external palette files. The following palette

formats are supported:



* Adobe Color Table (*.act)

* Adobe PhotoShop Color Swatch (*.aco)

* GIMP (*.gpl)

* Deluxe Paint (*.bbm; *.lbm) [read only]

* JASC (*.pal)

* Paint.NET (*.txt)

* Raw RGB Triplets (*.pal)



With the exception of the ILBM image format, all other formats

can be exported as well as imported.



Additional palette serializers can be easily created by adding a

class which implements `IPaletteSerializer`. The

`ColorPickerDialog` (or any custom code using

`PaletteSerializer` static methods) will automatically detect

and make available custom palettes via reflection.



## Keyboard Support



All GUI components, with the exception of the

`ScreenColorPicker` include full keyboard/focus support. Many

controls support `SmallChange` and `LargeChange` properties

which influence how navigation keys are processed. Although in

the case of the `ColorWheel` it's not really a bonus... but

that's what the `ColorEditor` control is best suited for!



## Requirements



.NET Framework 3.5 or later.



Pre-built binaries are available via a signed [NuGet

package][nuget] containing the following targets.



* .NET 3.5

* .NET 4.0

* .NET 4.5.2

* .NET 4.6.2

* .NET 4.7.2

* .NET 4.8

* .NET 5.0



## Contributing to this code



Contributions accepted!



* Found a problem? [Raise an issue][ghissue]

* Want to improve the code? [Make a pull request][ghpull]



Alternatively, if you make use of this software and it saves you

some time, donations are welcome.



[![PayPal Donation][paypalimg]][paypal]



[![By Me a Coffee Donation][bmacimg]][bmac]



## Known Issues



* XML documentation comments are incomplete



## Related Reading



* [Reading Photoshop Color Swatch (aco) files using C#]

* [Writing Photoshop Color Swatch (aco) files using C#]

* [Loading the color palette from a BBM/LBM image file using C#]

* [Hosting a ColorGrid control in a ToolStrip]



## Acknowledgements



* Inspiration (and some code!) was taken from [Color Picker with

  Color Wheel and Eye Dropper]

* The eye dropper png graphic is from the [Momentum Glossy

  Icons]

* [DawnBringer 16 color palette]

* [DawnBringer 32 color palette]

* The Atari 800 XL color palette by [Space Monster Games]

* [Arne Palette v20]



[Color Picker with Color Wheel and Eye Dropper]: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/21965/Color-Picker-with-Color-Wheel-and-Eye-Dropper

[Momentum Glossy Icons]: http://www.iconfinder.com/icondetails/84569/32/eyedropper_icon

[DawnBringer 16 color palette]: http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12795

[DawnBringer 32 color palette]: http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16247

[Space Monster Games]: http://www.spacemonsters.co.uk/2011/10/the-atari-colour-palette/

[Arne Palette v20]: http://androidarts.com/palette/16pal.htm



[Reading Photoshop Color Swatch (aco) files using C#]: http://cyotek.com/blog/reading-photoshop-color-swatch-aco-files-using-csharp

[Writing Photoshop Color Swatch (aco) files using C#]: http://cyotek.com/blog/writing-photoshop-color-swatch-aco-files-using-csharp

[Loading the color palette from a BBM/LBM image file using C#]: http://cyotek.com/blog/loading-the-color-palette-from-a-bbm-lbm-image-file-using-csharp

[Hosting a ColorGrid control in a ToolStrip]: http://www.cyotek.com/blog/hosting-a-colorgrid-control-in-a-toolstrip



[blogtag]: http://www.cyotek.com/blog/tag/colorpicker



[icon]: res/icon-32.png

[colorgridscreen]: res/cp-colorgridcontrol.png

[colorwheelscreen]: res/cp-colorwheelcontrol.png

[colorsliderscreen]: res/cp-colorslidercontrols.png

[coloreditorscreen]: res/cp-coloreditorcontrol.png

[screenpickerscreen]: res/cp-screencolorpickercontrol.png

[colordialogscreen]: res/cp-colorpickerdialog.png

[coloreditormanagerscreen]: res/cp-coloreditormanager.gif



[nuget]: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker/

[nugetbadge]: https://img.shields.io/nuget/vpre/Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker



[ci]: https://ci.appveyor.com/project/cyotek/cyotek-windows-forms-colorpicker

[cibadge]: https://img.shields.io/appveyor/build/cyotek/cyotek-windows-forms-colorpicker



[ghissue]: https://github.com/cyotek/Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker/issues

[ghpull]: https://github.com/cyotek/Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker/pulls

[ghrel]: https://github.com/cyotek/Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker/releases

[ghsrc]: https://github.com/cyotek/Cyotek.Windows.Forms.ColorPicker



[paypal]: https://www.paypal.me/cyotek

[paypalimg]: https://static.cyotek.com/assets/images/donate.gif

[bmac]: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/cyotek

[bmacimg]: https://static.cyotek.com/assets/images/bmac.png