How to See the Hexadecimal Value for a Given Color or Swatch
There is one location in InDesign CS5.5 or later that shows you the hexadecimal values for a color... can you guess what it is?
[Editor’s note: The ability to see, edit, and create colors based on hex values was added in a later version of InDesign. See this article.]
There are plenty of workflows these days that result in content created in InDesign ending up on the internet so it would be nice if InDesign allowed you to create Swatches by setting hexadecimal values, but it doesn’t. However, there is one location within InDesign that does show you the hexadecimal values for a color or Swatch: the Character Style (or Paragraph Style) Options>Export Tagging dialog.
To see this:
1. Create a new Character Style
2. Go to the Character Color panel and set the Fill Color to the desired Swatch
3. Now go to the Export Tagging panel (available in CS5.5 or later) — you will see the Fill color expressed in all it’s hexadecimal glory!
Behold, the hexadecimal value for your swatch!
You can do the same thing with a Paragraph Style but you since more info appears in the Export Details field you will need to scroll down a little to see it.
Now, this only lets you read the hexadecimal values for the color, there is still no way to create or edit a Swatch by setting hexadecimal values, for that you need would need something like the nifty free add-in from in-tools, CreateHexSwatch.
This article was last modified on December 21, 2021
This article was first published on April 17, 2012
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