How to Extract and Share Colors from Images in InDesign

Learn how to create shareable color themes from any placed image in InDesign

Here’s a quick tip for creating shareable color palettes from placed image content in InDesign.

Start by selecting a placed graphic. Then, right-click on it and choose Extract from Image > Color Themes.

Contextual menu showing the Extract From Image > Color Themes command in Adobe InDesign

In the Extract from Image dialog box you can create a theme from five colors and see their hexadecimal values.

Extract From Image dialog box in Adobe InDesign showing a color theme sampled from a painting by Paul Cézanne

If you don’t get exactly what you want at first, you can drag the sample points to other positions on the image.

Extract From Image dialog box in Adobe InDesign showing how to manually sample different colors from a placed image

Or, choose an entirely different theme from the Color Mood menu.

Extract From Image dialog box in Adobe InDesign showing how to manually sample different colors from a placed image by picking a different Color Mood

When you have the colors you want, select Save to CC Libraries.

In the library, you can rename the color theme.

Renaming a color theme in a Creative Cloud library

Move your pointer over any color to see its RGB and Hex values.

Color theme in a Creative Cloud library displaying color values in RGB and Hexadecimal

Right-click to add the theme to your Swatches panel.

Adding a color theme from a Creative Cloud library to the Swatches panel in Adobe InDesign

Or, enter a description that you can read later by moving your pointer over the theme.

Adding a description for a color theme in a Creative Cloud library in Adobe InDesign

Viewing a description for a color theme in a Creative Cloud library in Adobe InDesign

And since it’s in a CC library, you can easily share your new color theme with colleagues or the world.

Go to the CC Libraries panel menu and choose Get Link to create a shareable link.

The process of creating a shareable link to a color theme in Adobe Creative Cloud

Click here for the link to the library shown in this example. From there, you can create a copy or add to your libraries.

Shared Creative Cloud library containing a color theme

Or, choose Invite People from the CC Libraries panel menu to share the library with specific colleagues.

Inviting people to a Creative Cloud library

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This article was last modified on February 12, 2024

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  1. Spider John
    February 28, 2024

    Nice, did not know that was there! Thanks.