2D Design: Colour Palette

Carveco Tutorial: Using the Colour Palette

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to use the Colour Palette in Carveco Maker, especially when working with bitmap images. The palette helps you modify, simplify, and organize colours for efficient tracing and editing.

🔹 Where to Find It

• The Colour Palette is located in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
• When a bitmap is imported, it dynamically updates with up to 256 colours found in the image.

🔹 Primary and Secondary Colours

• The top-left square is your Primary Colour.
• The square underneath is your Secondary Colour.
• Left-click to set Primary, Right-click to set Secondary.

🔹 Linking Colours

1. Select your base colour.
2. Click the chain icon or right-click and choose Link.
3. Click on the target colour to link it.

Linked colours are shown with a visible line connecting them in the palette.

🔹 Unlinking and Resetting

• Right-click a linked colour and choose Unlink.
• Use Bitmap > Colour > Reset All Links to clear all colour links.

🔹 Merging Colours

Merging permanently combines colours and cannot be undone unless you use Undo immediately. Use only when you are sure the colours should be combined.

🔹 Reducing Colours

1. Right-click and select Reduce Number.
2. Choose a new colour limit (e.g., 2, 8, or 32).
3. Click Apply to simplify the palette.

🔹 Adding Custom Colours

1. Right-click on an empty palette square.
2. Select Add Colour.
3. Choose your colour using the wheel or presets.
4. Click OK to save.

🔹 Thinning and Thickening

• Thin: Removes pixels from outlines to make them finer.
• Thicken: Adds pixels to widen outlines.

These tools act based on your selected primary and secondary colours.

🔹 Mark Edge

Mark Edge highlights edges of the Primary Colour using the Secondary Colour—ideal for shape isolation before tracing.

🔹 Saving and Loading Palettes

• Save Palette: Saves your current colour configuration.
• Load Palette: Imports a saved colour scheme for consistency.