How to Add Swatches in InDesign

Last Updated: March 28, 2019 References

Color adds emotion, detail, emphasis and interest to print documents. Adobe InDesign, a desktop publishing program that allows designers to create a variety of print materials, allows you to add color swatches for use in your print documents. Using swatches allows you to uniformly apply and modify the color schemes used in your documents.

Steps

1
Open the Swatches panel, which is located in the far right side of your workspace.
- If this panel is not already in your workspace, open it by selecting Windows>Colors>Swatches.
2
Select Other Library from the Color Mode list. Navigate to the file from which you would like to add swatches. Click Open and then select the swatches you would like to add.

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3
Click OK.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Adding All Swatches from an Existing File

1
Open the Swatches panel and select Load Swatches.
2
Navigate to the InDesign document from which you would like to add swatches and double click the file name.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Adding Swatches from a Pre-Loaded Color Library

1
Open your Swatches panel and select New Color Swatch.
2
Locate the Color Mode list and select the library file from which you would like to add a swatch or swatches. You may also select Other Library from the Color Mode list and navigate to the library file from which you would like to add a swatch or swatches.
3
Select the swatches you would like to add and click Add.
4
Click Done.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Creating a New Color Swatch

1
Open your Swatches panel and select New Color Swatch.
2
Select either Process or Spot as your color type.
3
Select a mode for defining the color.
4
Drag the color sliders to adjust the color values or enter specific numeric values in the boxes located by the color sliders. If you are using a spot color, select your color from the Color Mode menu.
5
Click Add to add your swatch and create a new one or click OK to add your swatch and exit the window.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Adding Color to Your Document

1
Begin creating your document and adding color as desired.
- To add color to text, highlight your text using your Selection tool. Open your Swatches panel and click the Type icon. Select your desired color from the Swatches panel.
- To add color to a frame or other object, select the frame or object using your Selection tool. Open your Swatches panel and click either the stroke or fill icon. Select your desired color from the Swatches panel.