12 Comments

    • Thanks for the hint. I just tried it and learned something new.

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Yes, in newer versions. When did they add the eyedropper, in the 2010 or 2013 version? I know it’s been there a while now. I gave a workshop a couple weeks ago where staff were still using Office 2003 products. Yikes. And it’s fairly common to see 2007 or 2010 software. Luckily there are workarounds, like using Paint, for just about everything.

      • Paint is a wonderfully simple and robust product. I just finished a report where I needed to shrink the file size of pictures, and paint made it pretty simple. I am NOT a graphic design expert. All I did was open the picture in Paint and shrink the picture size; I literally selected Resize and shrunk the size of the picture. This did what I can’t seem to figure out on all the other graphics packages I own.

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Matt, I used Paint just today to figure out the size of my image in pixels! Great tool.

    • Annie James says:

      Thank you for this tip. Paint has been my go to for photo editing for years, but I learned something new today.

  • Christina Gorga says:

    FYI. Microsoft Paint will only be available via the Windows store in the future. They’re nixing it as part of the default Windows package. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/07/24/ms-paint-stay/

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Christina, that means it doesn’t come pre-downloaded anymore, right? My understanding is that it won’t magically appear on our computers right when we buy them from the store, but that we can visit the Windows store for a free download. Side note: Do you remember the pinball game? And solitaire??

    • Christina Gorga says:

      I believe so. It won’t be a part of the set package people get with newer versions of Windows. Kind of a tragedy since I use Microsoft Paint for a variety of tasks. :/ Pinball game forever!

  • […] Learn how to read your organization’s style guide, locate your color codes with an eyedropper, or locate your color codes with Microsoft Paint. Then, enter your color codes in Excel or in […]

  • c.a.post says:

    THANX! I was trying to find what would be truly ‘bronze’, and could not make up my mind from just looking at how the colors came out. Using a bronze statue from a Paint picture helped out fantastically, and gave me a range of ways to establish it.
    (For my homemade 32nd anniversary card! 😉)
    c.a.

  • Laura Schuman says:

    This was great! Thanks

  • Leave a Reply to Matt Feldmann Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    How to Find Your Custom Color Codes with Paint

    Updated on: Sep 12th, 2017
    Data Visualization in Excel
    , , , , ,

    Lots of my workshop participants are government employees who don’t have or can’t find style guides and/or they’re not allowed to download eyedropper tools to locate color codes. Microsoft Paint to the rescue!

    Hi! I am Matt Feldmann with Goshen Education Consulting in Southwestern Illinois (near St. Louis). Ann asked me to write this guest blog post to show you how to look up specific RGB color codes with a program you likely have already pre-installed on your computer–Microsoft Paint. Ann has previously discussed how to use an Instant eyedropper program to look up these color codes and how to use those codes to change your color scheme in Excel. If you are like me, you don’t like to download new software…and you don’t need to if you use Microsoft Windows.

    Take a Screenshot and Paste It Into Paint

    • I use shortcut keys. Press: ALT+PRTSCN
    • Open MS Paint.
    • Paste your screen shot using either CTRL+V, right clicking on your mouse and selecting PASTE, or selecting the PASTE button in MS Paint.

    The following is a pasted screenshot from an upcoming conference:

    The following is a pasted screenshot from an upcoming conference.

    Use Color Picker to Identify a Color

    Color Picker looks like an eyedropper and it is in the Tools section. It is identified below with my red arrow:
    Color Picker looks like an eyedropper and it is in the Tools section. It is identified in this screenshot with my red arrow.

    Select the Desired Color with the Eyedropper and Select Edit Colors

    I selected the green color with the eyedropper and it automatically switched Color 1 to green.

    Edit Colors is on the far right.

    Select the desired color with the eyedropper and select edit colors.

    Record the RGB Codes for Future Use

    The following is the screen that pops up when you edit colors. The Red, Green, Blue colors are on the right.

    The following is the screen that pops up when you edit colors, record the RGB codes for later use.

    But wait–isn’t Paint dead? Apparently not. However, if you want to use the newer MS Paint 3D program (which is preloaded with Windows 10), there also is an eyedropper that records your RGB codes. As a bonus, it will also give you a Hex code.

    More about Matt Feldmann
    Dr. Matt Feldmann is the principal researcher and owner of Goshen Education Consulting Inc. He started the company in 2009 due to the untapped need to provide data interpretation and evaluation services to the educational communities in Southwestern Illinois. Goshen Education Consulting is a reflection of his background, interests, skills and opportunities that include deep data analysis, clear and concise reporting, and a focus on program development.

    12 Comments

    • Thanks for the hint. I just tried it and learned something new.

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Yes, in newer versions. When did they add the eyedropper, in the 2010 or 2013 version? I know it’s been there a while now. I gave a workshop a couple weeks ago where staff were still using Office 2003 products. Yikes. And it’s fairly common to see 2007 or 2010 software. Luckily there are workarounds, like using Paint, for just about everything.

      • Paint is a wonderfully simple and robust product. I just finished a report where I needed to shrink the file size of pictures, and paint made it pretty simple. I am NOT a graphic design expert. All I did was open the picture in Paint and shrink the picture size; I literally selected Resize and shrunk the size of the picture. This did what I can’t seem to figure out on all the other graphics packages I own.

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Matt, I used Paint just today to figure out the size of my image in pixels! Great tool.

    • Annie James says:

      Thank you for this tip. Paint has been my go to for photo editing for years, but I learned something new today.

  • Christina Gorga says:

    FYI. Microsoft Paint will only be available via the Windows store in the future. They’re nixing it as part of the default Windows package. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/07/24/ms-paint-stay/

    • Ann K. Emery says:

      Christina, that means it doesn’t come pre-downloaded anymore, right? My understanding is that it won’t magically appear on our computers right when we buy them from the store, but that we can visit the Windows store for a free download. Side note: Do you remember the pinball game? And solitaire??

    • Christina Gorga says:

      I believe so. It won’t be a part of the set package people get with newer versions of Windows. Kind of a tragedy since I use Microsoft Paint for a variety of tasks. :/ Pinball game forever!

  • […] Learn how to read your organization’s style guide, locate your color codes with an eyedropper, or locate your color codes with Microsoft Paint. Then, enter your color codes in Excel or in […]

  • c.a.post says:

    THANX! I was trying to find what would be truly ‘bronze’, and could not make up my mind from just looking at how the colors came out. Using a bronze statue from a Paint picture helped out fantastically, and gave me a range of ways to establish it.
    (For my homemade 32nd anniversary card! 😉)
    c.a.

  • Laura Schuman says:

    This was great! Thanks

  • Leave a Reply to Matt Feldmann Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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