Hey everyone,
My name is Quin, and I've used InDesign CS5 for the past few years and am working on a magazine layout for the first time. I'm suddenly having a really difficult time getting the eye-dropper tool to extract color samples from images i've placed in my layout. These are either jpeg or PDF images. If I recall correctly, in my past use of the program, i could simply click the eyedropper tool in an image and get my color sample – but suddenly, i'm having trouble getting it to sample color/make a color swatch.
I tried double clicking the tool and excluding everything i wouldn't want it to sample. Tried locking/unlocking layers, tried making sure the image frame itself is selected, tried holding down option, tried trashing the preferences (using a 2012 MacBook Air with the latest version of OS X Mountain Lion)… most of the time when i attempt to sample a color, nothing shows up in the fill box, except the classic diaognal red line over white.
The exception is when i use the eyedropper to sample non-image base things i've already filled, like a retangle, it picks up the color fine. So it's likely image specific. Is there something really obvious that i'm missing? It's frustrating because i simply want to sample colors to get a rough idea for text colors and headlines that can match images, and there doesn't seem to be a quick way to do this…
Thanks so much for the help!
-Quin