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Work with the Info palette

The Info palette shows the color values beneath the pointer and, depending on the tool in use, gives other useful information. The Info palette also displays a hint on using the selected tool, gives document status information, and can display 8‑bit, 16‑bit, or 32‑bit values.

The Info palette displays the following information:

  • Depending on the option you specify, the Info palette displays 8‑bit, 16‑bit, or 32‑bit values.

  • When displaying CMYK values, the Info palette displays an exclamation point next to the CMYK values if the color beneath the pointer or color sampler is out of the printable CMYK color gamut.

  • When a marquee tool is being used, the Info palette displays the x and y coordinates of the pointer position and the width (W) and height (H) of the marquee as you drag.

  • When the Crop tool or Zoom tool is being used, the Info palette displays the width (W) and height (H) of the marquee as you drag. The palette also shows the angle of rotation of the crop marquee.

  • When the Line tool, the Pen tool, or Gradient tool is being used, or when a selection is being moved, the Info palette displays the x and y coordinates of your starting position, the change in X (DX), the change in Y (DY), the angle (A), and the length (D) as you drag.

  • When a two-dimensional transformation command is being used, the Info palette displays the percentage change in width (W) and height (H), the angle of rotation (A), and the angle of horizontal skew (H) or vertical skew (V).

  • When any color adjustment dialog box (for example, Curves) is being used, the Info palette displays before-and-after color values for the pixels beneath the pointer and beneath color samplers.

  • If the Show Tool Hints option is enabled, you see hints for using the tool selected in the toolbox.

  • Depending on the options selected, the Info palette displays status information, such as document size, document profile, document dimensions, scratch sizes, efficiency, timing, and current tool.

Use the Info palette

The Info palette displays file information about an image and also provides feedback about the color values as you move a tool pointer over an image. Make sure the Info palette is visible in your workspace if you want to view information while dragging in the image.

  1. (Optional) Do one of the following if you need to display the Info palette:

    • Click the Info palette tab if it’s docked with other palettes.

    • Choose Window > Info. File information about the image is displayed at the bottom of the Info palette. You can change the information displayed by clicking the triangle in the upper right corner of the palette and choosing Palette Options from the palette menu.

  2. Set the options for the information you want displayed in the Info Palette by doing any of the following:

    • Choose Palette Options from the Info palette menu and specify options in the Info Palette Options dialog box.

    • Click an eyedropper icon and choose display options from the pop‑up menu. You can also use the pop‑up menu to specify whether the Info palette displays 8‑bit, 16‑bit, or 32‑bit values.

    • Click the cursor coordinates icon  and choose a unit of measurement.

  3. Select a tool.
  4. Move the pointer in the image, or drag in the image to use the tool. The following information may appear, depending on which tool you’re using:
    Displays the numeric values for the color beneath the pointer.

    Displays the x and y coordinates of the pointer.

    Displays the width (W) and height (H) of a marquee or shape as you drag, or the width and height of an active selection.

Change the Info palette options

  1. Click the triangle in the upper right corner to open the Info palette menu and choose Palette Options.
  2. In the Info Palette Options dialog box, for First Color Readout, choose one of the following display options:
    Actual Color
    Displays values in the current color mode of the image.

    Proof Color
    Displays values for the output color space of the image.

    A color mode
    Displays the color values in that color mode.

    Total Ink
    Displays the total percentage of all CMYK ink at the pointer’s current location, based on the values set in the CMYK Setup dialog box.

    Opacity
    Displays the opacity of the current layer. This option does not apply to the background.

    Version Cue
    Displays Version Cue workgroup status. This option is valid when Version Cue is active.

    Measurement Scale
    Displays the scale of the document.

    You can also set the readout options by clicking the eyedropper icon in the Info palette. In addition to the First Color Readout options, you can also display 8‑bit, 16‑bit, or 32‑bit values.
  3. For Second Color Readout, choose a display option from the list in step 2. For the second readout, you can also click the eyedropper icon in the Info palette and choose readout options from the pop‑up menu.
    Clicking an eyedropper icon and choosing a readout mode from the pop‑up menu

  4. For Ruler Units, choose a unit of measurement.
  5. Under Status information, select from the following to display file information in the Info palette:
    Document Sizes
    Displays information on the amount of data in the image. The number on the left represents the printing size of the image—approximately the size of the saved, flattened file in Adobe Photoshop format. The number on the right indicates the file’s approximate size including layers and channels.

    Document Profile
    Displays the name of the color profile used by the image.

    Document Dimensions
    Displays the dimensions of the image.

    Scratch Sizes
    Displays information on the amount of RAM and the scratch disk used to process the image. The number on the left represents the amount of memory that is currently being used by the program to display all open images. The number on the right represents the total amount of RAM available for processing images.

    Efficiency
    Displays the percentage of time spent performing an operation instead of reading or writing to the scratch disk. If the value is below 100%, Photoshop is using the scratch disk and is therefore operating more slowly.

    Timing
    Displays the amount of time it took to complete the last operation.

    Current Tool
    Displays the name of the active tool.

  6. (Optional) Select Show Tool Hints to display a hint for using a selected tool at the bottom of the Info palette.
  7. Click OK.
    To change measurement units, click the cross‑hair icon in the Info palette and choose from the menu.

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