How to Use Foreground & Background Colors in Photoshop

D and X: Reset and Swap the Foreground and Background Colors

These two keys do most of the work. D resets to the default colors – black foreground, white background. X swaps the foreground and background. Want to paint white? Press D then X. Need black again? Press X. The foreground color is what every brush, fill and gradient uses.

Why Photoshop Has Foreground and Background Colors

The pairing exists for layer masks. Paint a retouch on its own layer, add a mask, and now white reveals that work while black hides it – the exact two colors sitting in your swatches by default. Tap X to switch between hiding and revealing without ever going near the color picker. Once that becomes automatic, masking gets dramatically faster.

The Color Picker for Foreground and Background Colors

Click either of the foreground and background colors swatches to open it. Drag inside the large field to pick a color and use the vertical slider to change hue. While the picker is open you can move your cursor out onto the image and click to sample any color from your photo – the fastest way to pull a color that already belongs in the scene.

Color Models

The radio buttons change what the slider and field represent: H (hue) is the standard and most intuitive arrangement, while S and B put saturation or brightness on the slider instead. You can also work in individual R, G, B channels or in Lab. Most people leave it on H.

Libraries and Hex

Color Libraries opens Pantone and other named systems – useful when a client specifies a brand color by number. The hex value field at the bottom is the same code used in HTML and CSS, so you can paste a color straight from a website into Photoshop or copy one out to use on the web.

Saving Foreground and Background Colors as Swatches

Add to Swatches saves a color you want to reuse; Window > Swatches shows them all, and clicking one loads it as your foreground color. Checking Add to my Library at the same time syncs it through Creative Cloud so the same color is available in Illustrator, InDesign and Premiere.

Foreground and Background Colors Quick Reference

• D – default colors (black foreground, white background)
• X – swap foreground and background
• Foreground color is what brushes, fills and gradients use
• Alt/Option + Delete fills with foreground; Ctrl/Cmd + Delete fills with background
• Click outside an open picker to sample a color from your image
• Hex values match web colors; Add to Swatches to keep a color