Shared Color Palettes

Color Palettes play a crucial role in Foxel, as each project has its own unique Color Palette that is used by all contained assets, objects, and voxels/pixels/texels. Every time you create a new project, you will be prompted to select which Color Palette to use. To reuse Color Palettes, you can utilize shared Color Palettes.

Managing Color Palettes

Color Palettes are managed through the Color Palettes Tab of the Colors Panel.

🔺 Figure 1 Color Palettes Tab.

File Location

The default Color Palette is located at:
Documents\Foxel\default.fxlcol

The project Color Palette is located at:
Projects\ProjectName\project.fxlcol

All other custom Color Palettes are stored in the following directory:
Documents\Foxel\Shared\ColorPalettes

File Format

Color Palettes are saved in a proprietary file format with the file extension .fxlcol, containing 256 colors and their names.

Reusing Material Sets

To reuse the colors of the currently open project, simply duplicate Project. This will create a copy of the Color Palette associated with the project and store it in the shared directory. To do this:

1. Navigate to the Color Palettes Tab.
2. Select Project.
3. Right-click and choose Duplicate from the context menu.

Importing Color Palettes

You can import files as a new Color Palette or add the imported colors to the Color Palette of the currently open project.

Steps to Import as a New Color Palette:

1. Navigate to the Color Palettes Tab.
2. Click on the Import button.
3. Select the files you want to import and click Open.

Steps to Import to the Project Color Palette

1. Open the Color Palette Editor by double-clicking a color on the Color Ribbon.
2. Click on the Import button.
3. Select the file you want to import and click Open.

Supported File Formats for Import

In addition to Color Palette formats, you can also import images or even voxel models. When importing images or voxel models, the files will be analyzed for unique colors. If the color count is too high, color quantization will be applied to determine the most used colors in the file.

File Format	File Extension	Info
Image	.png, .bmp, .gif	Color quantization is used to determine a maximum of 256 colors that best represent the image.
Adobe Swatch Exchange	.ase	Can be created with Photoshop, for example.
Text File	.hex	Text file with one color per line encoded in hex.
Foxel Color Palette	.fxlcol	The proprietary file format for Foxel Color Palettes.
Foxel Asset	.fxl	Each Foxel asset stores the Color Palette it uses.
Qubicle 3 Swatch Map	.qsm	Qubicle 3 swatch maps store 256 colors.
Voxel Models	.qbcl, .qb, .qef, .vox	Color quantization is used to determine a maximum of 256 colors that best represent the voxel models.

Exporting Color Palettes

To export Color Palettes, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Color Palettes Tab.
2. Select the Color Palettes you want to export.
3. Right-click on your selection.
4. Choose Export from the context menu.

• If you are exporting a single file, you will be prompted to enter a file name.
• If you are exporting multiple files, you will be prompted to select a destination folder. In this case, the default file type will be used for exporting.

Supported File Formats for Export

File Format	File Extension	Info
Image	.png	Results in an image that is 1 pixel high and the number of colors used wide.
Adobe Swatch Exchange	.ase	Can be imported with Photoshop, for example.
Text File	.hex	Text file with one color per line encoded in hex.
Foxel Color Palette	.fxlcol	The proprietary file format for Foxel Color Palettes.
Qubicle 3 Swatch Map	.qsm	Qubicle 3 swatch maps store 256 colors.