About the Palette List

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A palette list is a file containing all of the links to the palette files. Each scene created has its own palette list. However, it is also possible to assign palette lists to individual layers in a scene. To be able to do that, you must first enable Advanced Palette Lists mode.

  • Scene Palette List

The scene palette list is simple to understand and convenient. Every element in your scene can use colours from a palette in your scene's palette list. This is especially useful for digital animation, as a cut-out character model will often be divided into dozens of different layers which will all use the same palette.

The scene palette list is stored inside the scene's directory in a file named PALETTE_LIST, and its palettes are usually located in the scene's palette-library subfolder.

  • Element Palette List

An element palette list is a list of palettes that is associated to an individual layer (element) in your scene. Only the drawings inside that element are able to use the colours in the palettes of its element palette list. The palettes in an element palette list will only be visible in the colour view when a drawing from that element is selected. This can be useful if you are doing traditional animation in which characters are usually drawn on a single layer, so you can assign each character to their individual palette.

An element's palette list is stored in a file named PALETTE_LIST, inside the element's directory in the scene's elements subdirectory. An element's palettes can be stored in palette-library subdirectory of the element's directory.

If you have the Advanced Palette List preference enabled, then you can build a palette list by creating palettes in different locations, or linking to palettes from different locations. You might notice that the icon left of each palette in the list looks different depending on where the palette is sourced from. The following is a table explaining the meaning of each icon in the list.

Icon Description

Indicates that the palette is stored at the same level as its palette list. For example, a palette that is stored in the scene's palette library and which is listed in the scene's palette list, or a palette that is stored in an element's palette library and which is listed in that same element's palette list.

Indicates that the palette file is stored in an external location, such as a different scene, an element in a different scene, a job other than the scene's job, an environment other than the scene's environment, or a custom location on your file system or network. This means the palette is liable to be missing if it is moved from its original location, or if the scene is exported from the database into an offline scene or to a different database.

This indicates that the palette is stored at a higher level than its palette list, making it a shared palette. For example, a palette in your scene's palette list that is stored in the palette library of the scene's job or environment, or a palette in an element's palette list that is stored in the palette library of the scene.

Indicates a potentially dangerous situation. For example, a palette file that is stored in one of the scene's element folders, but which is added to your scene's palette list. The whole scene can use the palette, but since it's stored inside an element, deleting that element will make your whole scene lose access to that palette.

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