Keyboard shortcuts
Suisai provides keyboard shortcuts for sampling colors, editing palettes, working with the Bench and Nōtan, searching the Library, and managing windows.
Press ⌘/ to open the built-in shortcut reference.
The reference is divided into five tabs: Palette, Bench, Contrast, Library, and Everywhere. It opens on the tab relevant to the window you’re currently using.
Each tab includes its own keyboard commands and drag-and-drop actions. The Everywhere tab covers commands available throughout Suisai.
The shortcut reference also shows your currently selected Quick Pick shortcut, including any changes you’ve made in Settings.
Sampling colors
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌥⌘P | Quick Pick to Clipboard, from any application |
| ⇧⌘1 | Pick the First Seed |
| ⇧⌘2 | Pick the Last Seed |
| ⌘ while sampling | Set the First Seed |
| ⌥ while sampling | Set the Last Seed, where supported |
| ⇧ while sampling | Add the color directly to the palette |
| Esc while sampling | Cancel without selecting a color |
| ⌥⌘C | Open the macOS system color panel |
Quick Pick to Clipboard is a global shortcut. It opens the macOS color-sampling loupe even when Suisai isn’t the active application, provided Suisai is running.
The other sampling commands operate within Suisai’s palette and harmony workflows.
Changing the global shortcut
You can choose the Quick Pick shortcut in Settings.
Available combinations are:
- ⌥⌘P
- ⌃⌥⌘P
- ⌥⌘K
- ⌃⌥⌘C
If another application is already using a combination, Suisai identifies it as TAKEN.
Palette commands
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘N | Open a new window |
| ⇧⌘N | Create a new palette |
| ⇧⌘B | Switch to Palette mode |
| ⇧⌘A | Add an entire harmony to a palette |
| ⇧⌘L | Open the Palette Library |
| ⌥⌘N | Add a new color with its editor open and HEX field ready |
| ⌫ | Remove the open swatch |
| ⌘S | Save the palette |
| ⇧⌘S | Save As… |
| ⌘Z | Undo |
| ⇧⌘Z | Redo |
Palette operations are also available through the macOS menu bar. The View menu provides List and Tiles controls, while the Palette menu includes format selection and picture extraction.
Working with swatches
Many shortcuts act on the swatch you’re hovering over. If none is hovered, they act on the selected swatch instead.
This lets you work with colors without repeatedly clicking to select them first.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘C | Copy the color in the window’s selected format |
| ↑ / ↓ | Move to and open the previous or next swatch in List view |
| ← / → | Navigate swatches in Tiles view |
| Home / End | Move to the first or last swatch |
| ⏎ | Rename the active swatch; press again to confirm |
| B | Send the swatch to the Bench, or remove it if already held there |
| C | Send the swatch to Nōtan, or remove it if already held there |
| T | Tear the swatch off into its own window |
| ⌫ | Remove the swatch from the palette |
| Double-click a name | Edit the swatch’s name |
In List view, the swatch itself and its information area have different actions.
Click the colored area on the left to copy the color. Click the information area on the right to expand or collapse its details.
Double-click the name to edit it directly, whether the row is expanded or collapsed.
Editing an expanded swatch
Press A while hovering over or selecting a swatch to open its editing controls. Press A again to close them.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| A | Show or hide the swatch editor |
| S | Switch between RGB, HSB, HSL, and CMYK editing |
| W | Switch between the spectrum and color wheel |
| Tab | Move between editing controls |
| Arrow keys | Adjust the currently focused control |
| ⇧ + Arrow | Adjust by ten units where supported |
| ⏎ | Activate the focused control or confirm an edit |
| Esc | Cancel the current field edit or close the editing controls |
Tab moves through the editor’s available controls, including the color space menu, picker style, system color panel, visual picker, HEX value, sliders, and associated buttons.
When the editing controls are open, arrow keys operate the focused control rather than moving between swatches.
Holding an arrow key repeats the adjustment at your Mac’s normal key-repeat rate.
Within a numeric field, ⌘Z can undo typed changes, while Esc restores the previous value. Press Esc again to close the editor.
The Color Bench
Sending colors to the Bench
| Shortcut or action | Result |
|---|---|
| B over a swatch | Send it to the Bench, or remove it if already there |
| ⌘B | Open the Bench |
| T over a swatch | Tear the color off into its own window |
| ⌘-drag between palettes | Move a swatch rather than copying it |
Working inside the Bench
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ← / → | Move between colors and mixing wells |
| Home / End | Move to the first or last position |
| M | Mix with the next color |
| B | Keep the current mixture as a Bench color |
| S | Change the editor’s color space |
| C | Send the active color to Nōtan |
| T | Tear the active color off into a separate window |
| ⌫ | Remove a column or close a mixing well |
| Tab | Navigate the editor’s controls |
| ⌘K | Clear the Bench |
Removing a color or closing a mixing well can be undone.
A mixing well uses three controls: Ratio, White, and Black. The keyboard navigates these controls just as it does other sliders in Suisai.
Nōtan — Contrast
Nōtan has three views: Pair, Matrix, and Ladder. You can switch between them without using the mouse.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⇧⌘C | Open Nōtan |
| C over a swatch | Add or remove that color from Nōtan |
| ⌥⇧⌘C | Send the entire palette to Nōtan |
| ⌘1 | Pair |
| ⌘2 | Matrix |
| ⌘3 | Ladder |
| ⌃⌘S | Swap Text and Ground |
| ⌘= | Increase the specimen’s text size |
| ⌘− | Decrease the specimen’s text size |
| ⌘K | Clear Nōtan |
The Contrast menu also provides commands for changing font weight and family, entering specimen text, sorting colors, and choosing Reach targets.
Color-vision simulation can be changed with ⌃⌘V, cycling through Typical Vision and the four simulation modes.
The Palette Library
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⇧⌘L | Open the Palette Library |
| ⌘F | Open the Library with its search field ready |
| ↑ / ↓ | Move between palette rows, previewing each |
| Home / End | Move to the first or last row |
| ⏎ | Load the selected palette |
| ⇧⏎ | Open the palette in a new window |
| ⌘D | Duplicate the selected palette |
| ⌘⌫ | Move an eligible palette to the Trash |
| ⌘R | Reveal the palette in Finder |
When the search field has focus, press ↓ to move into the results or Esc to clear the current search.
Windows and navigation
Suisai’s palette windows can be collapsed into compact strips, positioned along display edges, or restored to their full size.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌃⌘↓ | Collapse a palette window to a strip |
| ⌃⌘↑ | Expand a compact strip |
| ⌃⌘← / ⌃⌘→ | Hang a full window on the selected screen edge, or release it |
| ⌃⌘← / ⌃⌘→ in a strip | Change between vertical and horizontal strip orientations |
| ⌃⌘V | Cycle color-vision simulations for the front window |
| ⌘, | Open Settings |
| ⌘/ | Open the built-in shortcut reference |
| ⌘? | The Mac’s own Help search, not Suisai’s: type a command’s name and macOS points to it in its menu |
The left and right shortcuts depend on the current window state.
In a full palette window, they position the window along an edge. In compact-strip mode, they change its orientation.
Option-clicking the compact strip’s chevron reverses its direction.
There is no shortcut for these pages. Suisai Help, which opens this guide, is an item on the Help menu.
Compact strips and hanging windows
A collapsed strip displays colors in a narrow row or column.
When the palette contains more colors than fit, Suisai displays a +N indicator for the additional swatches.
You can position full palette windows along either side of the screen, or arrange multiple compact strips near your workspace.
Suisai remembers window positions and states between launches, including the Bench, Palette Library, and Nōtan.
If windows become hidden behind another application, use Bring All to Front from Suisai’s Dock menu.
Drag-and-drop shortcuts
Suisai also includes drag-and-drop operations in its built-in shortcut reference.
These actions are grouped by window because they often provide the quickest way to move colors between tools.
| Drag action | Result |
|---|---|
| Swatch into another application | Supply native color data, or formatted text where supported |
| Swatch within a palette | Rearrange its position |
| Swatch into another palette | Copy the color into that palette |
| ⌘-drag into another palette | Move the color instead of copying it |
| Swatch onto the Bench | Add the color to the Bench |
| Swatch into Nōtan | Hold the color for contrast checking |
| Swatch onto Nōtan’s Text or Ground picker | Assign it to that role |
| Palette footer into Finder | Create a palette file in the last exported format |
| Bench column onto another column | Rearrange Bench colors, where permitted |
| Library palette row into Finder | Drag out the palette’s source file |
| Swatch onto the Library search field | Search for palettes containing that color |
| Matrix row or column header | Rearrange the Matrix |
| Compact strip’s seal | Move the strip |
For more information about the data carried by a drag, see Copying and exporting.
Enlarged picture window
When extracting colors from photographs, the enlarged picture view provides additional controls.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘+ | Zoom in |
| ⌘− | Zoom out |
| ⌘0 | Fit the image to the window |
| ⇧-drag | Pan around the image |
| ⌥-click a pin | Remove the pin |
For more information about image extraction, manual pins, and the different extraction methods, see Palettes from pictures.