ACA Color Picker is a clone of free Anry Color Picker!

#75 Alex (acacsystems)

Thanks for this improved version of Aca Color Picker!

#9 - Tragedy, am I the only one seeing Russian-looking language from the link for the recommended ColorPick 0.4.1?

Alex, you are obviously a first-class developer to put the feedback from this site to such quick use and offer the improved version to those who helped you. I wish much success to you and your products.

#37 - Merril, it's cute the way you linked to your site instead of directly to ColorPic's site. I see your comment got removed. Note: I took a look at your "freeware library" and it appears that some of the links are dead.

Hello everyone,

I am the author of ACA Color Picker, I just release ACA Color Picker 2.0 today.

I listened to your and added many powerful features to version 2.0, below is a quick summary of what is new or improved in this version.

* Support for minimize the window to system tray icon.
- Thank BladedThoth(#38)

* Support for CMYK color format.
- Thank #15, BladedThoth(#38)

* Adjust the window size, the window is smaller than ACA Color Picker 1.0.
- Thank BladedThoth(#38)

* Support for deleting the color on color list.
- Thank BladedThoth(#38)

* Add two Hotkeys to control the zoom, the default key of Zoom More: Ctrl + Shift + Num +, the default key of Zoom Less: Ctrl + Shirt + Num -.
- Thank BladedThoth(#38)

* Support for naming the colors.
- Thank BladedThoth(#38)

* Remove "ACA Family" menu from the top main menu.
- Thank Jeremy(#2), Bleaux(#36),

* Support for Hex VC++, VB, Delphi and ActionScript color format.

* Export your color palate as .aco file format(Adobe Color File Format), now you can import the picked colors on Adobe Photoshop or other graphic application.
- Thank YoYO(#35)

* Support for 24x and 36x screen magnification.
- Thank Merril(#37), richarda(#46)

* Screen preview is more smooth.
- Thank Jeremy(#2)

* Fixed the cross line in the preview area.
- Thank Bert(61)

* Adjust the price from $29.95 to $19.95
- Thank Quiark(#43)

Your registration number that got from giveawayoftheday is also available on version 2.0.

More information, click http://www.acasystems.com/en/color-picker/. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. :)

^^Thx for the headsup on Colorcop. Its really all you need and such a nice compact app...couldn't see the need for ACA even it it IS free lol

Just wanted to pop by and apologize to everyone for putting the wrong tld on the url for Colorcop. That was a mistake I didn't intend to make.. nothing malicious was intended.. thank you BuBBy for fixing the link, and again... apologies to those that went to the .com instead of the .net. I'll be more careful next time!

I can't believe this company expects someone to pay $30 for a color picker when there are plenty of free options.

As a professional web developer, I too like ColorPic http://www.iconico.com/colorpic/. Note that when you go to download it pops up a form to register for their mailing list, but there's a link there to skip signing up and just download. (Less than 500K, too!)

There's also a great, free graphics program called The Gimp http://www.gimp.org/ which runs on Mac, Linux as well was Windows. It also has a color picker although it's internal with the program. But if you're looking for a powerful graphic editor at no cost or for an alternate OS, give it a try. Portable Apps also has portable version http://portableapps.com/.

Im not bragging but, I have Windows Vista Ultimate, Home Premium, XP Home, Pro, and Ubuntu Linux. I have been in the process of getting a review process together so that i can detail how certain software will or will not function on these platforms. As i mentioned in an earlier post, #5, http://www.colorschemer.com/colorpix_info.php is a nice small scale color picker that will fit even on a floppy disk. no installation needed. Not all developers will list it as working on all versions of Windows. Its a shame yes, but if its something your looking for then u may have to dig to benefit. The software i mentioned will work with all versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. No compatibility assignments needed. Also works perfectly fine with any linux operating system as long as WINE is installed correctly. I hope this helps you die hard VISTA fanatics. I use Vista also and unfortunatly XP still has a hold on most users. Vista has alot of growing up todo before its gonna be a stable OS. Good Luck

I'm not familiar with this software, but I have been using the freeware "TakeColor 8.0" From Flaxie, and I think you will find it hard to better this free software for picking color codes. I paint aircraft for my Flight Sim Game and also, do some photo editing and this little tool works perfect! You simply extract it to your Desktop and it is ready to use! You may download it at: http://www.download.com/TakeColor/3000-2192_4-10387506.html.

this seems interesting, but how is it different from the color chooser in PSP? Before I download it, I would like to know more of the benifit to having it if one already has Adobe Photoshop and PSP

This IS free...

>Tron

"You all are mentioning other free color pickers, but no one has addressed the fact that most of these are only for XP or lower. I am using VISTA folks. Let’s start listing free software (in this case color pickers) for Vista!"

Yecch. Do you even know what Vista is? Vista is the latest version of Windows. It's not Mac OS X, it's not Linux, it's Windows. A program that runs on earlier versions(2000, 98, et al) of Windows should run on later versions - which it usually does. I have several games that were made before Vista was released, yet, somehow, they actually work on my Vista-equipped computer. If, by some strange twist of fate, a Windows program doesn't run on Vista, there's also a little option called Compatibility Mode, which magically turns Vista into XP, 2000, 98, or even 95! It's true!

thanks, anyone who designs websites and works with css will find this very useful.

For #24 - the best tool for expirimenting with harmonious colors that I've found is CoffeeCup Color Schemer 3.0. It's not freeware, but may be worth the price. It's also built into a couple of their html editor products. http://www.coffeecup.com/color-schemer/

#47 and #60,to run the programs in Vista (even if not necessarily supported), download to your desktop, right-click on the application's icon and choose "Properties". Click the "Compatibility" tab, check the "Compatibility Mode" tab and choose "Windows XP". Press "Apply" and "OK" - this feature is builtinto Windows for this purpose and works a treat.

i'm late to the dance but i should throw in my own favorite color picker: pixeur by veign software: http://www.veign.com/application.php?appid=107
pixeur was just updated in december. it says it's for vista as well as all the other forms of windows.
maybe i'll download today's giveaway at home in a few hours

#60
Well, You can afford vista so why cant you afford a colour picker for vista. lol;; right back at ya.

Many free image editors have this feature, not only photoshop and paintshop pro. Photofiltre has it, Paint.Net, The Gimp etc.

Nice tool, only one question: why is the cross in the program to mark which pixel you are pointing at, right in the middle of 4 pixels? in stead of the pixel itself? Can be a little bit confusing...

The guy is right in #47 about these free softwares not being in Vista. I have Vista too and see that none of these are for Vista. What about us out here that can afford Vista? We no have programs for Vista?
I sad because of this.

I use ColorPix and am happy with it. Small, free, efficient.

There are a lot of free utils that do the same thing for free and webmasters surely know about plenty of them already.

As for programmers, from my experience I *know* that it is fairly easy to make your own program that does all this, since I would rather spend an hour more programming the tool I need (that will work for my specific need perfectly) than pay for already available solution almost $30.

I guess ACA Color Picker is more than fine for lazy coders (hello all :) and ignorant webmasters among us, but price as high as $29.95 is thumbs down considering the availability of free utilities of this type.

The Picker 1.0 is free and runs on a USB drive (Portable).

http://www.raunak.info/The%20Picker/

Thanks much peeps! Your reasons, rationales and alternative programs have helped me yet again in-deciding which software to consider. You guys rock!

And to BladedThoth: Thank you! May you ALWAYS be a permanent fixture here. Your advice and tips make navigating through the maze of the often times gobbledygooked world that is software. sooo much simpler & clearer.

You da man, BT!

hm....this Looks like exactly the same thing they give you in photoshop

Oh, I forgot to add that I had NO ad shown or web window open with my copy. Perhaps the person who did have this happen did not activate their copy.

Also, mentioning other similar programs without adding a review of this program isn't really what this page is for... try the forum :)

"Techie" Teri

Well it is just another color picker. For those of you that design Web sites, I have been using Huey for years and does all that I need. Its a very simple yet complete program. And its Free of course. What programmer-designers have been waiting for: a freeware HTML color generator that converts RGB values to Hex and from Hex back to RGB. Or pick directly from any part of the screen with the Color Pipette feature.

Nice little program. :)

Installed fine with no problems.

The first time it ran - I selected to run the program at the end of the setup - the menus didn't work. I closed and re-opened and all was fine.

For those who are having trouble getting the color your cursor is over added to the list - as the color changes when you move your mouse! - hover your cursor over the desired color and then use the short cut control+shift+k to copy that color into the list and proceed with the copy.

It wasn't immediately apparent to me that those were the steps to follow to save the desired color. Especially since the menus didn't open on the first run.

If (when) you have selected multiple colors, notice the color codes in the list have a background color the same as the actual color the code represents. This makes it easy to remember which selection is which. A nice touch.

Anyway, other than that slight glitch which could also have been specific to my computer, the program ran fine and seems very handy for web and ebook designers like me.

Also people who have family photos to touch up, or make scrap books, etc., and want to make some other object (background, border, etc.) in their page/creation the same color as one of the colors in their photo, this would also come in handy.

I give it a 8 out of 10 :)

"Techie" Teri

Sometimes users get much more from GAOTD comments than from GAOTD software. Thanks. To pick colors I was using the one from http://www.allgraphicstools.com/ 282Kb but now I would use ColorCop as it's smaller. They all do the same. Silly to ask for money with so many free alternatives.

I would rather use picpick. picpick really. It's free, supports many languages.

I had problem with activating software. Activation module failed to connect to giveawayofday. software activation is not possible try again later or firewall settings.

I never had a problem downloading from here and activating? I wonder what the problem is.

I even deleted and reinstalled the color picker again and same error.

Although colour-pickers can be useful, remember that colours can look different than chosen. As a minimum, you must install the proper ICM-driver for your monitor, and even then, your carefully chosen colour can look different on two identical monitors on the same computer, let alone different brands, types, or devices like printers and so on. In other words, what you pick, may not be what you get.

You all are mentioning other free color pickers, but no one has addressed the fact that most of these are only for XP or lower. I am using VISTA folks. Let's start listing free software (in this case color pickers) for Vista!

There is an excellent freeware product that does this, has screen rulers, gridlines, up to 32X magnification of screen areas, measures distance and size of objects, multiple measuring units, and a whole lot more:

http://www.cthing.com/Meazure.asp

I just don't see the use in downloading this, there are more color pickers for free available than I can count. I have at least 3 but really only use , which does everything ACA color pickers does and more and it's free. Charging this much for something this common is just silly.

Thanks, but after having read the comments so far, I think I'll stick with the freeware alternatives that are a lot smaller and doesn't have commercials in it.

I'm currently using a free color picker called Switch (http://neovolve.com/archive/tags/Switch/default.aspx) with the Tiny Color Picker XP skin (http://starvingartist.deviantart.com/art/Tiny-Color-Picker-XP-47536418) by starvingartist and it covers my needs pretty well.

@BuBBy: Thanks for the tip about ColorBlender.

Now they must be joking, selling this primitive program for $30. But maybe some people today are willing to pay anything for anything.

This is the first time trying this kind of program. I didnt even know they existed lol. I was thinking about it a few weeks ago while i was working on my web page. I usually just use my graphics program to grab colors but that means opening whatever it is i want to choose a color from in my program. This is so much simpler.
I tried it out and its easy to use and works well. I cant comment on the free alternatives but i may try those in the future. I dont think its worth the money this company wants even tho this is useful.
Dont get down on daylight savings time, i hate it being dark at 4pm ;)

Just reading over the comments, and it is funny just how many freeware alternatives there are.

My choice (As is a few others by the looks of it) that I use regularly is ColorPic

http://www.iconico.com/colorpic/

Few of the reasons I like ColorPic:

1 - Small screen footprint but packs a lot of info
2 - Displays a lot of color formats on-screen
3 - Areas are minimizable to make the window even smaller
4 - Ability to sample 3x3 and 5x5 and give back average color

Things I wish for in ColorPic:

1 - Background support - Sometimes I don't want the window up (Not as often on dual-displays though)
2 - Global hotkey - I don't like having have ColorPic as the active window - Forces more clicking than necessary
3 - Adding new tiles requires you using the F-keys before grabbing
4 - No auto-copy features

Even though I have some beefs with ColorPic, I seem to always go back to it after trying other color pickers.

Thanks to everyone who posted links to freeware alternatives - some very nice ones among them. I especially like Color Cop (60kb). Besides being small, free and useful, it's aesthetically pleasing too. I like that in any tool.
`_~

its decent and is useful for all developers specially webmasters and graphic designers. has an menu for ads and will try to check for updates at startup though it can be disabled. you must capture the color by means of a hotkey.

Verdict: its a keeper for me as i am working on a website. 6.5/10 only

Hello all! Today's 15-Minute Review is up! Check it out

http://www.bladedthoth.com/reviews/15mrs/aca-color-picker-v1-00/

This is nice feature packed program for what it does, a little more so than some freebies I've encountered. Still, I think the price tag is a little high considering estimated actual usage and the fact that there are useful free alternatives. The ACA Family menu items are far less offensive than a nag screen. As for the whole so-called "daylight" time mind game: I wish I lived in Arizona where they have enough sense to leave the clucking fox alone!

Hmmm.. this looks descent, but without the ability to export your color palate as .ai or .acs file for illustrator or photoshop this seems like it will miss the mark for most users looking for this type of software. I think the software, could add that export functionality it would strike a better chord in the designer market they are making this software for.

You like colors ? Who doesn't ?

http://www.colourlovers.com/

Palettes, patterns, forum, talk ...

I'll add to the list of free color pickers
Visual color picker
http://www.linxexplorer.com/colorpicker.html
I haven't installed this program yet but I probably wouldn't pay 30 bucks for something like a color picker when there are so many other good substitutions.

#20- "Will somebody explain how or why would I use this program.
Before the time runs out.

I create graphics for a living and fun. This program would be useful to me to pick the exact color that I need and to get the color code for photoshop etc.

Another freeware color picker that I've been using for years is BK Colour Coder @ http://www.fitsoftware.com/coder/

Much as I dislike posting negative comments, I have to ask this:
How stupid do they think we are?

For starters, have a look at that green banner at the top of their page which says "Download now (it's free!)" but in actual fact you'll be downloading bribeware-trialware.

This alone is enough to make me distrust this company. Surely by now everyone knows the difference between a free download (trial/demo/shareware) and real freeware?! Apologies for the rant - misleading advertising tends to make me grow claws.

All their products are overpriced and overweight - a color picker can be written in a few lines of code (compare Pixie's 62kb to aca's 1MB) and definitely shouldn't hog 10MB of disk space. What else are they installing beside the "innocent" color picker?

Maybe I'm just prejudiced because their site has that "killer marketer"-feel to it. In my humble opinion.

Nothing I've seen or read so far convinces me that this tool is an improvement over the small but perfectly formed freebie 'EyeDropper' which has served me well for several years now.

http://www.inetia.com/en/eyedropper/