problem with Color Replace command

I'm having problems with what I think should be a very simple thing to do. I have a .gif logo with 6 different colors. I want to replace one of the colors with a different color.

The logo is intricate and selecting all the areas that have the color I want to replace is a little difficult, so I want to use the Image>Adjust>Replace Color command.

When I open the dialog box I use the eyedropper to select the color that I want to replace and the mask is created fine. My foreground color changes to this color, and the Sample box in the dialog box changes to this color too.

The problem I'm having is with assigning the new color. I want to just be able to change the old color to my current background color, but the only controls I'm given are sliders for Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. I can eyeball the color as I move the sliders, but I can't get it to be exactly the color that is my background color.

Isn't there any way I can eyedrop the background color in? There must be a more precise way to do this than eyeballing it? Any suggestions appreciated.

Once you have the mask, why not just use it as a selection and "fill" with the color of your choice?

or am I totally missing what you are saying?

There are more that 1,000,000,000 ways to skin that cat.

Well, I don't really have a usable mask. In the Replace Color dialog box it shows you what area has been selected so you know whether you've captured all the areas you want to replace.

I'm sure there are many ways to do this, but I was interested in finding out how to use this command in particular.;)

OK, then prior to going into that dialog box.... go to your color picker. Pick a color

remember the HSB digits and plug them in when you are in that dialog

I was hoping I wouldn't have to go down this road.

Yes, I tried that. I looked up the HSB of the color I wanted and plugged the values in...and got a hot pink instead of the kelly green I'm looking for.

Since that section of the dialog says "Transform", I kind of deduced that what I need to do is put in how much each of these values needs to change to get from the starting color to the desired color.

So, the color I'm starting with is H:200, S:100, B:60 and I want to change to H:156, S:100, B:75, so what I need to enter is H:-44, S:0, B:15, right? Well, when I do, the color that results is close, but very visibly different from the green I'm looking for. Inexplicably, the new color's values are H:156, S:77, B:66. There was no error in my math or data entry. Try it yourself and you'll see.

Even if it did result in the right color, it seems extremely kludgy to do it this way. Write down the values of the color you're starting with, write down the values of the color you want, perform three subtractions, key them in and voila!...you almost get what you want.

I was hoping to find out the proper way to use this command and hoping further that there is a slick way to eyedrop in the color from my background palette, but if this is truly the way that this command works, I'm ready to listen to some of the other 1,000,000,000 ways to get this done.

Well if you're only going to replace one color, use the Magic Wand tool. In the options bar, uncheck Anti-aliased and Contiguous. When you click on the color you want to replace, the Magic wand tool automatically selects the color throughout the image. Then you can just fill it in (using Edit -> Fill.. or you can press Alt+Backspace when the desired color is the Foreground color). Deselect, and that should be it. :D

Yes, the magic wand worked nicely, thank you very much.

However, I have 17 files in which to make this change and was hoping to be able to create an Action with the Replace Color so I wouldn't have to do them all by hand.

How about it? Anyone know the proper way Image>Adjust>Replace Color is supposed to work?

Hi -- I want to do what neoclassicist is doing with the magic wand: e.g., "trade" one color for another in a black-and-white .gif file with a transparent background. In my case, I want to substitute blue for white.

Let's say I choose some shade of blue for the foreground color on the "swatches" tab. Then I can do "Image | Adjust | Replace Color" and click on the color I want to replace (white). When I do the "Edit | Fill" command, though, it seems to fill with the "old" foreground color, which is black, rather than the new color I want (blue)...

I'm not getting this...

Signed,
confused!