What is a color palette?
Computer displayed color images are usually limited by the number of different colors that can be used SIMULTANEOUSLY. The number could be 2 for B/W, or 16, 256 (gif), etc. But an image or the displaying of the image can choose WHICH 2, 16, or 256 out of the possible colors to use. A color palette is nothing more than a table of the different colors used in an image. Color palettes can be saved into files (in MS/Windows format or some other custom format) for use later in other images. Raster image manipulation programs, such as Photoshop, allow you to create, edit, manipulate, and save palettes for images. For example, in reducing an image to 16 colors, the program can compute a “best fit” set of 16 colors for the image at hand, or you can pick a standard 16-color palette such as the Windows color palette.
