Shade Update

version 1.3.9

1. Download the Update

2. Install the Update

By updating Shade, you won’t lose your License Key. Your palettes will be safe.
Just drag and drop the Shade.zxp file onto your ZXP Installer.

Version History

1.3.9 (19 January 2025):

Umlaut characters (ä ö ü from the German alphabet) can now be used to name colors, groups and palettes.
License Management improved.

1.3.8 (9 December 2024):

Json2 included in the JSX file

1.3.7 (5 December 2024):

The color button size can be increased to a maximum of 60px.

1.3.6 (4 December 2024):

Fixed an issue that prevented Shade from loading when AE started.

1.3.5 (24 August 2024):

Fixed a couple of bugs related to opening Shade without selecting a color palette. This issue caused the main button icons to not show up and disabled the drag-and-drop feature.
Fixed a bug in the Find and Replace tool that triggered an alert asking whether to include precomps in the search.

1.3.4 (2 June 2024):

Fixed a bug when adding a color to a portion of text in After Effects.
If you select a text layer from the timeline and apply a color using Shade, it no longer expands the layer.

1.3.3 (26 May 2024):

Fixed a bug when adding a color to Shade using Illustrator Color Picker window, which caused a color shift from the original choosen color.

1.3.2 (26 May 2024):

Fixed bug in creating a new palette from the Library panel.

1.3.1 (23 May 2024):

Fixed shortcuts combination misbehaviour for MacOS users in Illustrator and Photoshop.

1.3.0 (22 May 2024):

The ‘add colors from selection’ function runs on all layers (including locked layers) if nothing is selected.
If at least a precomp is selected, it asks whether to search inside the precomps too.
If there are no color groups in the palette, colors are better aligned to the left margin of the panel.
Light theme for Illustrator and Photoshop.
New entry in the settings panel to include or exclude the hastah when copying a color hex code to the clipboard.
New shortcuts: in AI and PS ctrl/alt + click on a color copies the hex code to clipboard.
Fixed typo in the Settings panel for MacOS users.
Right click on the info bar and select ‘Show all hex color codes’ to open a new panel with all the palette hex codes. The codes can be copied to the clipboard with a click.
Some other minor UI improvements.

1.2.7 (08 May 2024):

In the Library Panel, when choosing a new folder, the OS default file explorer is used. Much better!
When color groups are minimized (that is when the headers are not visible), hovering your mouse over the little dot will display the group name instead of ‘Target Group’.

1.2.6 (18 April 2024):

New Swap Fill and Stroke function.
New Toggle Fill and Stroke function.
Find and Replace Tool now works on the entire comp or on current time.
New Randomizer Tool.
New Overflow Menu in After Effects with drag and drop functionality.
The Modifier Keys that target the Fill Colors or Stroke Colors work everywhere.
Updated: alternative shortcuts combinations (see Settings) now makes more sense.
The way a color is applied to a text has changed and it depends on the version of AE (with the new scripting hooks the workflow has greatly improved).
If you apply a color to a gradient fill or gradient stroke will replace the gradient with a solid color.
The Toggle Fill and Stroke function also works with gradient fills and strokes.
Adding colors with “add colors from selection” now automatically add them to a group if they are too many.
Fixed: when adding colors with the “add colors from text” function, colors are now in the correct order (previously they were in reversed order).
No update notification if installed version is greater than the one published.
New license management. If you try to insert the License key on a third device, you can now remove the license from one of the other devices.
You can change a solid source color too if you target a fill color.
The context menus and flyout menus have been updated.
The UI has been update to accomodate the new buttons.
Free version UI and menus have been updated.
Cleaned up some redundant code.
Opening the Library Folder and the Palette File is now cooler and faster with nodejs.
Open palette file option added to context menu in library panel.
Nodejs implementation to create and save files.
Copy to clipboard new has a visual feedback.
When you drag and drop a color you can new see a where the color will be dropped. This helps when trying to drop a color on an empty group or at the end of an existing group.
Added the option to add a fill or a tint effect when Ctrl + clicking on a color (see Settings).
Scrolling vertically when overflow menu is visible.

1.0.7 (16 September 2023):

Fixed a new bug that prevented the panel from loading properly.
Hopefully I fixed a conflict between Shade and Kease reading each other’s license key (AE works in mysterious ways).

1.0.6 (15 September 2023):

You can choose between two behaviour when clicking on a color in AE:
– click to apply a color to selected color properties, fills and strokes.
– click to apply a color to selected color properties and fills but not strokes.
Open the Settings panel in AE for more information.
You can choose between two behaviour when clicking on a color in AI:
– click to apply a color to fills or strokes depending on which one is active (default AI behaviour)
– click to apply a color to fills.
Open the Settings panel in AI for more information.
Right click on a color in AE and choose ‘Apply to Fill Effect’ to color a layer by applying a Fill effect.
Ctrl + click is the shortcut on Windows.
Opt + click is the shortcut on Mac.
Updated folder and file management
You can duplicate a color by right clicking and choosing “Duplicate”.
Fixed a bug that fired a useless alert when changing the library default folder path.

1.0.5 (12 July 2023):

If nothing is selected in your comp, the Find and Replace function will run through all your layers in your active comp.
Added the option to run the Find and Replace functions in all your selected pre-compositions too.
Added a shortcut to add a selected colour to one of the two colour fields in the Find and Replace function.

1.0.4 (26 June 2023):

Fixed: bug in the new “Find and Replace” function.
When replacing a Gradient Fill/Stroke with a Fill/Stroke all the associated properties and keyframes will get transferred too.

1.0.3 (21 June 2023):

Fixed: the new “Find and Replace” function didn’t work with projects set in 8bpc.
Fixed a bug when renaming a colour palette or a colour.

1.0.2 (20 June 2023):

Fixed: bug when opening Shade in Illustrator for the first time, not able to find Shade directory and sending an alert. Old users might have to click “Open Library” then “Use Defaults” to fix that.
Fixed: when renaming a palette, if the operation got cancelled, the name changed to ‘null’.

1.0.1 (18 June 2023):

New “Find and Replace’ tool now available. It allows you to search for all instances of a color and replace them with another color of choice.
You can now name a color.
Fixed a few bugs when applying a color to a text layer.
“Add Colors from Selection” now works with Text Source properties and it’s keyframe-friendly.
“Add Colors from Text” is now merged with “Add Colors from Selection” and availble when right-clicking.
Fixed a but with adding colors to a group.

1.0.0 (11 June 2023):

‘Library’ and ‘Settings’ now live in seperate windows
The info bar at the bottom of the panel is clickable and it opens the Library window.
Hovering the mouse over the info bar checks for palette changes.
Groups support the drag and drop functions.
You can add new colors as text.
If working with groups a new button appears that allows to minimize the interface by hiding the group headers.
Applying a color to a gradient fill/gradient stroke now replaces the gradient with a fill or stroke.
Better license management.
Updated menus.
Added the option to change the color button size in the Settings window.
Updated icons.
Applying a color to a text layer now uses a Fill effect instead.
Other cosmetic changes and fixes.

0.10.3 (27 April 2023):

New function has been added to adjust the size of the color buttons.
This is useful if you have too many colors and folders and you want to keep the panel size small.

0.10.2 (27 April 2023):

Photoshop compatibility fixed

0.10.1 (15 April 2023):

Fixed an issue with the drag-and-drop function on Mac

0.10.0 (13 April 2023):

This is big: you can now organize your colors into groups/folders:
– In the top bar, there is a new icon that allows you to create color groups/folders
– The drag and drop function has been re-built and it’s now smooth and cool as hell. You can drag and drop colors between groups/folders too.
– Groups can be renamed, deleted and collapsed to save space.
– When adding new colors you can choose a destination group/folder, if not they will be added to the first group.
The lock icon is now a simple X which looks better.
Other smaller improvements and fixes.

0.9.6 (16 March 2023):

Fixed a bug that prevented Shade to store the License Key in Illustrator and Photoshop
Updated alert in case of bad connection to the server
Fixed a bug if the License Key file is not correct that stopped Shade to load the Free version properly
Fixed communication bug between Settings panel and Shade main panel
Updated UI in the setting window
If no palette is selected or loaded, the plus icon will stay on the panel and create a new palette when pressed.

0.9.6 (16 March 2023):

Fixed a bug that prevented Shade to store the License Key in Illustrator and Photoshop
Updated alert in case of bad connection to the server
Fixed a bug if the License Key file is not correct that stopped Shade to load the Free version properly
Fixed communication bug between Settings panel and Shade main panel
Updated UI in the setting window
If no palette is selected or loaded, the plus icon will stay on the panel and create a new palette when pressed.

0.9.5 (14 March 2023):

Fixed a bug that prevented Shade to create its data folder and settings files.

0.9.4 (9 March 2023):

In AI, Shade now manages RGB, CMYK, gray, spot and LAB colors. This took me a while.
As a consequence to this, the Add Colors from Selection button should now work properly.
In AE, applying a color doesn’t turn the stroke/fill on if it was off.
This is much more intuitive and handy.
In AI, applying a color works only if the fill or stroke are active, like any other AI swatches.
The No Color button has been removed for now.
Small UI change: the color palette starts on a new row.
The flyout menu has been updated on some buttons.
All calls to the server have now a longer timeout resulting in better communication.

0.9.3 (14 February 2023):

When no palette is loaded the layout now only shows two buttons. One to enter the settings/library panel, the other to create a new palette.
Now you can apply a color to a text layer even when selected in the comp viewer.
Added the option to open the eyedropper window to pick a color to add to your library.
Right clicking on a color now gives you the option to add the color to the Fill only or the Stroke only. It also reminds you of the existing shortcuts.
You can edit an existing color using the built-in color picker/eyedropper by right clicking on it and selecting ‘Edit color’.
In Illustrator you can add colors by selecting a wider range of object.
In Photoshop you have the option to apply a color to the background color. Right click on the color and select the entry accordingly. It also reminds you of the existing shortcut.
Better color management in AI.
An empty palette now loads correctly.
Many other annoying bugs now have been fixed.