Dragging colours in AVA

It is possible to drag and drop colours to and from almost any colour chip in AVA and ColourSys. The Foreground and Background Colour Selectors and the layer blocks in the Layers Palette can have colours dragged to and from them as can almost any colour square throughout the software. 

1. Click on a colour chip, such as the Foreground Colour Selector in the Tools Palette.
   
   
2. Drag the cursor away from the chip. An outline of the colour chip will appear.
3. Move this outline to the destination chip, such as a layer block in the Layers Palette, or a colour file in ColourSys and ensure the chip is highlighted before you drop the colour on to it.

Dragging colours between files

1. Go to AVA Menu > Settings > Layers Palette, and switch on Spring-loaded documents. You will only need to do this once.
2. Ensure you can see both files and activate the design which contains the colour you need. Perhaps Tile the designs so that they appear next to each other.
3. Position the cursor over the colour you want to move in the Layers Palette, click and hold then drag away towards the other Design Window. After a few seconds, this design will become the active design.
4. Continue holding down with the cursor so you don’t accidentally drop the colour and move towards the Layers Palette.
5. Drop the colour on the relevant colour block and once you let go of the cursor, the layer will update to show the new colour.

Dragging and dropping layers between files

Images and layers can be taken from one file to another extremely easily,  just by dragging and dropping them. The effect of dragging and dropping layers between two files will vary depending on the settings in your Layer Palette Settings .

Go to AVA Menu > Settings , select the Layer Palette button… and click on the Drag and Drop tab at the top of the window.

• Spring loaded documents - switch this option on to allow the destination document to spring to the front of all other open documents when dragging a layer from another file to it
• Delay - set this to Short to minimise the time to wait for the destination design to spring forwards

Set Dropped layers to one of the following:

• Scale - if the resolution and size of the source and destination files are different, when you drag and drop a layer its resolution and size will be automatically scaled to fit the new file. This results in dropped layers using multiple resolutions.
• Partial Images - a Partial Image layer is created in this mode. This means the layer information is transferred with no change to its scale or resolution.

1. Before dragging a layer, make sure you have access to the destination file. You may prefer to reduce the size of the windows or use the Tile Windows option in order to view the destination file and the source file at the same time.
2. Position the cursor over the layer block in the Layers Palette you want to move, click and hold, then drag away towards the other document. As you drag, a + symbol will appear indicating you are able to drop the layer into another file.

3. Once your cursor is over the other document, drop the layer when you see the + symbol. The new layer will be placed at the bottom of the layer list. Alternatively, to place the new layer in a specific position in the layer order, continue dragging the layer. After a few seconds, the destination document will spring to the front of all open files. Move to the Layers window and drop the layer in your preferred position. A horizontal line will show where the new layer will be positioned.

Dragging and dropping Motifs

Motifs can be selected and dragged to other files without having to copy and paste them. This can save time when working between multiple files on a regular basis. Dragging and dropping motifs between files automatically copies and pastes them for you. 

1. Open two files of the same resolution. 
2. Make a selection on the first design. 
3. Click inside the selection and drag it to the second file. As you drag the element from the first design to the second, you will see a rectangular outline of the selection you are moving.
4. Once in the second design, let go of the cursor and you will see an exact copy of the motif on the second design.

If the result is not as you would expect, go to Edit Menu > Undo and check that the correct image or layers are active in both files. After doing this, try the method again.