Here are some tips for using the 'UF colors' palette in Fractal Explorer. The UF colors control panel can be accessed by clicking on 'Options' in the menu bar, then 'Color Control' in the menu, and then on the 'UF colors' tab on the 'Color control' dialog box that opens.       Many of the controls used in the 'UF colors' panel should be familiar to Windows users. In most cases, color parameter values can be changed by selecting from a drop down box, moving a button on a slider bar, or using up/down arrows to change numerical values. Changing these values will usually have an immediate effect on the fractal image, but not always - fractals are unpredictable! Try changing some of the values and see what happens!       In addition to the controls that are recognizable to many Windows users, and the controls that are featured on the standard FE 'Color palette' panel, there are a few other ways to manipulate colors in a Fractal Explorer image. These features, found in the 'UF colors' panel, primarily involve three horizontal panes on the upper half of the panel that display a gradient color spectrum. The Spectrum Slider Bar       Notice the long slider bar directly beneath the three horizontal panes showing duplications of the same color spectrum. (The spectrum will always appear the same in each of the three panes.) The thin slider bar beneath those panes is labeled '0' at the far left and '360' on the far right with equally divided hash marks in between. These hash marks are divided into increments of ten, and multiples of 100 are also labeled.       Moving the slider bar button will shift the entire color spectrum in each of the three horizontal panes simultaneously along with the individual curved lines shown in those panes. These curved lines also have small square boxes in various places on the curves that also maintain their positions on the curves as the slider bar is moved. (The 'curves' may not necessarily be 'curving', but some part of them probably will be. It's possible that the curves may have a more block-like appearance for an FE spot in which the UF colors have been customized.) Another way to move the slider bar button is to click on it to 'highlight' it and use the right and left arrows on the keyboard. A third alternative is to click somewhere on either side of the slider bar button and the button will move toward the position clicked. Clicking and not releasing the mouse button will cause the slider bar button to move as though the arrow keys are being used. Sets of Points       The little square boxes on the curves (referred to as points in this tutorial) are each highlighted with a color specific to the particular pane they are located in: red points are in the top pane, green points in the middle, and blue points are found in the lower pane. There will also be a 'set of points' that is indicated by the small square boxes (points) being highlighted in white, one white point in each pane. No more than one set of points will ever be highlighted in white. Each of the points in the set of points that is colored white has a specific relationship to the four colored boxes directly beneath the slider bar to the right of the UF colors panel. There will be more on those four boxes after an explanation of the sets of points themselves.       Any of the points (little colored squares) on the curves in the three panes can be dragged to a different location in the individual pane, usually changing the appearance of the fractal image. Moving any individual point will also change the color of the gradient spectrum in the region of the three panes where the point is moved. (This will occur in the UF colors panel and should also produce a change of color in the fractal image itself - but not always.) Sometimes there won't be much of a change depending on the relation of the points in the panes, and sometimes the change of color will be abrupt depending on how many sets of points there are, the spacing between individual points and sets, and the other non-color parameters that determine the fractal image. Moving the individual points effects the blending of the colors in the spectrum which is once again displayed in all three panes simultaneously. Vertical Point Values       The (vertical) set of points that is marked with white points is a special set. A white set of points indicates points that may be changed with more precision than is possible by simply using the mouse to drag the individual points.       This is where the four boxes directly beneath the slider bar to the right of the UF Color panel come into play. Those four boxes each contain numerical values. The values in the red, green, and blue boxes correspond with the vertical position of the points in their respective panes. These values will be somewhere in the range between 0 and 255, inclusive. The red box with the numerical value corresponds to the point highlighted in white in the pane where the other points are colored red. Likewise for the green and blue boxes and panes. For instance, a value of 128 in the green box will be the numerical representation of the vertical position of a point near the middle (vertically) of the pane in which the rest of the points are colored green. But in that pane, the point will be highlighted in white. The Slider Bar Value       The numerical value in the white box (below the slider bar) corresponds to the position on the slider bar of the set of points that is highlighted in white. So if there is a set of points positioned directly above the hash mark labeled '100' on the slider bar, clicking on any of those points will cause a value of '100' (approximately) to appear in the white box underneath the slider bar. It will also cause the individual vertical values of each of the points (0 - 255) to appear in the colored boxes below the slider bar. Conversely, if there is a value of '200' in the white box below the slider bar, that means that the highlighted set of points is positioned above the '200' hash mark on the slider bar.       All of the above may probably be readily observed by either clicking on a specific point or dragging it around the pane it occupies and watching the values in the corresponding boxes change. (When a point is clicked or dragged, the set of points - including the two points aligned vertically in the other two panes - is automatically highlighted in white.) Moving any of the points horizontally will cause a change in the value in the white box, and moving a point vertically will only change the value in the correspondingly colored box beneath the slider bar. Fine Tuning Point Values       It can be quite difficult to make very small incremental changes by simply dragging the points on the curves, especially if there are many sets of points being used in the UF colors panel. (Adding sets of points is discussed below.) The task of making small changes to the vertical point values can be accomplished by using the standard Windows Color dialog panel. That panel can be accessed by double clicking any of the four boxes underneath the slider bar. This causes the Windows Color dialog panel to appear, and allows for very small changes to be made to the values for each of the points in the highlighted set of points. The Windows Color dialog box can also be accessed by right clicking on a particular point and selecting 'Choose color' in the context menu that pops up.       The best way to make small changes to the individual points' values is at the bottom right of that Windows Color panel. Changes may be made by simply editing the value in the Red, Green or Blue boxes in the lower right hand corner of that panel. Changes can also be made to the Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity values, although these selections may be less intuitive to use. Changes to the actual color values are correspondingly reflected in the UF Color panel in the colored boxes under the slider bar.       Any changes made with the Windows Color panel will not be put into effect until the panel is closed. Any changes that have caused different numerical values may not cause the actual point in the spectrum pane to move until it is clicked on. However, changes made to numerical values by whatever method in the Windows Color panel will be reflected in the red, green, and blue boxes beneath the slider bar in the UF Colors panel. Inserting and Deleting Sets of Points       Another feature of the color spectrum panes in Fractal Explorer's UF colors panel is the ability to insert or delete additional sets of points into the spectrum panes. Simply right click anywhere in any of the horizontal color spectrum panes and select 'Insert'. The cursor will change to an arrow with a 'plus' sign and a set of points may be inserted by clicking at the desired position on any of the three spectrum panes. The new set of points behaves just the same as the ones already present.       When inserting a new set of points, one point will be inserted exactly where the cursor is positioned. The other two points in the set will go into the other two panes and will be inserted as a horizontally averaged value in relation to points located on either side of the inserted points. Inserting a few points and watching where each of the three points in the set fall into place should make this all more clear.       Deleting a set of points may be desired at some point, although this feature must be used with a little care. Right-clicking anywhere in the three spectrum panes and then clicking 'Delete' will cause whichever set of points highlighted that may be highlighted in white at the time to be deleted. To be sure that the desired set of points is deleted it is best to select and explicitly right-click on one of the points in the set to be eliminated. Then click 'delete' in the context menu that pops up and the desired set of points will be deleted.       Points on the curves are only inserted or deleted in sets of three arranged vertically, one point for each of the panes. There is no way to add or remove just one point in any individual pane separately. Other Controls       There are two other controls in the UF Colors panel that can have a significant effect on the colors of a Fractal Explorer image. One is the 'Density' control with values that must be changed using the up down arrows. The Density values will determine how compressed or expanded the spectrum shown in the upper panes will be, although this will not effect the appearance of the gradient color spectrum shown in the above panes, only in the main FE image. Higher Density values will cause the spectrum to be repeated more often throughout the fractal than smaller values. A value of '4' repeats the spectrum twice as often as a value of '2'. If there are very few sets of points in the spectrum panes, it may help to increase the density, and conversely, if the spectrum curves are populated with quite a few sets of points it may help to lower the density value.       The dropdown box to the right of the 'Density' control adds a few variations to the way the UF colors are 'mapped' onto the fractal. The selections with the label 'channel' will often create richer individual colors in a fractal, but with less of a variety of the color spectrum whereas the 'average' and 'mapping' selections will commonly generate a greater variety of colors in the fractal image. That's a Wrap       Once again... fractals are unpredictably chaotic! So making general representations about some of these controls may not be accurate. (There may be some technical flaws in this tutorial as well.)       Still...try the UF colors out! Using these controls will allow the fractal artist an expanded range of possibilities, some that would not ordinarily be available from the primary 'Color palette' in FE.       With a little experimentation, the 'UF colors' control that Fractal Explorer provides will become a familiar tool and one that can be used to re-explore previously rendered parameters to create entirely new fractal images. Cheers and Happy Fractaling!