This trick is similar to the Compliment Color trick, but I use it so much, I had to share it. I use specific color modes for different projects, and found myself more comfortable mixing certain colors in certain color profiles. A quick way to switch between profiles in the Color Panel is to press Shift and Click on the Color Ramp. You can easily swap between CMYK, RGB, HSB, Grayscale and Web Safe RGB.
In Illustrator, it’s easy to pick a complement color of the current Fill or Stroke in the Color Panel. From the Pop-Up Menu of the Color Panel select Complement. If you are keyboard shortcut freak, like me, you can change to the complement color by Command Shift-clicking (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift-clicking (Win) on the Color Ramp at the bottom of the Color panel.
Using shades of color are essential when I create glossy buttons and icons. In the Glossy Buttons and Web 2.0 Stickers tutorials, I used Cyan because it was easy to enter a percentage of Cyan, giving me quick shades. What if you need lighter and darker shades of a mixed color? An easy way is to hold down the Shift Key when you are dragging the sliders in the Color Panel!
