Create a new color palette

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Foreword

The video links to this page here, which contains further information and details.

The basis for this page is the LibreOffice documentation.

English documentation

Link to the Video

Link to the Video (in German [DE]):

Eine Farbpalette erstellen in LibreOffice

Colors and Color palettes

Colors are set in Color palettes in LibreOffice.

The term "Color palette" is used analogously to "Color table" and "Color list".

LibreOffice is by default equipped with a so-called "standard" Color palette.

"standard" Color palette
Palettes selection

You can also create your own custom Color palettes.

When a color palette is selected, in addition to the colors of the Color palette, you can also create (s) within a Color palette.

Color palettes in LibreOffice

Color palettes are stored as files and have the extension "SOC".

These are just standard text files.

If you open these files, you'll see that they start with the line
<xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8">.

Example of gray values from black to white in the standard palette.

On Windows 10 / 11, these "SOC" files are stored in the following location and they are for all users:

C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\share\palette\

On Linux, these "SOC" files are stored in the following location and they are for all users:

/opt/libreoffice7.1/share/palette/ (This one is for LibreOffice 7.1)

When working within LibreOffice, the selection of Color palettes also works.

Color palettes created by the user

Color palettes are stored as files and have the extension "SOC".

User-created Color palettes are stored in the so-called user profile of LibreOffice, ...

on Windows, you can find these "SOC" files in :

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\LibreOffice\4\user\config\

On Linux, you can find these "SOC" files in :

~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/config/

Create a New Color palette File

So each user can create his own custom Color palettes.

Create a new Color palette file by resaving the "standard" Color palette under a different name.

Copy standard.soc to your LibreOffice user folder.

On Windows, standard.soc is located in

C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\share\palette\

On Linux, standard.soc is located in

/opt/libreoffice7.1/share/palette/ (This one is for LibreOffice 7.1)

The LibreOffice user folder is located at

On Windows,

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\LibreOffice\4\user\config\

On Linux,

~/.config/libreoffice/4/user/config/

You need give the file a new name.

Rename it to Custom.soc if you want.

Or you take one of the two sample files below and modify them.

Scroll further down in this document to see the links to My_palette 01.soc and My_palette 02.soc.

To create your own colors, you need to change the color values and color names in the file.

You can open and change the file with a simple text editor, such as Notepad, Kate or whatever your OS provides.

When you open the SOC file, you will see lines such as these:

<draw:color draw:name="C-red 1" draw:color="#FF2424"/>
<draw:color draw:name="C-red 2" draw:color="#FC4242"/>
<draw:color draw:name="C-red 3" draw:color="#F58162"/>

Note:
Example of gray values from black to white in the standard palette.

Note:
The hexadecimal value is to be considered in three groups for the RGB value. Two hexadecimal digits each are one group and must be converted to decimal values separately. See also: Convert color values

Each line represents a color in the color palette.

You are free to change the color name and the actual color to your liking.

The colors are expressed in a hexadecimal code format.

If there are already colors with the same name but a different hex code, the name might not be displayed correctly.

In the example of the three lines above, "C-" was prefixed.

If you are not sure which colors you want to use, check out "More Info:"

Your new color palette is only available for selection in LibreOffice when LibreOffice is restarted.

Note:
Remember to back up your newly created soc files.

Add a color in the Custom color palette

Example: Writer, paragraph style, Custom color palette.

Right-click on the "Default Paragraph Style" and choose New….
Click on the tab "Area" and choose the button Colour.
At "Colours | New" select the desired color via RGB or Hex value or via the Pick… Button.
Click on the button Add at "Custom Palette".
In the "Name" dialog, enter a name for your new color and click OK.

Step 2. repeat for other colors you want.

When you have entered all the colors you want click Cancel.