Color variables

How to create and manage color variables

Color variables are reusable solid color presets that help you maintain color consistency across your designs. Once you create a color variable, you can apply it to multiple layers. If you update the variable, all layers using that color will update automatically, making it easier to manage themes and ensure uniformity.

Color variables can also be organized into groups, similar to components and styles, making it simple to switch or edit colors across your design project.

By default, the Variables tab is populated with the variables from the document palette. However, you’re free to delete them, and create your own color variables.

Creating a color variable

Select a layer and open the Color Picker.
Choose your desired color, then click Create Color Variable.
Enter a name for the variable, or keep the auto-assigned one (you can rename it anytime).

Applying a color variable to a Layer

Select the layer you want to style.
Choose the color variable from the color dropdown in the right panel (see the polygon in the video above).

Organizing color variables

For convenience, you can organize color variables into groups.

To create groups:

Use slashes in the variable names. For example, Group name / Variable name or Group name / Subgroup name / Variable name, etc.

OR
Holding down Shift, select the variables in the left panel, then open the context menu and click Group.

Editing and managing variables

To edit a variable, click next to it in the left panel.
To delete or rename a variable or group, right-click the variable in the left panel and choose the desired option from the context menu.

Note: If a color variable has an auto-assigned name, it will update automatically when you edit the color. If you’ve set a custom name, the name will stay the same.

Color palettes and auto shape colors

All newly created documents come with default color variables for main, accent, background, and text colors. They appear on the Variables tab in a group named Palette. You can click to generate a new palette.

Using the document color palette, Lunacy applies color to shapes automatically depending on their size and predicted purpose. Larger shapes have background colors while smaller elements are assigned primary or accent colors.

To change palette colors manually, click on the color circles to open the color picker.

If you want the default shape color to be the usual gray, delete the Palette group from the Variables tab (watch the video above).

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