The first item on the Colors Menu allows you to switch the default colorset between an RGB palette and a CMYK palette. The RGB colors are best for computer viewing or web output. The CMYK colors are best for printing to a color ink-jet printer because it avoids "out of gamut" colors which a printer can't reproduced. When you change colorsets, the colors displayed on the Color Panel change, and the color picker changes. On the Mac, this Menu item is a single item that toggles between "Use RGB Colors" and "Use CMYK Colors." On other platforms, two items appear with the active choice checked or marked with a dot.
The "Add Color" command lets you add a new color to the current Color Set. When you choose "Add Color" MandalaMaker displays the Color Picker.
The Color Picker allows you to define a new color by moving the Red, Green, and Blue sliders. The last color selected is shown in the old color swatch at the top left of the palette.
When the RGB Colors are selected, the slider positions reflect the RGB value of this color. (See "About RGB Color" below for information about how RGB colors are determined.) As you move the sliders the new color you are creating is shown in the new color swatch at the top right of the palette.
If the Web Set is the active color set, the sliders will snap to the tick marks allowing you to create only "web safe" colors.
When the CMYK palette is selected, the color picker creates CMYK colors. (See about CMYK Color below).
When you click "Add Color" MandalaMaker adds your new color to the active Color Set. For more information on color sets see the Color Palette section. The added color will be available until you quit MandalaMaker or change color sets. If you wish to save your new colors permanently, you must save them using the Save Set command. To close the Color Picker, press the "Close" button.
RGB color expresses colors by the amount of red, green and blue light they contain. If all three colors are at zero, this creates black. If all three colors are at 255, the maximum, this makes white. If all three colors are at the same intermediate value, a shade of gray results. Full red and green with no blue makes yellow. Full green and blue with no red makes blue-green or cyan. Full red and blue with no green creates magenta.
CMYK color expresses colors as percentages of black, cyan, magenta and yellow inks as used by color printers. If all the colors are at zero, no ink is applied to the paper and white results. All colors at full results in black. Note that with RGB color the higher the amount of color the lighter the result, whereas with CMYK color the more color, the darker the result. Predicting the results of various combinations of the color components in CMYK mode is more difficult than in RGB mode. Experiment to get the hang of creating colors in this mode.
Using the "Save Set" command, you can save your own custom color palettes for future use. When you choose the command, MandalaMaker displays the File Save dialog native to your platform. You may save your color set under any name you choose. It is recomended that if you save changes to the Standard or Web colorsets, that you save your changes under a new name. This ensures that the provided color sets are not overwritten. For more information on the color sets see the Color Palette section.
The "Load Set" commands change the active color set displayed by the Color Palette. If you choose to load the standard or web sets, MandalaMaker does this immediately. If you wish to load a custom set which you have saved using the Save Set command, choose "Load Custom Set". This will display an Open File dialog. Select the color set you wish to open, and click the "Open" button. MandalaMaker will load your colorset.
When you choose the "New Set" command, MandalaMaker provides you with an empty colorset in which to build a custom color set. The new set contains only the 
symbol for "no color". You can add as many colors as you like, using the Add Color command. To save your set for future use choose Save Set before quitting or loading another set.
The "Open Palette Editor" command opens a small application that allows you to create custom color palettes for MandalaMaker.
The Palette Editor contains two main parts: a color picker on the left and a palette field on the right. The color picker works just like the color picker described above. The palette field consists of a grid of blank color swatches which you can fill with colors from the color picker.
As shown on the lower right of the Palette Editor, clicking on the swatches using various modifier keys allows you to add, delete, and move colors on the palette field. Clicking with no modifier selects the swatch you click on and sets the color picker to the color of the swatch (if it is not blank). Holding down the Control key while clicking fills the clicked swatch with the New Color from the color picker. Clicking with the Alt key (on Windows) or the Option key (on the Mac) deletes the color from the clicked swatch. To move a color from one swatch to another, first click (without modifiers) on the color swatch you wish to move to select it, then shift-click on the swatch you which you want to move the color. In this way you can create a palette with the colors just as you want them.
Note: In MandalaMaker, the first swatch in the upper left of the palette is always the blank swatch . So if you want to have a palette created in the Palette Editor look the same when opened in MandalaMaker, be sure to leave the top left swatch blank.
The Option Menu on the Palette Editor allows you to Open color sets in the Editor, and Save your new or modified sets. The "Clear" command empties the palette field. The "Web Colors" command sets the color picker to create only "Web safe" colors.