Image color vs color picker

[Ofnuts]

(07-08-2017, 11:40 PM)YalithKBK Wrote: I was in indexed mode! I didn't know such a thing existed. Thank you so much!

This is how the GIF image format works(*), so when you load a GIF, GIMP makes a color-indexed image. There are several restrictions to know:

1. No more that 256 color total in the image.
   
2. All additional colors are converted to the closest color in the color map.
   
3. No partial opacity, things are either opaque or transparent.
   
4. Many tools/filters are disabled
   

You can convert to RGB to work around these restrictions, but if you have to export to a color-indexed format again, the limit on the number of colors will apply again so quality loss can (of often will) occur.


(*) there is also a color-indexed mode in PNG, but it is much less often used.