Managing content color through context based color menu

Abstract

Context based color menus are employed to assign a color to content through touch or gesture actions, keyboard entries, mouse or pen actions, and similar input. Context based color menus are deployed to assign a color through color controls. Color controls are positioned in a variety of forms and potentially expand to multiple levels of color control sets. An example color menu positions a set of top level color controls on an inside region of a context based color menu while positioning a set of color controls corresponding to shades of one of the top level controls on an outside region of the menu. Sub-menus are used to provide shades of colors associated with color controls adjacent to a sub-menu launcher.

1 . A method executed in a computing device for managing content color through a context based color menu, the method comprising:
 in response to detecting a first input including at least one from a set of: a tap input, a swipe input, a voice input, a visual input, a keyboard input, a mouse input, a pen input, and a gesture input, presenting the context based color menu in relation to a displayed content on a user interface for managing the content; and   in response to detecting a second input, assigning a color to a selected portion of the displayed content selected from the context based color menu according to the second input.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying the context based color menu in a shape including at least one from a set of: a radial shape, a linear shape, a half circular shape, an arc shape, wherein one or more indicators are displayed on the context based color menu to indicate one or more colors currently applied to the content.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 assigning the color to at least one from a set of: a textual content, a shape, a shading, a 3D effect, a line, a fill, a highlighter, a table, and a table element, wherein presented items on the context based color menu are configured based on a type of content for applying the color to.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 positioning a set of color controls radially within the context based color menu.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 modifying one or more top level color controls on the context based color menu by bringing up a sub-menu color control to the context based color menu based on one of a most frequent use and a most recent use of the sub-menu color control.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 detecting a third user input selecting one of the top level color controls;   performing one of:
 replacing the set of color controls with another set of color controls associated with the selected top level color control; and 
 replacing the set of color controls with the top level color controls. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 positioning a set of color controls radially within a half section of the context based color menu; and   positioning a set of content type controls radially within other half section of the context based color menu.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 detecting the second input activating one of the color controls;   detecting a third input selecting a content type control from the set of content type controls; and   assigning the color associated with the selected color control to content associated with the content type control.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 positioning a set of color controls radially within the context based color menu adjacent to a content type control.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 detecting the second input activating the content type control;   presenting a sub-menu providing content type controls;   detecting a third input selecting one of the content type controls; and   assigning the color to content associated with the selected content type control.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting the second input activating a sub-menu launcher associated with a color control;   presenting a sub-menu providing a set of sub color controls;   detecting a third input selecting one of the sub color controls; and   assigning a sub color associated with the selected sub color control to the content.   
     
     
         12 . A computing device for managing content color through a context based color menu, the computing device comprising:
 an input device configured to detect at least one of a tap input, a swipe input, a voice input, a visual input, a keyboard input, a mouse input, a pen input, and a gesture input;   a memory;   a processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing an application and causing a user interface associated with the application to be displayed on a screen, wherein the processor is configured to:
 in response to detecting a first input, present the context based color menu with a radially positioned set of color controls in relation to a selected portion of displayed content on the user interface for managing content; 
 detect a second input activating a color control from the set; and 
 assign a color to the selected portion of the displayed content corresponding to the color control according to the second input. 
   
     
     
         13 . The computing device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 display an indicator on the color control to inform a user about the assigned color to the selected portion of the displayed content.   
     
     
         14 . The computing device of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 position the indicator adjacent to the color control.   
     
     
         15 . The computing device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 display a tooltip showing one or more of the color and a textual description of the color.   
     
     
         16 . The computing device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 display a drop shaped indicator showing the color; and   position the drop shaped indicator adjacent to a location of the second input.   
     
     
         17 . A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for managing content color through a context based color menu, the instructions comprising:
 in response to detecting a first input including at least one from a set of: a tap input, a swipe input, a voice input, a visual input, a keyboard input, a mouse input, a pen input, and a gesture input, presenting the context based color menu with a radially positioned set of color controls in relation to a selected portion of displayed content on a user interface for managing content color;   detecting a second input activating a color control from the set;   assigning a color to the selected portion of the displayed content corresponding to the color control according to the second input; and   displaying an indicator near the color control to inform a user about the assigned color to the selected portion of the displayed content.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable memory device of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
 presenting the set of color controls in a sub-menu providing a set of sub color controls; and   positioning another indicator about the assigned color on a corresponding color control within the set of color controls in the sub-menu.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable memory device of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
 combining the set of color controls and a set of font controls to produce a set of style controls by:
 overlaying at least one font control from the set of font controls into each color control from the set of color controls. 
   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable memory device of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
 detecting a third input activating a style control from the set of style controls; and   applying a style associated with the style control to the selected portion of the displayed content.