Driver

The installer for the Palette software driver can be found here. This is also where the system requirements and release notes can be found. I did most of my testing using v2.0.93, although a fairly big release happened recently with v2.1, which I will briefly mention as well.


After choosing the OS of choice, which was of course Windows here, you are prompted to select the programs you plan on using the Palette kit with. This is to help include some profiles to get you started with, so go ahead and select everything you already have. You can always download these here or make your own, of course.


Installation itself is fairly straightforward, with a couple of interruptions to get permissions for Atmel component drivers to be installed as well.


When you first run the driver, called PaletteApp 2 (for the current version, of course), you are prompted to register your kit. There is no way around this mandatory step, and Palette tells me this is more to do with making sure they remain on top of customer service and handle warranty with records from day one. The modules themselves do not need to be connected at all for this step, although the first time you connect any hardware, it gets registered to your account. To help sweeten the deal, Palette sends a confirmation email with some Adobe promo links for a discount of up to 20% on their various creative cloud plans for a year. All things considered, I did not mind the mandatory registration as it took two minutes and I generally register hardware for warranty purposes anyway.


Once that is done, the driver finally opens, and the home screen is fairly intuitive to begin with. PaletteApp 2.0.93 does not support high DPI monitors on Windows, which includes my 4K monitor, so I had OS level scaling on to help out. However, Palette was quick in letting me know that their beta driver did support scaling with high DPI monitors, among other things, and it would be coming to the next major public release. Version 2.1 does not appear to have it, so I imagine it is slated for the next one - presumably in May.







There is so much one can do here that I found myself just spending some time going through everything. I connected the core, and the other modules to it, which all got recognized one by one and exactly in the same location as relative to the other modules. You can also orient the entire set to match how it is situated on your desk. By default, a lot of the support programs will be shown, so you can create profiles for them. The newest version, 2.1, adds support for Chrome, Spotify, iTunes, and VLC player as well. The default profile is your first selection and can be edited completely, down to the name, which the core module's screen will reflect, along with the program it is for.

Each module has RGB lighting around the periphery, which lights up white when connected, acting as a visual indicator of it having been connected correctly. You can change the color to help identify it better, and different colors can be assigned to the same module under different profiles as well. At this time, it is a static color only; however, I did suggest it would be useful to see support of changing colors for the same profile for both aesthetics and functionality. Consider the slider module changing color depending on how much travel has occurred, for instance. Palette was nice enough to pass this and other feedback on to their software development team, so let's see how things go!

The dial module is by far the most useful for me based on the options available, with assignments for left turn, right turn, and click downwards. There are options to have sensitivity change in programs such as Lightroom, wherein I can, say, have precise control over the angle at which an image is cropped, in steps of my choosing. I can use it as a keyboard also, as with the other modules, with alphanumeric and key modifier functions to choose from. Want to take a break from editing photos? Press down the button for some Alt + F4 action. Of course, there is also the media functionality, which was to be expected, with dials and sliders alike, and volume control in Windows has never been easier. To be honest, given how detailed this is, I really encourage you to start off with the bundled profiles included from when you picked the programs you are interested in during installation, as these did end up being a very good starting point for me. These are also named after the kits available, so you know not to select profiles for kits that have more modules than what you possess, although any missing modules are indicated on the driver as well.


I use Adobe Lightroom a lot to edit pictures taken for reviews of products, including this very one, so I started off by using it with this Palette kit. In order to do so as a plugin, you have to first enable it in the options menu. Once done, the profile currently active then directs the modules to perform the chosen actions. The driver can be minimized, but not closed as the modules do not store profiles. For those wondering, PaletteApp 2.0.93 and 2.1 are light weight and consumed ~1-2% CPU utilization on my Intel Core i7-4770K system and an older Ivy Bridge Core i7-3630qm laptop.

High DPI support aside, which is coming soon if the latest beta is anything to go by, the driver is stable and extensive enough to where it is a definite plus point to the whole experience.