<h2>Spheres</h2>
<p>So how PyMOL stores how it shows atoms is that each atom has a colour and a represention, which is a binary number telling what to show. Therefore the colour for <code>spheres</code> is the same as the colour for <code>sticks</code>. The only way round this is to copy the object (<code>create copycat, original</code> and you set copycat differently)</p>
<p>To set the atom you do</p>
<pre><code>select iliketheschaps, resi 200‐221 and name CA+CB
color tv_green, iliketheschaps
show spheres, iliketheschaps
</code></pre>
<p>The object <code>iliketheschaps</code> is a selection. Do make sure the range is a hyphen-minus (character next to 0) as opposed to an en-dash (–) which Word subs and on a mac you get with <kbd>cmd</kbd>+<kbd>-</kbd></p>
<h2>non-PyMOL colours</h2>
<p>Now you asked for &quot;gold&quot;. This is not a colour in the menu —famous for the colour <code>limon</code>. Gold is a CSS colour name, but it won't work.
You will have to colour by hex code. Say you want &quot;gold&quot; you need to google the colour name and hex. #FFD700.</p>
<pre><code>color 0xFFD700, iliketheschaps
</code></pre>
<h2>The Fashion Police have been alerted</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>This paragraph is in jest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, as you may know bioinformaticians are very fashion savvy for colours. Mustard was the in-colour from last year, so you really ought to use mustard (<code>0xffdb58</code>). This year is all about nectarine (<code>0xffa168</code>) (which is not salmon —this ain't 2015!). Coral (<code>0xff7f50</code>) and teal (<code>0x008080</code>) were from previous years and are still are going strong!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-07T18:06:17.653Z
2020-11-07T18:06:17.653Z
Matteo Ferla
<p>show sphere, A/1/C</p>
<p>set sphere_color, red, A/1/C</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-23T15:43:14.130Z
Please add some explanation to your answer, and format code lines better. As it stands, this post is low quality and might be deleted.
Ram RS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-23T10:51:33.643Z
2021-08-23T10:51:33.643Z
Sarah
<p>Hello I am a Pymol user</p>
<p>I want to color all alpha carbons (ca) and beta carbons (cb) from a certain ressidue in different color. How can I do this?</p>
<p>I selected the spheres with:</p>
<pre><code>show spheres, C/1-9/ca 
show spheres, C/1-9/cb

</code></pre>
<p>and if I use</p>
<pre><code>set sphere_color, theColor
</code></pre>
<p>I color all the spheres what I don't want.</p>
<p>according to: <code>color    gold,    resi    200-­‐221</code><br />
I tried
<code>gold,    spheres, C/1-9/ca</code>
but this didn't work</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-07T11:35:59.337Z
Hi @Elias whilst your question is certainly answerable it is etiquette to provide a few more details about your investigation. Past posts do answer this specific question
M__
<pymol>
Pymol: color spheres with different colors
# Pymol: color spheres with different colors

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-11-07)

Hello I am a Pymol user
I want to color all alpha carbons (ca) and beta carbons (cb) from a certain ressidue in different color. How can I do this?
I selected the spheres with:
show spheres, C/1-9/ca 
show spheres, C/1-9/cb


and if I use
set sphere_color, theColor

I color all the spheres what I don't want.
according to: color    gold,    resi    200-­‐221
I tried
gold,    spheres, C/1-9/ca
but this didn't work

**Tags:** pymol
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi @Elias whilst your question is certainly answerable it is etiquette to provide a few more details about your investigation. Past posts do answer this specific question  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-11-07. Score: 1

Spheres
So how PyMOL stores how it shows atoms is that each atom has a colour and a represention, which is a binary number telling what to show. Therefore the colour for spheres is the same as the colour for sticks. The only way round this is to copy the object (create copycat, original and you set copycat differently)
To set the atom you do
select iliketheschaps, resi 200‐221 and name CA+CB
color tv_green, iliketheschaps
show spheres, iliketheschaps

The object iliketheschaps is a selection. Do make sure the range is a hyphen-minus (character next to 0) as opposed to an en-dash (–) which Word subs and on a mac you get with cmd+-
non-PyMOL colours
Now you asked for "gold". This is not a colour in the menu —famous for the colour limon. Gold is a CSS colour name, but it won't work.
You will have to colour by hex code. Say you want "gold" you need to google the colour name and hex. #FFD700.
color 0xFFD700, iliketheschaps

The Fashion Police have been alerted

This paragraph is in jest.

However, as you may know bioinformaticians are very fashion savvy for colours. Mustard was the in-colour from last year, so you really ought to use mustard (0xffdb58). This year is all about nectarine (0xffa168) (which is not salmon —this ain't 2015!). Coral (0xff7f50) and teal (0x008080) were from previous years and are still are going strong!


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-23. Score: -1

show sphere, A/1/C

set sphere\_color, red, A/1/C

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Please add some explanation to your answer, and format code lines better. As it stands, this post is low quality and might be deleted.  

---

