diff --git a/src/cmap/_colormap.py b/src/cmap/_colormap.py
index b681c9a11..4dab625fe 100644
--- a/src/cmap/_colormap.py
+++ b/src/cmap/_colormap.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Iterator
-    from typing import Literal, TypeAlias, TypeGuard
+    from typing import Literal, NotRequired, TypeAlias, TypeGuard
 
     import bokeh.models
     import matplotlib.colors
@@ -50,7 +50,21 @@ class ColormapDict(TypedDict):
         identifier: str
         category: str | None
         value: list[tuple[float, list[float]]]
-
+        # written only when they hold non-default state, so a colormap that has none
+        # of them serializes exactly as it did before they existed
+        interpolation: NotRequired[Interpolation]
+        under: NotRequired[list[float]]
+        over: NotRequired[list[float]]
+        bad: NotRequired[list[float]]
+        neg_inf: NotRequired[list[float]]
+        pos_inf: NotRequired[list[float]]
+        nan: NotRequired[list[float]]
+
+
+# the extreme colors, in constructor-argument spelling; `<field>_color` is the property.
+# `as_dict()` and pickle iterate this; `reversed()`, `shifted()` and `with_extremes()`
+# spell out each one, so a new extreme must be added there too.
+_EXTREME_FIELDS = ("under", "over", "bad", "neg_inf", "pos_inf", "nan")
 
 LutCallable: TypeAlias = Callable[["NDArray"], "NDArray"]
 """Function type for a callable that takes an array of values in the range [0, 1] and returns an (N, 4) array of RGBA values in the range [0, 1]."""  # noqa
@@ -162,6 +176,7 @@ class Colormap:
 
     __slots__ = (
         "__weakref__",
+        "_catalog_name",
         "_has_exceptional",
         "_initialized",
         "_lut_cache",
@@ -276,14 +291,29 @@ def __init__(
         cmap_kwargs: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         self.info: CatalogItem | None = None
+        # the catalog name that alone rebuilds this colormap, if nothing overrode it
+        self._catalog_name: str | None = None
 
         if isinstance(value, str):
             rev = value.endswith("_r")
             info = self.catalog()[value[:-2] if rev else value]
+            # every other constructor argument must be listed here: one that is
+            # missed is silently dropped when this colormap serializes or pickles
+            # as its bare name
+            overrides = (name, identifier, category, interpolation, cmap_kwargs)
+            extremes = (under, over, bad, neg_inf, pos_inf, nan)
+            if all(v is None for v in (*overrides, *extremes)):
+                self._catalog_name = info.qualified_name + ("_r" if rev else "")
             name = name or f"{info.qualified_name}{'_r' if rev else ''}"
             category = category or info.category
-            over = info.over if over is None else over
-            under = info.under if under is None else under
+            # the record's directional colors follow the ends they extend, so a "_r"
+            # name swaps them.  Swapping here rather than after the lines below keeps
+            # an explicit `under=`/`over=` argument on the end the caller named.
+            info_under, info_over = (
+                (info.over, info.under) if rev else (info.under, info.over)
+            )
+            over = info_over if over is None else over
+            under = info_under if under is None else under
             bad = info.bad if bad is None else bad
             self.info = info
 
@@ -531,32 +561,64 @@ def with_extremes(
         pos_inf: ColorLike | None = None,
         nan: ColorLike | None = None,
     ) -> Colormap:
-        """Return a copy of the colormap with new extreme values."""
+        """Return a copy of the colormap with new extreme values.
+
+        Colors that are not passed are carried over from this colormap, as in
+        matplotlib.
+        """
         return type(self)(
             self.color_stops,
             name=self.name,
+            identifier=self.identifier,
             category=self.category,
             interpolation=self.interpolation,
-            bad=bad,
-            under=under,
-            over=over,
-            neg_inf=neg_inf,
-            pos_inf=pos_inf,
-            nan=nan,
+            under=self.under_color if under is None else under,
+            over=self.over_color if over is None else over,
+            bad=self.bad_color if bad is None else bad,
+            neg_inf=self.neg_inf_color if neg_inf is None else neg_inf,
+            pos_inf=self.pos_inf_color if pos_inf is None else pos_inf,
+            nan=self.nan_color if nan is None else nan,
         )
 
+    @property
+    def _extremes(self) -> dict[str, Color | None]:
+        """The extreme colors, keyed by their constructor argument name."""
+        return {f: getattr(self, f"{f}_color") for f in _EXTREME_FIELDS}
+
+    def _constructor_kwargs(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
+        """Every keyword argument needed to rebuild this colormap from its stops."""
+        kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {
+            "name": self.name,
+            "identifier": self.identifier,
+            "category": self.category,
+            "interpolation": self.interpolation,
+        }
+        kwargs.update({k: v for k, v in self._extremes.items() if v is not None})
+        return kwargs
+
     def as_dict(self) -> ColormapDict:
         """Return a dictionary representation of the colormap.
 
         The returned dictionary is suitable for serialization, or for passing to the
         Colormap constructor.
+
+        Note that a colormap backed by a lut function is sampled into fixed stops
+        here; use `pickle` or `copy` to duplicate one without resampling.
         """
-        return {
+        d: ColormapDict = {
             "name": self.name,
             "identifier": self.identifier,
             "category": self.category,
             "value": [(p, list(c)) for p, c in self.color_stops],
         }
+        # optional keys, written only when they hold non-default state: `value` is
+        # always stops, which the constructor reads as linear.
+        if self.interpolation != "linear":
+            d["interpolation"] = self.interpolation
+        for field, color in self._extremes.items():
+            if color is not None:
+                d[field] = list(color)  # type: ignore[literal-required]
+        return d
 
     def lut(
         self, N: int = 256, gamma: float = 1, *, with_over_under: bool = False
@@ -635,6 +697,9 @@ def iter_colors(self, N: Iterable[float] | int | None = None) -> Iterator[Color]
     def reversed(self, name: str | None = None) -> Colormap:
         """Return a new Colormap, with reversed colors.
 
+        `under`/`over` and `neg_inf`/`pos_inf` are swapped, since they name the ends
+        they extend.  The other extreme colors and the interpolation carry over.
+
         Parameters
         ----------
         name: str | None
@@ -646,8 +711,19 @@ def reversed(self, name: str | None = None) -> Colormap:
         if name is None:
             name = self.name[:-2] if self.name.endswith("_r") else f"{self.name}_r"
 
+        # `identifier` is not carried: it is derived from the name, which changed here
         return type(self)(
-            self.color_stops.reversed(), name=name, category=self.category
+            self.color_stops.reversed(),
+            name=name,
+            category=self.category,
+            interpolation=self.interpolation,
+            # under/over and neg_inf/pos_inf name the ends they extend, so they follow
+            under=self.over_color,
+            over=self.under_color,
+            neg_inf=self.pos_inf_color,
+            pos_inf=self.neg_inf_color,
+            bad=self.bad_color,
+            nan=self.nan_color,
         )
 
     def shifted(
@@ -740,8 +816,17 @@ def __setattr__(self, _name: str, _value: Any) -> None:
         object.__setattr__(self, _name, _value)
 
     def __reduce__(self) -> str | tuple[Any, ...]:
-        # for pickle
-        return self.__class__, (self.color_stops,)
+        # for pickle. An unmodified catalog colormap goes through as its name, which
+        # also restores `info`.
+        if self._catalog_name is not None:
+            return self.__class__, (self._catalog_name,)
+        # The stops go through as the object rather than as as_dict()'s samples, so a
+        # colormap backed by a lut function keeps the function.
+        return _rebuild_colormap, (
+            self.__class__,
+            self.color_stops,
+            self._constructor_kwargs(),
+        )
 
     def __eq__(self, other: object) -> bool:
         if not isinstance(other, Colormap):
@@ -836,10 +921,7 @@ def __get_pydantic_core_schema__(
         schema = handler(Any)
 
         def _serialize(obj: Colormap) -> Any:
-            if obj.info is not None and obj.info.qualified_name:
-                # this is a catalog item
-                return obj.info.qualified_name
-            return obj.as_dict()
+            return obj._catalog_name or obj.as_dict()
 
         ser = core_schema.plain_serializer_function_ser_schema(_serialize)
         return core_schema.no_info_after_validator_function(
@@ -956,6 +1038,14 @@ def to_pyqtgraph(self) -> pyqtgraph.ColorMap:
         return _external.to_pyqtgraph(self)
 
 
+def _rebuild_colormap(
+    cls: type[Colormap], value: ColormapLike, kwargs: dict[str, Any]
+) -> Colormap:
+    # pickle's two-tuple reduce form passes positional arguments only, and the rest of
+    # the colormap's state is keyword-only
+    return cls(value, **kwargs)
+
+
 class ColorStop(NamedTuple):
     """A color stop in a color gradient.
 
diff --git a/tests/test_colormap.py b/tests/test_colormap.py
index 4c358bfeb..8c98bc753 100644
--- a/tests/test_colormap.py
+++ b/tests/test_colormap.py
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+import inspect
+import pickle
 import sys
+from copy import copy, deepcopy
 from functools import partial
 from typing import Any
 
@@ -146,9 +149,6 @@ def test_with_extremes_preserves_interpolation() -> None:
 
 def test_colormap_copy() -> None:
     """Test Colormap copy."""
-    import pickle
-    from copy import copy, deepcopy
-
     cmap1 = Colormap(["red", "magenta", "blue"])
     cmap2 = Colormap(["r", (0.5, "magenta"), "b"])
     assert cmap1 == cmap2
@@ -419,6 +419,146 @@ def test_with_extremes() -> None:
     assert "under" in cm2._repr_html_()
 
 
+def _configured() -> Colormap:
+    return Colormap(
+        ["red", "blue"],
+        name="foo",
+        category="sequential",
+        interpolation="nearest",
+        under="green",
+        over="yellow",
+        bad="black",
+        neg_inf="cyan",
+        pos_inf="magenta",
+        nan="white",
+    )
+
+
+def test_with_extremes_preserves_what_is_not_passed() -> None:
+    cm = Colormap(["red", "blue"], identifier="my_id", under="green", nan="white")
+
+    new = cm.with_extremes(over="yellow")
+
+    assert new.under_color == Color("green")
+    assert new.nan_color == Color("white")
+    assert new.over_color == Color("yellow")
+    assert new.identifier == "my_id"
+
+
+def test_reversed_preserves_state_and_swaps_the_directional_colors() -> None:
+    cm = _configured()
+    # the comparisons with `cm` below only catch a dropped or unswapped field if
+    # every field is non-default and the extreme colors are all distinct
+    extremes = [cm.under_color, cm.over_color, cm.bad_color]
+    extremes += [cm.neg_inf_color, cm.pos_inf_color, cm.nan_color]
+    assert None not in extremes and len(set(extremes)) == len(extremes)
+    assert cm.category is not None and cm.interpolation != "linear"
+
+    rev = cm.reversed()
+
+    assert rev.name == f"{cm.name}_r"
+    assert rev.category == cm.category
+    assert rev.interpolation == cm.interpolation
+    # under/over and neg_inf/pos_inf name the ends they extend, so they follow them
+    assert rev.under_color == cm.over_color
+    assert rev.over_color == cm.under_color
+    assert rev.neg_inf_color == cm.pos_inf_color
+    assert rev.pos_inf_color == cm.neg_inf_color
+    assert rev.bad_color == cm.bad_color
+    assert rev.nan_color == cm.nan_color
+    assert rev.reversed() == cm
+
+
+# one catalog entry per kind of state that "_r" and reversed() could disagree on
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "name",
+    [
+        "napari:HiLo",  # under/over in the record, which must swap
+        "tab10",  # nearest interpolation
+        "napari:nan",  # bad in the record
+    ],
+)
+def test_reversed_agrees_with_the_r_suffix(name: str) -> None:
+    assert Colormap(name).reversed() == Colormap(f"{name}_r")
+
+
+def test_r_suffix_keeps_explicit_directional_colors() -> None:
+    # the record's colors swap; an explicit argument names the end it lands on
+    assert Colormap("napari:HiLo_r", under="green").under_color == Color("green")
+
+
+def test_pickle_preserves_constructor_state() -> None:
+    cm = _configured()
+
+    rt = pickle.loads(pickle.dumps(cm))  # noqa: S301
+
+    assert rt == cm
+    assert (rt.name, rt.identifier, rt.category, rt.interpolation) == (
+        cm.name,
+        cm.identifier,
+        cm.category,
+        cm.interpolation,
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["viridis", "viridis_r", "napari:HiLo_r"])
+def test_copies_of_a_catalog_colormap_keep_its_info(name: str) -> None:
+    cm = Colormap(name)
+
+    for copied in (pickle.loads(pickle.dumps(cm)), copy(cm), deepcopy(cm)):  # noqa: S301
+        assert copied == cm
+        assert copied.name == cm.name
+        assert copied.info is not None and copied.info == cm.info
+
+
+# a sample for every constructor argument besides `value`.  A new argument fails the
+# test below until it has a sample here, and that sample fails it until the argument
+# is in the overrides that `Colormap.__init__` checks before recording a catalog name.
+_ARGUMENT_SAMPLES: dict[str, Any] = {
+    "name": "renamed",
+    "identifier": "renamed",
+    "category": "sequential",
+    "interpolation": False,
+    "under": "red",
+    "over": "red",
+    "bad": "red",
+    "neg_inf": "red",
+    "pos_inf": "red",
+    "nan": "red",
+    "cmap_kwargs": {"start": 1.0},
+}
+
+
+def test_any_constructor_argument_disables_the_catalog_name() -> None:
+    params = set(inspect.signature(Colormap).parameters) - {"value"}
+    assert params == set(_ARGUMENT_SAMPLES)
+
+    assert Colormap("cubehelix")._catalog_name == "cubehelix:cubehelix"
+    for arg, sample in _ARGUMENT_SAMPLES.items():
+        cm = Colormap("cubehelix", **{arg: sample})
+        assert cm._catalog_name is None, f"{arg}= is not treated as an override"
+
+
+def test_copies_of_a_callable_colormap_stay_callable() -> None:
+    # as_dict() samples the function into 256 stops; a copy must keep the function
+    cm = Colormap("cubehelix", cmap_kwargs={"start": 1.0, "rotation": -1.0})
+
+    for copied in (pickle.loads(pickle.dumps(cm)), copy(cm), deepcopy(cm)):  # noqa: S301
+        npt.assert_array_equal(copied.lut(17, gamma=2), cm.lut(17, gamma=2))
+
+
+def test_as_dict_round_trip() -> None:
+    plain = Colormap(["red", "blue"])
+    assert set(plain.as_dict()) == {"name", "identifier", "category", "value"}
+
+    cm = _configured()
+    d = cm.as_dict()
+
+    assert d["interpolation"] == "nearest"
+    assert d["nan"] == list(Color("white"))
+    assert Colormap(**d) == cm
+
+
 def test_shifted() -> None:
     cm = Colormap(["red", "blue", "yellow"])
     assert cm.shifted(1) == cm
diff --git a/tests/test_model_fields.py b/tests/test_model_fields.py
index d8e1bc694..28e1640c1 100644
--- a/tests/test_model_fields.py
+++ b/tests/test_model_fields.py
@@ -58,3 +58,42 @@ class MyModel(psygnal.EventedModel):  # type: ignore
         color=np.array([1, 0, 0]), colormap=["r", (0.7, "b"), "w"], stops="green_r"
     )
     assert MyModel.model_validate_json(obj.model_dump_json()) == obj
+
+
+def test_pydantic_preserves_modified_catalog_colormaps() -> None:
+    class MyModel(pydantic.BaseModel):
+        colormap: Colormap
+
+    def round_trip(cmap: Colormap) -> Colormap:
+        obj = MyModel(colormap=cmap)
+        return MyModel.model_validate_json(obj.model_dump_json()).colormap
+
+    # an unmodified catalog colormap still serializes to its qualified name alone
+    obj = MyModel(colormap=Colormap("viridis"))
+    assert '"colormap":"bids:viridis"' in obj.model_dump_json()
+
+    assert round_trip(Colormap("viridis", under="red")).under_color == Color("red")
+    assert round_trip(Colormap("viridis", name="renamed")).name == "renamed"
+    assert round_trip(Colormap("viridis_r")) == Colormap("viridis_r")
+    # ... and the reversed name alone rebuilds it, so it serializes to that
+    obj = MyModel(colormap=Colormap("viridis_r"))
+    assert '"colormap":"bids:viridis_r"' in obj.model_dump_json()
+    # a falsy argument is still an override: False is "nearest", viridis is linear
+    nearest = Colormap("viridis", interpolation=False)
+    assert round_trip(nearest).interpolation == "nearest"
+
+    # a parametrization too small for the tolerant __eq__ to see still must not
+    # collapse to the plain catalog name
+    tweaked = Colormap("cubehelix", cmap_kwargs={"start": 0.500001})
+    assert round_trip(tweaked).as_dict() == tweaked.as_dict()
+
+
+def test_psygnal_serialization_of_a_configured_colormap() -> None:
+    psygnal = pytest.importorskip("psygnal")
+
+    class MyModel(psygnal.EventedModel):  # type: ignore
+        colormap: Colormap
+
+    cmap = Colormap(["r", "b"], interpolation="nearest", under="green", nan="orange")
+    obj = MyModel(colormap=cmap)
+    assert MyModel.model_validate_json(obj.model_dump_json()).colormap == cmap