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neilh87817824
Known Participant
February 5, 2021
Question

Illustrator Colour synchronisation won't sync

  • February 5, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 3551 views

Hi...

I have a long standing issue with Illustrator colour being dull which is more obvious when veiwing and printing the same image in photoshop. This is irrespective of files being CMYK or RGB. I have manually checked that all my colour settings are the same but this has made no difference. I have tried synchronising the settings through Bridge which tells me all my CC applications are synchronised. However I have noticed that apart from not fixing the problem Illustrator says that my CC applications settings are not synchronised. What's more, if I manually set the settings to the saved profile for Photoshop the Color Magement Policies box for CMYK sets to Preserve Numbers rather than preserve Embedded profiles, which is what it should be.

I am using Illustrator 2020 and Photoshop 2020 and working on a macbook pro if that makes a difference.

Any suggetions would be hugely gratefully received as its driving me mad.

Thanks

Neil

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    4 replies

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 15, 2021

    Illustrator has a single Document Color mode—either RGB or CMYK—which is different than InDesign which allows you to have a mix of RGB, CMYK, Lab or grayscale objects on the same page. So you have to consider the Illustrator document mode if you are expecting placed color to match the original.

     

    Your example illustration as RGB is somewhat out-of-gamut to FOGRA39 CMYK. If I place the illustration with the AdobeRGB profile embedded in a CMYK Illustrator document, out-of-gamut RGB color will be brought into the document’s assigned CMYK space’s gamut. Note that it is the document’s CMYK assignment (Coated FOGRA39) that is color managing the CMYK preview, and not the Color Settings Working CMYK space (US Web Coated SWOP):

     

     

    If I place the Adobe RGB image in an RGB mode document I get a match. In this case the image has an embedded RGB profile, and it is used to color manage the RGB preview—it overrides the Illustrator document’s RGB assignment (Edit>Assign Profile...), and the Color Settings’ RGB Working Space both of which could be different.

     

      N
      neilh87817824Author
      Known Participant
      February 15, 2021

      Hi Rob

       

      Thanks for taking the time to explain this.  I'm almost there...

       

      If I'm understanding correctly it is the FOGRA profile that is dictating the duller colour in Illustrator. What I still don't understand is why the illustrator document reigns in the gamut to match the FOGRA profile but photoshop doesn't when both documents were created and viewed as CMYK and have the same ICC profiles. Also, why does the FOGRA profile dull the colours so much when the brighter colours from Photoshop are printable, at least on my Canon inkjet?

       

      Thanks for your patience.

       

       

      Bob_Hallam
      Bob_Hallam
      Legend
      February 15, 2021

      In Photoshop you are viewing as RGB, because the image is RGB.  Use Command/Control Y to view as CMYK and the displays should match.   

      ICC programmer and developer, Photographer, artist and color management expert, Print standards and process expert.
      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 13, 2021

      This is a MacBook Pro and anyway it doesn't sound like a bad monitor profile.

       

      neilh, the color settings aren't important. They're just defaults. There is no need to synchronize color settings! What is important is that you have an embedded icc profile in the document. Which one is not important here (that's determined for other considerations) - but there has to be one. sRGB, Adobe RGB, US Web Coated (SWOP), ISO Coated (ECI) 300%, etc. etc.

       

      The embedded document profile will override your color settings.

       

      Or at least it should, under all normal conditions. This is governed by the "color management policies" setting, and this is the only critical part of the color settings. It should always be set to Preserve Embedded Profiles.

       

      There is one special case. Under CMYK policies, Illustrator and InDesign will have the default Preserve Numbers. The reason for this is to avoid K-only (overprinting) blacks being converted to four-color blacks. This only applies for graphics and text, not photographs/images, so Photoshop doesn't have this setting.

       

      Without an embedded profile, all bets are off, and applications will treat the data randomly. The profile  defines the numbers. In a color managed application, any profile will be handled correctly and displayed correctly. As long as it's there.

      NB, colourmanagement
      Community Expert
      NB, colourmanagementCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 13, 2021

      Neil, are you using Mac or Windows?

      Display profile issues on windows can cause colour managed applications to have differing appearances. 

      If the 'color settings' options when viewed within the different applications are consistent, then it would seem like syncing is working and the issue lies elsewhere.


      neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer
      google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
      [please only use the blue reply button at the top of the page, this maintains the original thread title and chronological order of posts]

      Bob_Hallam
      Bob_Hallam
      Legend
      February 5, 2021

      Save your color settings in Photoshop.  

      Open Adobe Bridge and go to color settings and load the settings you just saved  

      click the syncronize button and This will syncronize your color settings accross all the adobe applications on your computer.  

      ICC programmer and developer, Photographer, artist and color management expert, Print standards and process expert.
      N
      neilh87817824Author
      Known Participant
      February 12, 2021

      Hi Bob

       

      Thanks for your reply.

      I did as you have described before posting my question. I'll give it another try but  I am not hopeful.

       

      Cheers

       

      Neil

      Bob_Hallam
      Bob_Hallam
      Legend
      February 15, 2021

      Check that all of your images have embedded profiles.  Make sure your color settings have the correct policies for handeling them.   Then double check that all of the applications are actually using the settings you sync'ed.  If CMYK, and you are using Preserve Numbers, that's fine so long as the CMYK settings are the same and the images do have embedded profiles, your golden.  If the above is not the case and you have embedded profiles without common settings then the color appearance will not match.    So give that a go and let me know.  

      ICC programmer and developer, Photographer, artist and color management expert, Print standards and process expert.
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