Participant

Answered

Can't change Illustrator default black color from 231f20 to 000000

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
January 31, 2019
4 replies
21451 views

I've been having this issue for a long time and it's something I've always either not notice or worked around, but it's become incredibly frustrating lately and I can't seem to find a solution to my problem.

Here is my problem:

I start a new document in CMYK.
Default fill is ffffff (white), default stroke is 231f20 (grayish black)

This gets applied to any shape I create. When I start using the text tool, the default is a fill of 231f20 and a stroke of ffffff.

Is there any way I can change all default black colors to 000000? I have not yet been able to find a single solution that will solve this problem for new documents or shapes I create, meaning that I have to change the black color a million different times for every project to avoid using any 231f20.

I believe this has been a problem for me with every version of illustrator, mac or pc, since CS6.

Please let me know if you need any additional info.

Correct answer John Mensinger

rphils6 wrote
I would love to hear your suggestion on what I should do for CMYK documents. Leave the value at 000000 and accept the CMYK values as they are?

No. if you're working in CMYK, stop worrying about the hexadecimal values. Leave your black at the default Print profile values of 0|0|0|100 (with the correct equivalent 231F20 if you insist on looking at it). If you set it to 000000 your black becomes an undesirable mix: 75|68|67|90. Small text will not register and print well in that mix.

Manually change the CMYK values to 0%, 0%, 0%, 100% K every time?

That's the default. You don't have to change anything.

E

epicbrent

Participant

Most printers have a preferred mix for black and refer to it as rich black. I stick to 40|40|40|100 because 100% K usually prints muted blacks unless the printer or printer's RIP converts it to a rich black. This also fluctuates depending on the ICC profile for the substrate you're printing on. ALWAYS check with your printer to make sure you're getting the correct black. For RGB/sRGB 000000 is fine.

C

covrtdesign

Participant

This!! I have worked in many printing fields in my years and I have a custom CMYK value black for each printer, rip software, and use. Vehicle wrap vinyl, DTF, fine art paper printing, dye sublimation, etc and I have always had a different CMYK value for each.

I always had the problem of trying to get new designers to get this weird misconception that 100-100-100-100 or 0-0-0-100 are the two to use for everything.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

@covrtdesign schrieb:

I always had the problem of trying to get new designers to get this weird misconception that 100-100-100-100 or 0-0-0-100 are the two to use for everything.

This thread is about people confusing RGB and CMYK thus getting issues with defining precise black of any kind. Without understanding how Illustrator document profiles actually work, you will not even get precisely the black you are describing there.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Look at CMYK values in a CMYK document.

Your black is 100% K.

You are looking at the RGB equivalent of a 100% black ink, which is never as black as an RGB 000 black

If you want RGB blacks , start with an RGB document.

rphils6

Participant

Hi Ton, thanks for the explanation. Please see my post above for further explanation of my problem - I would love to hear your suggestion on what I should do for CMYK documents. Leave the value at 000000 and accept the CMYK values as they are? Manually change the CMYK values to 0%, 0%, 0%, 100% K every time?

Thank you for your help!

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Please learn about print production.

Black in Print production should be 100% K for small text.

If you need a rich black, select with caution depending on the stock and the process.

Michael J. Hoffman

Community Expert

Is it possible you’re using a template that was originally created in RGB and converted to CMYK?

See this thread: Illustrator Keeps Changing My 100k Black Values To 4 Colors

Mike

NWD RobbieAuthor

Participant

Hey Mike,

Unfortunately not. This happens whether I start a completely new document from scratch (set to CMYK from the beginning) or whether I use a "print" template that Illustrator has that is also rooted in CMYK,

M

mjbelt

Participating Frequently

Try these steps:

1. Set your preferred Fill & Stroke.

2. Open the Graphic Styles panel; Window > Graphic Styles.

3. Click the New Graphic Style button.

4. Hold Alt/Opt key and drag the new style onto the default style.
(The default style is the one having a miniature Fill/Stroke symbol in the lower left corner).

Now, pressing 'D' will change all selected objects to the new default style.

NWD RobbieAuthor

Participant

This was one of the threads I had found during my research. Unfortunately it works for converting previous shapes and text to 000000, but it reverts back to 231f20 as soon as I create a new text box. It also does not transfer across documents, so if I create a new document I would have to go through the whole process again.

What's even more weird is that I just noticed that when I change an object from 231f20 to 000000, it actually appears to become a lighter color than when it was 231f20.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

If you want Black #000000, then what business has CMYK in this?

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