Color values are gradually darkening on illustrator documents (frequently)

Question

Each individual color value accross an entire document - including those pre-loaded in the swatch panel - will steadily and simultaneously darken over time. The hex codes themselves change in value and appear to do so when the file is left open over the course of hours/days which is especially apparently on frequently revised project files.

This issue has become very consistent for me and the only swatches/values that seem to be exempt are the first 6 values in an RGB file and values that I manually save as new swatches, which is the only way Adobe Illustrator has remained semi-usable for me.

Here's what my swatch panels often look like:

Specs/other info:

-I'm running Illustrator v27.2 on macOS Catalina v10.15.4 (although issue has persisted for years across many versions)

-The swatches above are from an RGB document but I've experienced the issue with CMYK as well

-Here is a screenshot of my color settings:

Let me know what more info I can provide.

As a carreer designer with many longstanding projects its a truly debilitating issue and I've seen it posted a handful of times with no solution in sight, just commenters aggreeing and support members saying to "start a new thread." So here's mine, please help if you possibly can.

Links to threads of users experiencing seemingly identical issues:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/colors-keep-turning-dull-possible-bug/td-p/8897408

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/colours-on-illustrator-suddenly-going-faded-and-dull/td-p/10627901

Thanks

Anshul_Saini · Answer

Hi @Aidan Sakarya,

I'm really sorry to hear about the consistent color issue you've been facing in Adobe Illustrator. It's indeed an unusual problem, and I understand how frustrating it can be, especially for a professional designer working on longstanding projects. Let's try to troubleshoot this together.

Here are a few steps you can take:

As a first step, try turning off the GPU performance by pressing Ctrl + E (or Cmd + E on Mac) and see if that makes a difference. Sometimes GPU-related issues can cause problems with color rendering.
If you're seeing the colors gradually darken over time, performing a quick system restart may help. Sometimes, issues can accumulate with extended usage, and a restart can resolve them.
Ensure that your monitor is calibrated correctly. Incorrect monitor settings can make colors appear differently in Adobe Illustrator. There are several calibration tools available that can help you fine-tune your monitor's display.
Check the color profiles in your Illustrator document. If a specific color profile is being applied unintentionally, it could affect color rendering. Make sure you're using the appropriate color profile for your project.
Sometimes, third-party software or utilities running on your computer can interfere with color rendering. Try temporarily disabling any third-party applications that may affect graphics or color settings.
Go to "Edit" > "Color Settings" in Illustrator and make sure your color management settings are correctly configured. You can compare these settings with those of a freshly installed Illustrator to see if any custom settings are causing the issue.

Remember, Adobe Illustrator doesn't typically change color values automatically unless a specific user action triggers it. Running through these steps should help identify the source of the problem, and I hope we can resolve this frustrating issue for you. If you have any more specific details or updates, please feel free to share them. We're here to assist you in getting this sorted out.

Best,

Anshul Saini

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