Known Participant

Answered

Colours displaying differently in 2 Illustrator files

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
August 21, 2025
2 replies
992 views

I have a problem that I can't find a solution for. I have 2 illustrator files with exactly the same graphics, copied and pasted from File 1 to File 2. In File 2 the colours are displaying much brighter and more vivid.

Both of the files are in RGB colour mode.

Both of the colour settings are synchronised to Europe General Purpose 3

Both have the same colour profile: sRGB IEC 61966-2.1

I can't fine any other differences between the file colour settings. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

How-to

Correct answer Monika Gause

Ok - here are the files

The swatches have the same names, but they are not the same colors.

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Do the graphics in the original file have any unique transparency settings applied to them or applied to the layer in which the graphics reside?

At first glance the graphics with the more muted looking colors appear like they're CMYK-based. But if you're pasting those graphics into a new RGB-based document and the colors are brighter it makes me wonder about specific appearance settings in the original document.

AC_PPAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks. There are no differences in the appearance panel. I have checked both the the individual items and the layer that they are in.

AC_PPAuthor

Known Participant

These examples are from existing files. I've tried copying and pasting the images into new files. This is quite interesting...

If I create a new file and copy/paste the images into it from File 1 (dull) they stay dull. If I then copy/paste into that new file from File 2 (bright) the colours change to dull.

When I create another new file and copy/paste from File 2 (bright) first they stay bright. If I then copy/paste into that file from File 1 (dull) they change to bright.

It seems like the colour display is being set by the first image that is pasted into it.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Can you check if they both have the same Document Color Profile?

Try Edit > Assign Profile and see if there are differences.

AC_PPAuthor

Known Participant

Yes they are the same colour profile: sRGB IEC 61966-2.1

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Are they on the same monitor. Still different6 when viewed next to each other?

To also see if they have the same profile, at the bottom of your window you have an area that by default shows the name of your current tool (which you probably already know). You can change that to show your Document Color Profile when you click the arrow to the right of it.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded