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Question

colour mismatch between illustrator & photoshop

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 28, 2024
3 replies
3806 views

Can anybody help me achieve a colour match between Photoshop & Illustrator please? I have synced colour settings via Bridge, checked matching colour profiles in both programmes, checking both using CYMK and used the same colour hexcode. The colours are still miles apart. Please see attached screenshot for reference. Any help would be appreciated!

Windows

davescm

Community Expert

Hi

A couple of things that can catch people out is that:

a. Although the application colour settings can be identical, as D Fosse mentioned above, when opening an existing document then the profile for that document will override those settings.

b. When entering Hex codes in both Photoshop and Illustrator and using a document with a CMYK profile, the hex code entered is referenced to the default RGB colour space set in colour settings for the application. It is then converted in the application to the document CMYK profile. This means that, if the RGB defaults differ (even though the documents in use may be the same CMYK profile) then the conversion will differ. Most web sources that quote Hex codes do not even show which colour space their numbers refer to, but if you set both applications to sRGB as the RGB default then it should be safe. This is a reason why Hex codes are not a magic bullet for consistent colour even within an application.

If you start out with defaults for RGB and CMYK that match and document profiles that match then colour should be displayed consistently between AI and PS.

Dave

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

@davescm "This is a reason why Hex codes are not a magic bullet for consistent colour even within an application."

You can say that again Dave, why Hex codes are bandied about as "colour reference values" in this day and age escapes me.

ICC profiles are in very common use of course - Adobe applications have fully implemented ICC profiles since PS5 in 1999. As you write, entered hex codes may match, but if the RGB colourspace differs, then the colour will not match visually. Hex codes are no more unequivocal than RGB numbers - both Hex and RGB require an associated ICC RGB profile to have any real visual meaning.

@Sarah27866537cpwc You can read more about ICC profiles here

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
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c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Can you provide the two files? (edited)

D Fosse

Community Expert

Is there an embedded document profile in both and which is it?

S

Sarah27866537cpwcAuthor

Participating Frequently

Would you be able to tell me how to check that? Both of these documents
were just created as brand new test files rather than importing any
embedded graphics so they shouldn’t be affected by any embedded profiles
should they? I’m a novice so I’m not sure! I’ve always had this issue with
illustrator / photoshop. Incidentally, the colours in photoshop match
perfectly when I convert an illustrator file to PDF. So I’m assuming the
issue lies with illustrator somehow?

D Fosse

Community Expert

Ahh yes, the colour profile in both programmes is set to Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647-2:2004). It even tells me that my Adobe programmes are colour synced in Bridge. I appreciate your help!

Your color settings aren't relevant. They are just defaults for new documents and missing profiles.

Is there an embedded color profile in each document? The embedded profile overrides your working space. There has to be an embedded profile to define the color.

See my screenshot again.

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