Adobe Illustrator changes colors in linked images

[MarlousH]

Hi!

My Adobe illustrator keeps changing the colors of images that I link. Both profiles are set to RGB so that should not be a problem. 

The left image is the original, the right one is the file with the link.

 These are my color settings (sorry for the Swedish, I cannot change the language of Adobe)

 Any ideas of how to fix this?

[Ton Frederiks]

Is your Document Color Mode perhaps CMYK (File > Document Color Mode > )?

What is your  Document Color Profile? See Edit > Assign Profile...

What filetype are those images, do they have a profile?

[MarlousH]

Like I said in my original post, both files are RGB so that should not cause a problem. They are both .eps files. I also posted an image of the color profile settings.

[Jacob Bugge]

Marlous,

What happens if you place the image (linked) in a new AI document?

[MarlousH]

Good suggestion, but unfortunately, the same. Left is .ai file, right the original .eps.

[Ton Frederiks]

EPS files do not have an ICC profile. 

If the eps file is vector, save it as an Illustrator file with a profile.

If the file is an image, save it in Photoshop with a profile.

I would recommend to turn on the warnings for missing and mismatched profiles in your Color Settings to see what happens when you place the files.

[MarlousH]

I have tried (per Jacob's suggestion) to link to the original .eps from an AI doc but the result is the same. I will turn on the warnings though.

[Ton Frederiks]

You may also check if your Document Profile is different from your Color Settings and the profile of the file you are placing.

[MarlousH]

OK, I checked those and they are all the same: sRBG IE61966-2.1. That's also the same as the setting I have in the general color settings.

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you share the file? CC filesharing, DropBox, Google, WeTransfer are possible sharing methods.

[MarlousH]

Sure, you can get the files here> https://wetransfer.com/downloads/59f3b1b923d57ba4327d197e3124934e20230417130808/2a1d2d2b0b6588ef0ee3...

[Ton Frederiks]

Thank you, Marlous.

It is confusing, I see the color bright in the MP_blue_square_button.eps file and the file is an RGB file

But I also see in the File Info that the original document probably was based on a Print preset (the file info document title says Print) and the swatches all have CMYK names. The CMYK file has been converted to RGB.

When I save the .eps file as MP_blue_square_button.ai and replace the linked file in your Camera.eps it looks ok.

EPS is an outdated format that does not support color management and transparency, I would recommend to use pdf or ai in Illustrator.

[MarlousH]

Thank you very much, I will look into that. I will use the images in a program called Madcap Flare and that does not support .ai files unfortunately, but PDF might work.

[Ton Frederiks]

I tried it again, made a new sRGB file with your bright blue background, saved as eps an placed it in another new sRGB document and it became dull.

Looks like an eps bug. I would avoid eps, but you may want to report it here:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

Edit: it is the option to "Include CMYK PostScript in RGB Files" that causes the color shift.

[MarlousH]

Thank you, will do that!

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Marlous, I think I found the cause of the color shift. 

There is an option in the EPS Options "Include CMYK PostScript in RGB Files" when checked it causes the color shift.

Turn it off an the RGB preview is there when the .eps file is placed.

[MarlousH]

Cool, thank you for looking into this once more! Works a charm 🙂

[Vinsonitus]

"EPS Options "Include CMYK PostScript in RGB Files" when checked"

After almost 30 years of using Adobe, I still run into this issue. Why this is enabled by default is amazing, because most people dont seem to use it and spend HOURS trying to solve it. The option alludes almost everyone.

[Monika Gause]

I hope that not a lot of people use EPS anyway.

If you want to file a bug report/feature request, please use: https://illustrator.uservoice.com