Artwork with transparencies change without bg

[PRWZ23]

I purchased this vector design and am wondering why when removing the bg it changes even in its native file and how I can apply it to artwork set up as CMYK, Rasterizing and expanding appearance doesnt work.

[John Mensinger · Accepted solution]

This happens a lot, so there are many posts about it here. The composition relies on blend modes. That means the art was configured to work specifically with the colors and transparency interaction that were in it when you purchased. Changing the background ruins the interaction. There may be a way to still get what you want out of it, but there is no universal recipe for that. A working understanding of the blend modes in effect, with some trial and error thrown in, is often the only way to get there.

[Monika Gause]

The usual way is that you finish the composition in Illustrator in RGB color mode. Then export a raster image, still in RGB. Ten open that in Photoshop to convert to CMYK and adjust the overall color to somewhat preserve the brightness of the lighting.