Can an Illustrator document adopt the swatches of an imported file?

[Steve23571674knj4]

Can an Illustrator document adopt the swatches of an imported file?

I want my Illustrator document to adopt the swatches of the file I am importing. Is this possible?

[Monika Gause]

2 methods come to mind.

Make them all into Global swatches and then you can use the Replace Swatch function from the swatches panel menu.

Or if you make the new swatches into a color group, use "Recolor art".

[Steve23571674knj4]

I have it at this point. How do I get the file to adopt the colors labeled "New"?

[Monika Gause]

Activate the option "Recolor Art" and then you should be able to preview the result.

[Steve23571674knj4]

Does not work 😞

[Monika Gause]

Please describe what exactly is happening step by step and please show screenshots of the artwork.

[Steve23571674knj4]

For a test - I have a file named logo and a file named base. Both have swatches named PRIMARY and SECONDARY (see attached). As I place the logo into the base file - even as a preview - the PLACED file adopts the swatch colors of the base file. I literelly need to do the opposite. I need the base file to adopt the swatches of the placed file.
This would be a game changer for me. Script, Plug-in - whatever it would take. Let me know if you have any thoughts or if you could put me in contact with someone. Thank you so much for your response!

[Kurt Gold]

Thanks, for the clarification, Steve.

I'm not completely sure, but I think you have detected a bug. This behaviour should not happen without first warning about a possible swatches (name) conflict and there should at least be an option to not "merge" them automatically.

Some more tests are required, though.

[Kurt Gold]

Now it's clear what happens. You are using spot colours with the same names. Sorry, I overlooked that.

In that case the automatic merging is kind of normal since it "always" worked that way without a warning. Personally, I don't like that behaviour and I don't think that it is right at all. There should be a warning message with options to merge or add the swatches as one will normally get when transfering process colour swatches.

Of course, this does not solve your actual issue. It's just a note.

[Ton Frederiks]

And there should be an additional option besides Merge and Add: Replace.

[Steve23571674knj4]

Yes! Replace!
So, does anyone know how to communicate this directly to Adobe?
I'm in no rush. Wednesday would be fine for an update... 😛

[CarlosCanto]

post your request to UserVoice, but don't hold your breath. If you're lucky it could get fixed on the next release. If you're unlucky it could take decades.

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

[Mike_Gondek]

Open that vector file that contains the swatches you need. Copy and paste into your new illustrator file and the swatches will appear.

[Ton Frederiks]

You can open any Illustrator file from the Swatch Library panel (select Other Library) and it will open the swatches from that file. 

It will import spot swatches that are used in the artwork in a placed Illustrator document.

[marliton]

Hi. You can import Swatches libraries from any Illustrator document (other library):