CMYK Illustrator file changing colour when exported

[Stuart33256378oras]

Hi there, hoping somoene can help me. I have a CMYK Illustrator file and the mix of black on some parts is changing when I bring it into Indesign. All other colours are staying the same and it's not happening to all parts of the file, just some. Has anyone else had this issue? Thanks

[Ton Frederiks]

Are the Color Settings synchronized between Illustrator and InDesign?

[Stuart33256378oras]

Yes, they're both ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI). I'm attaching a jpeg to show the issue. All blacks should be 78c 60m 58y 95k. The type is staying the correct mix but the speech bubble is changing

[Stuart33256378oras]

Apologies for the bad language in the speech bubble, it's part of a graphic novel

[Monika Gause]

The first screenshot is in Illustrator?

And the second one?

In order to check the black separation in InDesign you can use the Separation panel

[Stuart33256378oras]

Thank you. The screenshots are both in photoshop, the top one is showing the colour value of the text, the bottom is showing the colour value of the outline bubble. The outline is changing colour mix but the text is staying correct

[Ton Frederiks]

And both the bubble and the text were created in Illustrator?

[Stuart33256378oras]

I believe so, they're both vector. I was sent these files from someone in America so didn't create them myself

[Ton Frederiks]

You may want to check if they are both CMYK in Illustrator or convert them (Edit > Colors > Convert to CMYK) and adjust the values.

[Stuart33256378oras]

Thank you. Double checked and no luck. I did as you suggested just to be sure but no joy I'm afraid. Thanks for your suggestion though

[Monika Gause]

Did you check the color profile which is embedded in that file? Is it really not different from your profile? It maybe a US profile.

[Stuart33256378oras]

Thanks Monika, yes it was a US profile but I changed it to ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI)

[Monika Gause]

Did you receive the INDD file from the US as well? Which profile is used in it?

And also: if the AI file has been embedded init, assigning a new profile to the INDD doesn't necessarily change what's already assigned.

[Stuart33256378oras]

Oh I see. Do you know how I go about changing that? Yes I did receive the InDesign file too and I also changed the profile on that. What confuses me is that I changed the black mix of the type and that has updated correctly but not the outlines of the bubbles. Why has it changed some things but not others

[Monika Gause]

I think your problem is rather InDesign related and you might want to ask in the InDesign forum where to search for the cause of that issue. https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/ct-p/ct-indesign?page=1&sort=latest_replies&filter=all&lang=...

[Ton Frederiks]

You mentioned exported, but the .ai does not have to be exported when is is used in InDesign.

[Stuart33256378oras]

my apologies, it's just placed in InDesign

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you share an .ai file that has the problem?

CC filesharin, Dropbox, WeTransfer...

[Stuart33256378oras]

sure, here they are...

https://we.tl/t-2UiPE4obzW

[Ton Frederiks]

Thanks, the difference is caused by the Brush settings.

If you change the Art Brush Options Colorization method from Hue Shift to Tints  the color will match.

[Stuart33256378oras]

Tom, I am incredibly grateful to you! Thank you so much. I will sort this evening and let you know how I get on. Thanks again, Stu

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Thanks Stuart, yes, let us know how it goes. Art Brushes can give surprises, a lot of them are CMYK  based and do not give an RGB black in RGB documents (but that is a different problem).

[Stuart33256378oras]

Hi Ton, so sorry for the late reply but your advice worked a treat and solved the problem. Thanks so muh for all your help. Cheers, Stu

[Ton Frederiks]

Thanks Stuart, good to hear that helped!