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Question

Colors Muted & Dull in Illustrator 2023 (version 27.1.1)

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
January 10, 2023
7 replies
17358 views

Hello,

Since updating my illustrator to version 27.0.1 my colors have been muted/dull and even after uninstalling Illustrator, and reinstalling with the updated version 27.1.1. I can open old files and the colors are still vibrant but when creating anything new the colors are dull. I have tried to change my color settings in illustrator itself but the colors are either duller or overly saturated. I even tried to use Adobe Bridge to control the colors by choosing monitor color but that did nothing to change to muted colors. I am not sure if this is just an illustrator bug or if I am doing something to cause my colors to be so off but I need my colors to go back to normal and to not be dull or over saturated. You can see in the screenshot what the blue should look like but when the rectangle shape is filled with that blue it is a very dull different color.

J

jodisinatra

Participating Frequently

what worked for me

U

unique_sincerity3566

Participant

bloody hell thank you!

M

monopto

Participant

2024 and I having the same problem. Have you found any ways to fix this yet?

dans_1998

Participant

Same here, both in RGB and CMYK my colors look dull and muted but it's only in Illustrator any other Adobe app looks fine and vibrant

Monika Gause

Community Expert

When I add a screenshot or paste an image I copied from google for example, the color looks dull even if it's on RGB color mode (see first screenshot compared to the original image/screenshot 2). But, when I open the same as in File<open the image looks good but I get this pop up message (screenshot 3). That's when working in RGB cause in CMYK the colors look even more dull (screenshot 4).

How is your color management set up?

G

Gilberto5E39

Participant

I am having the same problem. My colors in Illustrator and Photoshop are duller than when I preview them on my desktop. I uninstalled all of my Adobe apps (including Photoshop Beta) along with their settings and files. I reinstalled Photoshop 24.1, Illustrator 27.1.1, and a few others. I am still having the same issue.

I included screenshots of the problem along with my color profiles. I switched to CPU-viewing, which helped considerably, but it is still not identical to the original image. I have tried all sorts of combinations. I am working in RGB as well.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Try changing your RGB working profile to something other than your monitor profile (which is not a good working space).

Synchronize your settings (you can use Bridge for that) And check your document color profile which can be found at the bottom of your document window in Illustrator.

G

Gilberto5E39

Participant

I did all that, but I am still getting the same result. I checked the photo's metadata on Mac's Finder and noticed that it has a custom color profile for another monitor that I had (I am still confused as to why the picture was saved with another color profile).

However, I guess my question right now is: which color profile should I default to (in the US) for my Adobe apps and since I like the reference photo colors, should I manually match the colors using the new default color profile?

lindseyh503

Participant

I am experiencing the same thing, in RGB and CMYK. It only started happening after I upgraded my computer and installed the newest version of Illustrator. VERY frustrating as my work requires precise color use.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

It's not possible to even guess possible reasons for your issue without knowing the details, such as your system, your color management settings, how you created the document and what exactly you are comparing to what exactly.

Jiust in case you are using Mac OS Ventura: it has some color issues of its own.

S

Serena24398575z54u

Participant

I have exactly the same problem and it's driving me nuts. All the colours that used to be vibrant are now very dull!! Please help. I work in CMYK and RGB and its the same for both. In general the colours in 2023 look terrible

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Monitor color should not be your RGB working color mode.

Can you please show us your color settings?

Omar.Fathy

Community Expert

Which document color mode are you using?
This image shows that you use document CMYK color and you try to pick a RGB color that automaticaly converts to CMYK because your document is CMYK color:

In Print, you should use CMYK colors not RGB.

Also you can check your Proof Setup to check if it is in the same line with your document color mode:

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