I created a new file in Illustrator and pulled in different layers (shape and pattern layers) from two previous documents. I closed all other tabs and left that new file open for a few hours while I worked on another file in Photoshop. When I went back to the Illustrator file I had created a few hours, all the shape and pattern layers' colours had turned muddy. When I compared the colours to the original layers from the two previous documents, there is a noticeable difference. To my knowledge, I didn't change any settings after placing these layers into the new Illustrator file or while the file sat open for those few hours. Basically, everything was fine before I left the file open for a few hours while I worked in Photoshop and then everything changed went back to the file after those few hours. All the colours were different. They looked muggier/muddy. Does anyone know why this happened?
It's is Mac OS version 11.7.10. Big Sur. My Mac is up to date for the model that I have (Retina 5K 27-inch, Late 2014).
I have only one monitor.
The files that I took layers from both have the same document colour settings/mode. I dragged the layers rather than copy and paste.
These two files are 2 years old and 3 years old, respectively. They are sort of a 'master file' of design templates/layers that I tend to re-use so I drag pattern and shape layers from these two files whenever I am working on something new and want to reuse some of those layers.
And do you get a warning when opening the old file?
There have been reports of files getting muddy over time. But none of the people experiencing this could ever give a description of what exactly they did. ALso this has never happened to color management experts. So far it's unclear as to what can cause it.
Do you have any soft proof running?
Which color profile do you have set up for your monitor?
I don't get a warning when opening either of the old files.
To be honest I didn't do much. I just created a new file and dragged and dropped a few layers from two older files. Left that new file open and then came back to it. I know there must be a cause as things don't just happen by themselves. I was thinking maybe I accidentally pressed something but idk.
I don't have 'Proof Colors' selected. Is that what you mean by soft proof? When I click on the 'Proof Setup' menu Working CMYK: Coated FOGRA39 is pre-selected.
My monitor/display colour profile says:
SPACE - RGB
I appreciate your suggestions so far. I'll take a look at the link you provided.
The View > Color proof menu is what I was referring to. And the Proof colors is not turned on?
WHen nothing is selected, then pressing anything does not change the file. And the softproof doesn't have a shortcut by default. If there were 2 monitors attached then moving the file from one to the other might indeed change the look of stuff. But with one monitor, this can't happen.
Do the color numbers also change? Or just the look of the file?
Oh ok. Under the view menu the only options that include the word proof are 'Proof Colors' which is not selected and 'Proof Setup' that already had Working CMYK: Coated FOGRA39 selected. Other options in that menu includes:
Legacy Macintosh RGB (Gamma 1.8)
Internet Standard RGB (sRGB)
Monitor RGB
Color blindness - Protanopia-type
Color blindness - Deuteranopia-type
Customize...
Do I need to change anything under the 'Proof Setup' menu?
When I noticed the colours had changed I compared the colour numbers to the numbers from the original layers in the original two files and they had changed.
This is what happened when I came back to the file after leaving it open for a few hours while I worked in Photoshop.
Again, I'm not saying this happened by itself. That's why I'm here trying to figure out how this could have happened but I did not change the colour values. Something caused them to change but I don't know what that something was.
Ok, but I didn't do any of those things. I never went in and changed the colour numbers. There are over 30+ different colours in my document and ALL the colour numbers changed to a darker/muddier version of each colour. This happened at some point while the file was sitting idle and I was working in Photoshop. I don't know how else to phrase it except to say I did not go in and edit the colour numbers. I did not touch anything in Illustrator while the file was idle. That's why I was asking if it could have happened from pressing a hot key or shortcut by accident. I understand that you are explaining how illustrator colour editing functions work but if I did not edit the colours and we've also established the colours can't change by themselves, what other possibilities are left?
Yesterday a warning came up at the bottom of my Illustration window about Pantone colour palettes. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything.
A new version of Illustrator also became available for me yesterday so I installed the new version and the Pantone message didn't appear again.
While I couldn't replicate the same issue with the same layers from that file, I did continue working on my project in a new window and the issue happened again for this new file with different, newly created layers. These layers were clip art illustrations where as the previous file was pattern layers. As a preventative measure I wrote the colour values/numbers next to each layer to keep a record of the original colour numbers/values and they had changed while I was working on the file. I worked on that file for 8hrs yesterday, saving as I went along. I took a break twice (around 1hr each time). I notice the change after 8hrs. I had also saved a skeleton file initially of the first few layers I created that I would be working with and making variations of, when I compare the two files I can also visibly notice the changes in colour. The colour values/numbers I wrote matches the skeleton file version but did not match the colours of the layers from the file that I worked on for 8 hours.
I replaced all the colours of the layers in this file to the original colours and copied and pasted the layers into a new file. (Just in case the file was corrupted (I don't know...I'm just clutching at straws at the moment)).
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