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Eyedropper tool not working correctly outside Illustrator

Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

I know how to grab colors from a web page or whatever on my computer to use as fill in Illustrator. However, for some reason, now Illustrator will ONLY grab colors from my task bar at the bottom of the screen. It won't grab from webpages, my desktop, pictures, etc. 

 

When I'm trying to grab a color, I see the eyedropper, but the color never changes in the fill box in Illustrator. It always just stays white or black and will then turn my image white or black. If I go down to the task bar, it has no problem grabbing colors from the Firefox logo or the Illustrator logo. Any advice?

 

Edited to add: I just noticed I can also grab colors from my File Explorer, but still not from any websites.

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Draw and design , Performance , Tools
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correct answers 2 Correct answers

New Here , Jan 21, 2022 Jan 21, 2022

On Mac OS, go to:

  • System Preferences
    • Security and Privacy
      • Screen Recording

Make sure Adobe Illustrator has the checkbox enable.

Regards,

 

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New Here , Aug 19, 2023 Aug 19, 2023

If you have this problem on PC and it won't let you sample anything from the browser, it's most likely because you have hardware acceleration on in your settings. Turn it off and it will work fine!

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Adobe Employee ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Hi Shena,

 

Thanks for reaching out. I found a similar discussion on the Eyedropper Tool. Please click on the link below to refer to the discussion:

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/sampling-colors-outside-of-illustrator/td-p/9692889

 

Let us know if this helps or if you need any further assistance.

 

Regards

Rishabh

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Hi Rishabh,

 

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, I had already read that discussion and this does not answer my question. I can't get colors to show up anywhere except my bottom task bar.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

double click your eyedropper... check if your settings are as you like.

Screen Shot 2020-01-24 at 14.45.07.jpg

maaaaybe something there

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Thanks for trying...they're all the same as yours.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

and are you sure to drag out ?

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Yeah, I don't let go of the mouse at all. It's so weire because I can get the colors from the task bar without any problem. It's just from everywhere else that it just stays white or black.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Try holding down the Shift key while dragging the Eyedropper outside the Illustrator window.

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Unfortunately, that didn't help either.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

Which system? Catalina?

Did you allow Illustrator to record your screen?

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but I'll answer to the best of my ability. I'm running Windows 10. I'm not sure how to have illustrator record my screen. 

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Community Expert ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

This is a permission issue specifically with Mac OS. I don't think Windows 10 is affected (yet).

 

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 24, 2020 Jan 24, 2020

I see...thank you for trying!

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New Here ,
Jan 21, 2022 Jan 21, 2022

On Mac OS, go to:

  • System Preferences
    • Security and Privacy
      • Screen Recording

Make sure Adobe Illustrator has the checkbox enable.

Regards,

 

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New Here ,
Apr 01, 2022 Apr 01, 2022

This helped me solve the issue!! Thank you so so much!

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New Here ,
Aug 19, 2023 Aug 19, 2023

If you have this problem on PC and it won't let you sample anything from the browser, it's most likely because you have hardware acceleration on in your settings. Turn it off and it will work fine!

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Explorer ,
Jan 20, 2025 Jan 20, 2025

you are great

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New Here ,
Jan 21, 2025 Jan 21, 2025
LATEST

THNX!!! It's worked

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