How to change colors with vector images?

[shannonm33467233]

I purchased a vector/pdf design. I ungrouped but unfortunately with this design, I can't get the colors of the images to change. It's so bizarre. I believe they have some mask on them but when I click isolate mask or release mask then the puzzle image turns into a solid color not the image. And, I still can't change the color. The image also has an outline color that isn't a stroke that I really need to change but I can't either. Any ideas on how to get these colors to change? It's so weird.

[Monika Gause]

Did you download this from Adobe Stock?

Because if so, this would need to be taken care of.

[shannonm33467233]

I purchased this vector from Shutterstock. I typically don't have any issues that's why I was at a lost as to why I can't change the colors.

[Bobby Henderson]

Stock outlets like iStock and Shutterstock often have options to download the artwork in other file types like .EPS and .AI. You might want to check to see if you can download the same piece of artwork in another format. An EPS or AI file might open without so many issues. Since you already purchased the image you might be able to download it in another file type without being charged anything extra.

[Warren Heaton · Accepted solution]

Taking a closer look at you're screenshot from earlier, it's obvious why you can't change the color with Illustrator's vector tools: it's based on a clipped image. (This was noted a few times earlier in this thread.)

I see two ways to address this:

One:  Undo the Clip Group; delete the image (or hide it); set the Fill of the path to Gradient and then use the Gradient Tool to recreate a gradient with the color desired.  Or,

Two:  Target the "<Image>" object, copy and paste that to Photoshop (creating a new PS document based on the Clipboard); use Hue/Saturation in PS to change the color; copy and Paste in Front or Paste in Back to Illustrator (as long as the target is still set to "<Image>" in the Layers Panel it should go into the Clip Group just above or just below the "<Image>" object); nudge the edited raster into place inside of the Clip Group.

Either should work.

-Warren

[Monika Gause]

shannonm33467233  schrieb

I purchased this vector from Shutterstock. I typically don't have any issues that's why I was at a lost as to why I can't change the colors.

It might make sense to complain to them about this file. Tell them how much time you've lost with the file. Their file checkers probably just count how much open paths there are and don't care much about anything else.

It has probably been created with Inkscape (I have seen this happen with Inkscape files).

[Bobby Henderson]

I'm suspicious this file was not saved as an Illustrator-friendly PDF. If the stuff is all pure vector-based artwork with normal gradient fills there should not be a bunch of masked objects and clipping groups.

PDFs can be an enormous pain to edit, especially if they were not generated by Adobe Illustrator and saved with the "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" option checked in the Save Adobe PDF dialog box. When PDFs are saved to conserve on file size for things like web-based viewing and backward compatibility with all sorts of older or off brand PDF viewers all sorts of awful garbage can be introduced into the artwork.

For instance, a single Illustrator object with a gradient fill may end up as multiple objects held in one or more clipping masks in the PDF. The gradient will have its own box with the original vector-based fill. Or it might even get rasterized into a pixel-based object if certain effects were applied to it. The original object may have one or more redundant copies of itself featuring no fill or outline stroke. That's in addition to the actual clipping mask. Rectangle objects can be converted into open 2 point paths with a line stroke applied. A complex drawing can quickly turn in a giant mess when saved in PDF. Every group, clipping group, clipping mask and anything else hiding in there has to be un-grouped, released and laid bare for careful policing and clean-up. It's like doing a complex artwork audit and careful artwork surgery all at the same time.

Redundant objects with no fill and no stroke are no big deal when being printed. They're invisible. But they are a HAZARD if you're sending graphics to a vinyl cutter or a routing table. Every redundant, invisible object sitting on top of each other will be cut. I've seen seen vinyl cutters cut completely through the sheet of roll vinyl and create a wadded up mess of garbage in the plotter. All sorts of bad things can happen on a routing table. It's pretty infuriating.

This doesn't get into the "Messy Marvin" tendencies of some graphics people; I've received plenty of straight .AI files where the designer went nuts with the nested clipping masks. Or maybe he just placed some PDF elements he received from someone else.

I strongly recommend Astute Graphics' Vector First Aid plug-in. It's not a 100% perfect solution. But it can spot a bunch of those hazards in PDF artwork and at least get it into a condition where it's much easier to figure out what's what in the file so it can actually be edited.

[Warren Heaton]

BobbyH5280  wrote

saved with the "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" option checked in the Save Adobe PDF dialog box

Bobby, you share some great points to think about, but I have a quick thought on one of them: If one wants to edit a PDF later with Illustrator's full feature set then "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" is ideally enabled during the save process.  It makes for a more complex PDF file, but that's exactly what an Illustrator user at any level should want.  Experienced users will know what to do with it right away, intermediate users will figure it out quickly, and beginners will have something to learn from (as well as be able to edit) after reaching out to experienced and intermediate users.

[shannonm33467233]

Warren,

I followed your instrustions and went into the layers panel. If I hide the image with the color I was able to finally go in and change the colors and I took the colors into another document to figure out the CMYK colors. It took forever to figure out this "puzzle" but I appreciate everyone's help.

[Warren Heaton]

Good news!

We had pieces of the right answer all along in this thread.  I think it was just a matter of giving you the right direction to take.

[q3player]

So you may create a new object with gradient fill and replace the clipped images.