Illustrator Randomly Changing Colours + Swatch Values

[VonBronze]

I've encounted a stange issue in illustrator.

I'm working in a file and the colours are randonly shifting. Not just visually on the monitor. But the colour values within the swatches too.  Illustrator 27.9, windows. 

Screenshots from versions of the same file. All are open simultaneously so this seems to be file specific.

V3 is the original.  (Yellow = #FFF200)
V4 is where the issue was first noticed (Yellow = #FFD000)

V5 is a new file this morning, trying to restore the work and now the colours have shifted again. (Now Yellow = #FFE700)

The V3 yellow matches the yellow when you open a new file: I'm working on an A3 sheet but set the template to RGB.

The file has not changed to CYMK.  
Colour mode still shows RGB
Colour Settings are the same across all files.

No proofing has been activated.

Anyone else had this issue? Anyone know how to restore these?

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @VonBronze,

I’m sorry to hear about the color shifting issue you’re experiencing in Illustrator. It sounds frustrating! I recommend updating to version 29.0 to see if that resolves the problem. Sometimes, updates include fixes for bugs that may affect performance. Please let us know if you continue to face this issue after the update!

If you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask.​

best,

Anshul Saini

[Ton Frederiks]

Those swatches come from a CMYK document profile, but somehow the document color mode has changed to RGB.

This can happen during the creation of a new document when a Print preset is chosen and the color mode is changed to RGB. The swatches keep their CMYK name but are converted to RGB.

When you create a new document after that, it will be based upon your last creation, so it will be an RGB document with converted CMYK swatches.

[VonBronze]

Thanks for the replies. 

The file was created as an A3 document, but with the RGB colour mode selected.  I appriate that it creates converted CYMK swatches in RGB values.  I've used this process before many times without any problems.

However the issue is that the swatches and values have changed whilst the file is being worked on - without any changes to the document profile/colour settings.   V3 & V4 both contain the same gradient. But in V4 it's drastically different, both visually and numerically.

Opening the files in Illustrator V29 retains these adjustments.  Like they're now embedded.  Is there a way to restore the colours to the default?

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you check the Document Color Profile? Is it the same RGB as in your Color Settings?

You can check if the Document Color Profile is the same as the Working RGB from your Color Settings in the Edit > Assign Profile... dialog. 

Changes in the Document Color Profile can happen when an image is drag and dropped into the document

[Linda.R.Smith]

@Ton Frederiks Thank you, I believe the I was having the same issue and syncing the color settings may have fixed it.  🤞

To be honest, working with Adobe applications my entire career (early 90's), though, I've tried to use/integrate Bridge into my workflow at times, I never thought there was or is any benefit to Bridge. I often wonder why universal color settings doesn't simply reside somewhere as a stand alone within Adobe Cloud. I would also think it would be beneficial if the color/swatch panel(s) might show a warning icon that you could simply select the warning icon to launch (currently Bridge to fix it).   

Linda

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, Linda, I don't think Color Management gets much love lately.