Placing EPS affects colours

[Psychrome]

Hello, I have an EPS file which looks great when I open it (in RGB). However, if I try to place it in a document the colours change, almost as if I am switching it to CMYK, which I'm not. I want to place a bunch of different EPS files using a spreadsheet but the colours are not right. I have gone through all the different colour settings but nothing seems to make any difference, I cannot get the colours to line up. Any ideas?

Here the left is what I want but the right is what I am getting. ☹️ Many thanks.

[Srishti Bali]

Hi @Psychrome,

I apologize for the inconvenience. Could you please share the file and a screenshot of the color settings? This will help us identify the issue and assist you better.

If the file is confidential, you can upload it to Creative Cloud or a similar service like Dropbox and share the link via DM.

Regards,

Srishti

[Monika Gause]

Are you sure they are in RGB mode? If those have been saved in Illustrator, then you can actually have 2 color modes in them: there can be the AI part of the file in RGB and then the EPS part of the file in CMYK. The CMYK part is used when placing them. The AI part is ued when opening them.

So you might get a better result when opening them, coyp the artwork and then pasting it in your new file.

[Psychrome]

Hey, thanks. This definitely sounds like it could be the problem because they look perfect when opened but not when placed. Unfortunately, it is not possible to open and copy them. I am trying to create a lot of different files using a spreadsheet which means I can assemble them all quickly but doing it manually will take far too long. Ideally I want to use EPS so I have full control over the vectors in the final file. I could do it with PNGs which will make the colours correct but not give me that control. So if this is the problem could it be possible to place them using the RGB part? Many thanks.

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

You need to resave them first without the option "Include CMYK PostScript in RGB Files"

You can create an action and use Batch for that.

Or save them in a more modern file format as PDF or AI

[Psychrome]

In order to create the files I am using the multi exporter script to export layers. To reassemble the parts I am using the variable importer script. I first tried with SVGs which exported ok but wouldn't import. I tried with EPS but have this colour problem. I've just checked and the only other vector options are PDF and FXG - I tried a quick test and PDF seems to work as I want it to so many, many thanks! 🙏

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear that PDF worked.

[Monika Gause]

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@Psychrome  schrieb:

Ideally I want to use EPS so I have full control over the vectors in the final file. 

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As for the process, see Ton's answer.

You do not need EPS for the purpose of having vector files. AI is a vector file and using PDF you will have the same result.

You only need EPS if you want to be able to send the files to very old devices such as plotters. Or if your process depends on the crop areas in the files. But I'm not sure if those crop areas survive the resaving process which you need to do now.

[Ton Frederiks]

If you check in your Color Setttings the boxes that will warn for profile mismatches, it will give a choice when placing the files.