PNG colours turning dull when embedded

[Annabel_Senior3756]

I've never has this issue until the recent Illustrator update, but whenever i embed a PNG it makes the colours dull and washed out. I have found a fix, which is unticking "convert to sRGB" when exporting as a PNG from Photoshop. However, this doesn't solve the problem for other product images that i use on a regular basis, that were created long before the new update that are now effected. I'd have to re-export every single image to solve the problem and there's hundreds of images.

I've attached an image, the one on the left is before embedding, the one on the right is after embedding.

[Bobby Henderson]

It sounds like you're embedding the PNG images into a CMYK document. When images are linked they'll maintain their own color model. When images are embedded they get converted to the document's color. CMYK has a more narrow gamut range than RGB. That's why the colors change to a more dull appearance when the image is embedded.

[Annabel_Senior3756]

Thank for your reply. I did think this was the case, however it's never been an issue until the recent update 😞

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Annabel_Senior3756,

Could you try installing an earlier version of Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/3GYtpIU) to check if it helps resolve the problem?

If yes, kindly share a link to a sample file along with screenshots of how the files look in both versions of Illustrator, so I can check it with the product team.

Note: While sharing the file, kindly make the link public and enable the option to Save a Copy/Download under Link Settings (if available).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Annabel_Senior3756]

Hi Anubhav,

Thanks for your reply. I've tested your recommendation, and found that i don't have the issue in the older verison (29.4), but it's still present in the update (29.5). Please see below for images/links 🙂

newest version (29.5):

https://assets.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:1b4cf5cf-80dc-47b8-8141-074008e98cd6?view=difile

older version (29.4):

https://assets.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:d4c5ad05-43da-4768-9017-777ad536c9f7?view=difile

[Liesel2025]

I am having this exact same issue! Never had the problem before in previous versions of Illustrator, but with the newest update, it is dulling all my embedded images. Let me know if you find a solution! For now, I am going to just use an older version of Illustrator, but would love Adobe to fix this if possible!

[Ton Frederiks]

Placing RGB images in a CMYK document will always show them as their converted CMYK version.

Linked RGB images may look as CMYK in the Illustrator file, but can be kept as RGB in a PDF.

Embedded RGB images will always be converted to CMYK in an Illustrator CMYK document.