Spot color changing to CMYK, conflicting info in dock & panel

[jenwardacc]

This is a twofold issue. One is about the color changing and the other is about the UI displaying conflicting color information in the dock and panel.

I applied the spot color swatch White_Ink to an object and Illustrator converted it to CMYK. What's even weirder is that the swatch icon in the dock shows it as a spot, and the panel displays it as it would a process swatch but the icon at left doesn't have the white corner to show that it's a swatch.

It shouldn't matter but I'm applying this swatch using an action (and have used it successfully many times in the past). There's nothing else in the action that affects the color other than changing the tint to 70%. I tried replicating the issue using the action but when I did it behaved properly. I am 100% certain I never changed the object from spot to to CMYK manually.

I tried applying the swatch to a new object manually and it left it as a spot, but again the dock says spot and the panel says CMYK.

This is really weird. Has anyone else had this issue?

[marliton]

Hi. Which panel say that White_Ink is CMYK? The icon with the spot below the percentage in the color panel says it's a spot color. 

[jenwardacc]

I realized my confusion about the swatches...I forgot that the Color panel never shows the named swatch icon. So that's not an issue. I will amend my post 

But there's still the other issue that I applied a spot color swatch to the object and it somehow got converted to CMYK.

[innovative_adventurer5D56]

As per your screenshot, it seems that the color is spot not CMYK.

In seprartion preview, you will not see white corner to show that it's a swatch, but go to swatch panel, select the object and you will see if it spot with white corner or not.

[jenwardacc]

I wish I could edit the post because I was mistaken about the second part of my question (see comment above), but there's still the matter of the object that was set to a spot color somehow changing to CMYK not associated with a swatch.

[Ton Frederiks]

A spot color can have any color mode, cmyk, Lab and so on.

As long a the printer knows how to mix the inks to print the spot it will be fine.

[jenwardacc]

I know that, my issue is that a spot color somehow got changed to CMYK so I was wondering if this is an issue that anyone else has encountered. I'm certain I didn't change it.

[Ton Frederiks]

In your screendumps the spot is still spot.

Can you see it as a separate plates in the Separations Preview?

[Met1]

I print color over white ink all the time, just curious why your White_Ink is that cmyk mix. Mine is always 100% Magenta just so that it is highly visible. (btw my White_Ink is a spot even though the "color" is 0,100,0,0) 

[jenwardacc]

I have no idea. I always set it up as magenta as well but for some reason in this template my coworker used a cmyk blend. Functionally it still works since it's still a spot color, but I agree it's weird and not as visible.

[Mike_Gondek]

The folded corner only shows in swatches panels. It adds a dot in the corner when it is a spot. Has been that way for as long as I can remember.

[jenwardacc · Accepted solution]

The reason I wrote this post in the first place was a spot object changing into CMYK. I only questioned the way the swatch looked in the panel because I was trying to troubleshoot the primary issue and had a brain fart. As I said in other comments, I'm aware that nothing is wrong there.

Since everyone is responding to the swatch question and nobody is addressing the issue that was the reason for my post, I'm going to mark this solved so as not to waste everyone's time. The more people comment about the swatches the less likely they are to see my comments acknowleding that the swatch is a non-issue and reiterating my actual issue, and I don't want to keep explaining it.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

[innovative_adventurer5D56]

i said about the swatch becuase from there you can check that the color is spot or swatch easily.

anyways, i still see that your color is spot not CMYK and no problem.

wish you the best

[jenwardacc]

That's because that's not the object that converted to CMYK. I only used it to illustrate the other issue that I momentarily perceived as an issue but is not.