Why are my objects turning to grayscale when using color picker?

[noah_5131]

I am so frustrated with the color picker. I look on the Internet for solutions to fix the grayscale and they say to make sure you are in RGB mode, which I am. The video shows that I am in RGB with the color window open. I also uninstalled and reinstalled, and that didn't fix the problem either. Can anyone help me please? I'm on a MacBook Pro 2024 with the latest version of Illustrator (29.5.1).

[Monika Gause]

There is a gradient applied to the petals, right?

What is the goal? What are you using the color picker for?

[noah_5131]

Yes, in the video, I was using the color picker on the gradient of a petal. Usually, the object's color doesn't turn gray if I deselect the color picker tool before pressing 'OK'.

On another note, I think the color picker is trying to grab the color beneath the 'OK' button. Is that why it's turning gray?

[noah_5131]

Here's another video. This time, I am grabbing colors from a petal that is a mesh. You see how the anchor points of the mesh turn gray when I don't deselect the color picker tool before pressing 'OK'? 

[Monika Gause]

I don't really understand why you are opening the color picker at all. In order to change these colors of the mesh, just use the eyedropper tool. Hold down Shift while picking up colors from a gradient or another mesh.

[noah_5131 · Accepted solution]

Okay thanks for the tip. I'm not seeing the grayscale issue come up with your method. But going back to the previous method I was using; those colors turning into gray does not make sense at all.