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A
Anonymous
December 2, 2011
Answered

Why does my color swatches disappear randomly?

  • December 2, 2011
  • 4 replies
  • 100188 views

I have a MAC and use CS4.

Sometimes when I use illustrator my color swatches are there and easy to access, change colors or values....blahlblahblah

Other times I have no color swatches in my color window, and no slider bars in the color slider window (No values can be adjusteded/ no bars to adjust)

Only if I use the drop bar on the color box(top right) and change to CYMK or RGB, can I change the color.

This is a bit annoying seeing that I cant figure it out why this happens.

I would show you guys a screen shot, but like i said it only happens randomly.......

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Monika Gause

    When you open a pixel image or PDF or EPS instead of an Illustrator file or instead of creating a new file, there won't be any swatches.

    4 replies

    prathibhaprabs
    prathibhaprabs
    Participant
    July 26, 2017

    Under "Show more workspaces and options" select "Painting"

    this will enable the "swatches tab" at the top-right- corner

    B
    Beckie L
    Participant
    May 13, 2016

    hey guys, why the color swatches I created last time I used illustrator disappeared this time I opened it, I need them to paint!!!do I need to do extra saving job every time I create color swatch(s), if so how to do that?

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 13, 2016

    徐珉36656005 schrieb:

    hey guys, why the color swatches I created last time I used illustrator disappeared this time I opened it, I need them to paint!!!do I need to do extra saving job every time I create color swatch(s), if so how to do that?

    Save the swatches as a library or into a new document profile

    skimball22
    skimball22
    Participant
    September 16, 2015

    I also discovered that if you have a bunch of swatches that you've created that aren't showing up, if you click on one (it's name then appeared) then hit "New Swatch" (and the name shows up in that panel), then hit "OK", all the missing swatches reappear in the swatch palette. PS, none of this had started happening until I created a pattern swatch that used placed TIFFs. Happy swatching!

      Monika Gause
      Community Expert
      Monika GauseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      December 2, 2011

      When you open a pixel image or PDF or EPS instead of an Illustrator file or instead of creating a new file, there won't be any swatches.

        K
        karenf1
        Known Participant
        October 7, 2012

        This is great - but then how do you get the swatches back? I had a photo in the page and am now creating regular vector boxes but can't find a way to display the swatches! I've tried the pull down, tried show color swatches, show all swatches - but nothing happens no matter what i do.

        Many thanks for your help!

          Monika Gause
          Community Expert
          Monika GauseCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 7, 2012

          Load a library into your file. See manual on how to use (swatches) libraries

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