Color Picker on Latest version of Illustrator

[stwoods]

Hi all! I've been trying to figure out how to get the color picker in Illustrator to work properly. I open some artwork, open color picker, and I am not able to change any one of the colors. Moving the color wheel doesn't do anything to the image. Am I missing a prerequisite step? Does it only work with certain types of files/images?

Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Seems like a cool tool and would like to be able to use it properly.

Thanks

[tromboniator · Accepted solution]

You have not said what sort of image you are trying to change. If it's a raster image, such as a .jpg or .png, then Illustrator is not the right tool for the job — try Photoshop. If it's a vector image, such as .ai or .svg,  check in the Layers panel (Window menu > Layers) to see if some or all of the layers or paths are locked.

So, yes, it only works on certain files, primarily those actually built in Illustrator and saved in native format.

Peter