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rafaëlt10669357
Participant
May 27, 2023
Answered

Cannot find how to change a swatch

  • May 27, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 541 views

So I have something quite weird going on. I received an old in design file from the client. In the file, there is a link to file that contains a special spot, channel. Somehow, the previous designer managed to assign a specific swatch colour to that channel. And what happens now is that I cannot find, for the life of me, how to change the colour. I have searched dozens of articles, and I can't even find a single one that explains how you can even do that (assign a particular colour in InDesign to a colour channel). So I am stumped. Does anyone have any idea? 

 

If I double-click on the swatch in the swatches panels, I see the following thing. As you can see, most options are just greyed out and there's nothing I can do to change it. 

 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer rob day

Hi @rafaëlt10669357 , When you place an object or image containing a Spot Color, the color is automatically added to your Swatches panel and the swatch is not editable as long as the placed file or files are in the document.

 

To change the Spot color definition you can either temporarily delete all instances of placed files containing the Spot color, which will allow you to edit the color. Once the color is edited you can Place the files again and the color appearance will use the new definition. Here I have Placed a Grayscale .PSD with a Spot Channel—note the Color Space in Link Info:

 

If I remove the placed .PSD the color is editable:

 

 

Replacing the .PSD:

 

 

An alternative option is to setup a new Spot Color with the color definition you want and use Ink Manager to use the new color as an Alias. Note that you have to have Overprint Preview turned on to get the Alias color preview:

 

3 replies

Lukas Engqvist
Community Expert
Lukas EngqvistCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 27, 2023

If you have a spot colour imported from another document you cannot edit its appearance in InDesign. If you create a Spot colour in InDesign then you can choose the values in RGB, CMYK, LAB etc You can use Separations Preview to see what spot colours you have. Spot colours are normally possible to change at the printer. (Rob explained better than me and with images)

If you must change the colour you can create a new spot colour in InDesign (eg MyGold) and define it as you want it to appear, then use the Ink Manager to map your existing spot colour to alias, and then select the colour you have defined (MyGold)

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 27, 2023

Hi @rafaëlt10669357 , When you place an object or image containing a Spot Color, the color is automatically added to your Swatches panel and the swatch is not editable as long as the placed file or files are in the document.

 

To change the Spot color definition you can either temporarily delete all instances of placed files containing the Spot color, which will allow you to edit the color. Once the color is edited you can Place the files again and the color appearance will use the new definition. Here I have Placed a Grayscale .PSD with a Spot Channel—note the Color Space in Link Info:

 

If I remove the placed .PSD the color is editable:

 

 

Replacing the .PSD:

 

 

An alternative option is to setup a new Spot Color with the color definition you want and use Ink Manager to use the new color as an Alias. Note that you have to have Overprint Preview turned on to get the Alias color preview:

 

    R
    rafaëlt10669357Author
    Participant
    May 30, 2023

    Thank you so much! This was driving me nuts. Because indeed, I tried placing the logo in another file, and the colour appeared just fine there, but that one document kept bugging me. 

    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Peter SpierCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 27, 2023

    I'm not clear on what you want to do.

    First off, InDesing doesn't have color "channels" so I'm guessing the channel must be in a linked Photoshop image or something similar. If you need to redefine the channel, you do it in the linked image -- select the image, then right click and Edit original...

    That spot color seems to be for the application of gold ink. Gold is not a color that renders on screen terribly well, but more to the point it looks like the original designer chose a red color to represent it so it woukld stand out clearly in the design sop they would know where it is being applied (color defintions of spot colors are essentially irrelevant -- they porduce their own plate for printing and use whatever color ink the pressman loads).

    We could use a lot more information here. At the bare minimum a screen capture of the page where this spot color appears, what you are trying to accomplish, and perhaps a capture of the attributes panel with the linked image selected.

    If you are able to share the file (and linked file) that would be even better.

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