Inspiring

Answered

change color of imported Ai graphics inside Indesign

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
January 19, 2017
4 replies
15005 views

Hello, when i import some vector graphics AI file inside indesign, how could i change its color inside indesign please?

I was searching all over the internet but without any solution yet...

Please help me.

Correct answer Steve Werner

That's because there isn't any way to edit an Illustrator file in InDesign. You need to edit it in Illustrator. If it's a linked graphic, you can use Edit Original to open it in Illustrator. Save the change and it will be updated in InDesign.

J

jeanandreghetto

Participant

So, if I want to change color or size I must edit the original?

I was guessing I just hadn't worked with it for too long, but it seems it's really limited on what you can do with it. If you can't change vector colors and neither resize vectors easily it seems, for some projetcs, its easier to just do it all on Illustrator, even though illustrator doesn't have all the facing pages printing possibilities. Or does it?

Indesign feels a bit of an oddball in the graphic design tem of Adobe CC.

J

jeanandreghetto

Participant

Copy and paste worked for me. Thanks a lot @jmlevy!

Nevertheless the integration isn't seamless as it is with Photoshop or the rest of the suite. I've had problems with it back on CS3 (around 8 years ago) and them problems persist. Isn't it in it's basis a vector software like Illustrator?

rob day

Community Expert

Isn't it in it's basis a vector software like Illustrator?

Yes, the two application’s features overlap, but their capabilities are not the same. You would run into problems trying to create complex vector drawings and illustrations with InDesign, and there would be problems if you tried to layout a complex magazine or book with Illustrator.

TᴀW

Legend

It is actually possible to use ink aliases in InDesign to change the colour (on output) of anything in the AI graphic that uses Pantone colours as well. See, e.g., https://creativepro.com/alias-one-color-swatch-to-another/

Sometimes this can be useful, especially for automated workflows.

If you're working manually on a file, though, probably the best is to Edit Original, as @Steve Werner mentioned.

id-extras.com | InDesign tools & scripts for typesetters, form designers, and translators

Manju_M

Participant

Is there a format you can save it in so you can change the colour in Indesign?

jmlevy

Community Expert

Not for vector files.

Manju_M

Participant

I mean for Illustrator files?

Steve Werner

Correct answer

Community Expert

That's because there isn't any way to edit an Illustrator file in InDesign. You need to edit it in Illustrator. If it's a linked graphic, you can use Edit Original to open it in Illustrator. Save the change and it will be updated in InDesign.

OFFICER#88Author

Inspiring

Ok, thank you for your reply. I work with indesign long time and i found that it would be great some time to be able to tweak some changes inside indesign as this one. I know about images imported from photoshop as bitmap greyscale color space into indesign where i am able to change color as saturation sort of thing... This works but vector graphics aren't able to change color.

Ofcourse88

Steve Werner

Community Expert

Vector files have much more complex formatting than a grid of pixels. I don't think you're likely to ever be able to do that in InDesign.

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