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Question

colour mismatch between illustrator & photoshop

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 28, 2024
3 replies
3824 views

Can anybody help me achieve a colour match between Photoshop & Illustrator please? I have synced colour settings via Bridge, checked matching colour profiles in both programmes, checking both using CYMK and used the same colour hexcode. The colours are still miles apart. Please see attached screenshot for reference. Any help would be appreciated!

Windows

davescm

Community Expert

Hi

A couple of things that can catch people out is that:

a. Although the application colour settings can be identical, as D Fosse mentioned above, when opening an existing document then the profile for that document will override those settings.

b. When entering Hex codes in both Photoshop and Illustrator and using a document with a CMYK profile, the hex code entered is referenced to the default RGB colour space set in colour settings for the application. It is then converted in the application to the document CMYK profile. This means that, if the RGB defaults differ (even though the documents in use may be the same CMYK profile) then the conversion will differ. Most web sources that quote Hex codes do not even show which colour space their numbers refer to, but if you set both applications to sRGB as the RGB default then it should be safe. This is a reason why Hex codes are not a magic bullet for consistent colour even within an application.

If you start out with defaults for RGB and CMYK that match and document profiles that match then colour should be displayed consistently between AI and PS.

Dave

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

@davescm you are right about Hex colour appearance being affected RGB settings, of course, but looking up the thread, it seems this may perhaps not be at the root of @Sarah27866537cpwc 's issues - since it seems like Sarah may have had her application color settings matched already (with sRGB and coated FOGRA 39 set in both applications) .

@Sarah27866537cpwc if you didn’t already have color settings that way [like your screenshots] when the error occurred please re-test now, @davescm has explained how further down this thread.

Could it be something to do with the other settings in Illustrator e.g. preserve color numbers? I wouldn’t have thought so though.

neil barstow, colourmanagement net

davescm

Community Expert

What we don't know is whether those settings were that way before the documents were created. So as a test it would be worthwhile:

a. Set the colour settings to match (with RGB set to sRGB and CMYK to Fogra39).

b. Create a new document in PS and a new document in AI, both using the Fogra39 profile

c. Create a rectangle in both and fill it with the same colour (making sure the colour is within the gamut of Fogra 39).

Both should match.

Dave

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Can you provide the two files? (edited)

D Fosse

Community Expert

Is there an embedded document profile in both and which is it?

S

Sarah27866537cpwcAuthor

Participating Frequently

Would you be able to tell me how to check that? Both of these documents
were just created as brand new test files rather than importing any
embedded graphics so they shouldn’t be affected by any embedded profiles
should they? I’m a novice so I’m not sure! I’ve always had this issue with
illustrator / photoshop. Incidentally, the colours in photoshop match
perfectly when I convert an illustrator file to PDF. So I’m assuming the
issue lies with illustrator somehow?

D Fosse

Community Expert

Always make sure there is an embedded profile! No exception. That's what defines the color. Without a profile, it's undefined and unpredictable.

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