Matching colors for print

January 14, 2009 9:53 AM

How do I make my colors print the same in Illustrator and Photoshop?

Currently we match colors twice - match one color to print from Illustrator and one to print from photoshop. It seems like a waste of time and there should be away to avoid this. Shouldn't the same CMYK value in Illustrator print the same way as that same value in Photoshop.

We have the most number of colors match for illustrator which is currently running on "Emulate Illustrator 6.0" color setting.

How do I get photoshop to run the same way?

I want to just be able to open my Illustrator palette in photoshop and eye drop the colors and have them print the same.

And be able to import files from one to the other. I mean since they are all adobe shouldn't they all be printing the same. I don't understand! Why is getting consistent color always such a PAIN!!


Oh and I am working on CS1.


Specifically right now this what I did - that isn't working.
I made a fabric swatch in Photoshop in Index Colored mode b/c its a crazy plaid and is way to big to fill bodies with. So I opened my illustrator palette in Photoshop and picked the colors from their. Saved it. Opened it in illustrator and made a swatch - and the colors print completely different than the original illustrator colors.

posted by ChloeMills to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Well, you need to set the same options in Color Settings… in both Illustrator & Photoshop.

It's no wonder they're not matching up if you're emulating the behavior of a 12-year-old version of Illustrator.

Set them both to North America General Purpose or Prepress, or Web/Internet, depending on what you're doing. Also, are you converting from RGB to CMYK (or vice versa) at some point? That'll make a big difference in how things print.
posted by designbot at 11:17 AM on January 14

Sounds like you need c onsistent CMYK workflow. Index Color is for the internet, so I'm betting what Illustrator is doing is finding a CMYK equivalent as opposed to an exact match.

Can't remember the exact mechanics of setting up consistent color in CS, it changed for CS2. Did you check the help system?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:21 AM on January 14

If you're finding yourself at a total loss as to what to do next, I'll suggest that maybe you'd find the color management series at Lynda.com helpful. It's for CS3, but quite often, the Lynda videos backtrack and mention alternatives for earlier versions.
posted by bristolcat at 12:01 PM on January 14 [2 favorites has favorites]

"Also, are you converting from RGB to CMYK (or vice versa) at some point?"

I always make sure I am working in CMYK - unless of course I working in Index color but if I am eye dropping a CMYK color for the indexed color shouldn't it stay the same!
posted by ChloeMills at 12:41 PM on January 14

"It's no wonder they're not matching up if you're emulating the behavior of a 12-year-old version of Illustrator"

The only thing that stinks about changing that is we will have to rematch all the colors - which will be a lot of work but maybe worth it in the long run. We already have most of the colors we used matched in that color profile.
posted by ChloeMills at 12:42 PM on January 14

I always make sure I am working in CMYK - unless of course I working in Index color but if I am eye dropping a CMYK color for the indexed color shouldn't it stay the same!

Indexed color in Photoshop is always RGB. You can see CMYK equivalents in the Colors pallet, but the image is still RGB.

So, if you're using the eyedropper to pick up color from a CMYK Illustrator document, using that color in an Indexed Color Photoshop document, and placing it back in Illustrator, you're converting the color at least twice.
posted by designbot at 2:10 PM on January 14

It's no wonder they're not matching up if you're emulating the behavior of a 12-year-old version of Illustrator.

"Emulate Illustrator 6.0" is Adobe's euphemism for ignoring color management in Illustrator entirely. And it's really hard to give CM advice to someone when you don't know their workflow or even what they're trying to accomplish.
posted by nathan_teske at 10:58 PM on January 14