Adobe Illustrator for Windows - Present hex color code different than the original swatch name

Author

Present hex color code different than the original swatch name

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Hi,

I'd like to document the colours that I'm using for a project.

When I started working on the project, I named my swatches using the hexadecimal code of the colour.

Now when I select a swatch and it opens in the Color Picker, the hexadecimal code is always slightly different than what I originally named the swatch.

I guess it's possible that along the way I changed the color a bit and forgot to rename them, but it hardly seems possible that I would have done so for all of the 30 swatches. (It might be the case, but it just seems strange as I'm usually very meticulou
s).

Does anybody know of any logical or obvious reason why this would happen, other than I might have changed the colours along the way and forgot to rename them?

Here are a few examples:

Original name in Swatch Options = 83B9DD
Current hex code in Color Picker = 81B7DB

Original name in Swatch Options = 988C39
Current hex code in Color Picker = 968A39

Original name in Swatch Options = C7EAF5
Current hex code in Color Picker = C5E7F3

Original name in Swatch Options = D7E0EA
Current hex code in Color Picker = D5DEE8

Original name in Swatch Options = 183655
Current hex code in Color Picker = 173655

Harron_K._Appleman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

In what color space are you working, Luciel?

If you are working in something other than sRGB but convert to sRGB on re-open, the CM system will convert all colors to "Web safe."

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Hi Harron,

Thanks for your reply. I have to admit I not very knowledgeable about CM. These are my settings in the Color Settings dialog box:

Settings: North America General Purpose 2
Working Spaces: RGB = sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1
Color Management Policies: RGB = Preserve Embedded Profiles

The document color mode is RGB.

When I open the file, I don't get any message about color conversion, etc.. and don't "knowingly" convert to something other than sRGB.

Does this give you any extra clues?

Teri Pettit

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Is it possible that at some point the document color mode was switched to CMYK and then back to RGB?

Harron_K._Appleman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Hmmm...

Looking a bit more closely at your hex codes, the changes aren't necessarily to Web Safe colors.

So, there's something else going on here, but I don't know what.

Perhaps a CM expert will see this and provide some illumination.

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Harron, you're right, the colours aren't changed to Web safe colours, thanks for your help all the same.

Terry, yes it's possible that the color mode was changed to CMYK and reverted back to RGB at some point. If so, this would change the actual colours?

Also, in View > Proof Setup, at the top it says "Working CMYK: U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2, and "Monitor RGB" is selected. Would this have anything to do with it?

Harron_K._Appleman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

...it's possible that the color mode was changed to CMYK and reverted
back to RGB at some point. If so, this would change the actual colours?

You bet.

Proof setup should only affect what you see on your monitor and shouldn't change actual document colors.

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

That's probably what happened then, as I didn't know until now that when you switch from CMYK to RGB the actual colours change. I guess I assumed that when I switched back to RGB the colours would remain the same.

Live and learn...

Thanks again.

Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Lucie,

At least you have kept the names so you can recover the colours; just switch the Color Palette to Web Safe RGB and reinsert the original hex values. Do not worry: the name is a bit outdated, and it does not downgrade the colours to the old 256 Web Safe RG
B colours.

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-23, 7:06 pm

Hi Jacob,

Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Fun, fun, fun! It's a long process due to various reasons which I won't bore you with. I agree, the name of the option "Web Safe RGB" is certainly a bit confusing as it's not correct.

LenHewitt@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 6:58 am

Folks, Folks,

PLEASE let's stop referring to Hex codes as "web-safe"!

Web-Safe went out with the Ark. Web-safe is a range of just 216 colours
that are common to the Mac and Windows 256-colour palette. Since
virtually no-one now uses monitors in 256-colour mode, web-safe has no
part whatsoever in modern work-flows.

Hex-codes are just the R,G, and B components of a 24-bit colour palette
expressed in hex rather than decimal, and has nothing whatsoever to do
with 'web-safe'

Harron_K._Appleman@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 7:03 pm

I hear you, Len, but you need to tell it to Adobe.

From the AI 12 help file:

To shift a color to a web-safe color

Web-safe colors are the 216 colors used by all browsers, regardless of the platform. If you select a color that is not web-safe, an alert cube appears in the Color palette or Color Picker.

Click the cube to shift to the closest web-safe color (which is displayed below the cube).

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 7:03 pm

Hi Len,

Thanks for following the discussion, however I don't think that anyone who posted said that hex codes are "web-safe" colours.

The last 2 comments by Jacob and I refer to the fact that in the "Swatch Options" dialog box, in the "Color Mode" drop-down, there is an option called "Web safe RGB".

The name of this option is misleading, as it's possible to choose a color that is not necessarily part of the 216 "Web-safe" palette while in this option, and also because you select hex codes here, not RGB values. What Adobe calls "Web safe RGB" is in fa
ct just Hex codes.

Teri Pettit

2006-08-24, 7:03 pm

Well, but the name isn't meant to imply that it is impossible to select colors outside the web-safe palette in that mode, if you type into the text fields. It means that the sliders jump in those chunks.

What else would you call an entry mode where the sliders jump in 66 to 99 to CC chunks, that would fit in the space available? "Hex RGB w Web Safe Slider Increments" is a bit long.

LucieL@adobeforums.com

2006-08-24, 7:04 pm

Hi Teri,

I see what you mean about the sliders. I never noticed them before, as I always just specify the hex codes by typing them in, not by using the slider.

As for naming it, that's a whole other story!