Photoshop vs. Illustrator color profiles
Since there are alot of designer types and icon afficianados around here, I figured this may be a good place to ask this question.
I have this simple vector icon I'm working with. It's an Illustrator EPS file, RGB color palette, sRGB profile. I have a Photoshop document that I'm trying to Place the icon file into. Same profile and setup on the Photoshop doc (sRGB). Yet when I place the image, the colors look like crap compared to the original Illustrator file. The colors are far less saturated, looking gray and muddy compared to the vibrant green I used in the Illustrator version.
Is this just one of those annoyances of transferring from Illustrator to Photoshop, needing correction after the image is placed in the destination PSD? Or is there something I'm doing wrong, and should I be able to Place an eps into a Photoshop doc and have the colors match?
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inkblot on Apr 13, 2007
The only time that happens to me is when I try to place an eps or "Smart Vector" into a PSD that has funky settings...
What mode are you working in on the PSD?? Does the layer you are dropping it on have any wierd effects active, etc.?
mcd on Apr 13, 2007
No effects or anything. I've even tried just starting with a blank new document.
mcd on Apr 13, 2007
Here's what I'm dealing with: http://www.roboticblue.com/random/color_variations.jpg
In that screen grab, you can see the original illustrator file on the right, placed into a blank photoshop doc on the left. Going from Illustrator to Photoshop, I'm losing a ton of saturation.
wotan on Apr 13, 2007
Be sure to use sRGB or RGB - don't mix these two for screen purpose. It doesn't make a difference in printing but on the screen. The colors are exactly the same but have a different gamut range. Which means the same color looks somehow unsaturated in the sRGB space.
mcd on Apr 13, 2007
I've tried a bunch of color settings, with no luck. I'm stumped.
I got advice in a forum to use the Bridge to sync up my color management settings, with no luck.
I've noticed that When I place the eps into the Photoshop document, I can eyedrop the colors in the psd and use those RGB values to convert the eps to match, and the two documents then look identical. So it seems like somewhere in the procrss of Placing the eps into the psd, the colors are getting altered.
mattdetails on Apr 13, 2007
are you dragging and dropping from illustrator or are you saving and opening?
Just wondering - it sounds like your dragging/dropping - but I could be wrong - and I'm not sure this relates but I figure I would ask the question to prevent from this dragging on any longer for you.
mcd on Apr 13, 2007
I've been using the Place command. Not sure if it does any differently to drag/drop or copy/paste, but I'll give it a try.
360mcclure on Apr 13, 2007
I haven't experienced that. Generally I cut from Illustrator and paste into Photoshop. Colors stay the same. The colors I use in Illustrator are Hex values, and hold true in Photoshop. You might check color values in Illustrator and PSD and see if they are the same. If they are, then maybe you have different color profiles associated with PSD than with AI. Good luck.
mattdetails on Apr 13, 2007
is there any way you could post the icon you had in that screenshot so we could all try and trial/error it and hopefully we'll together come up with a solution?
If not, thats cool.
mcd on Apr 14, 2007
Cut and Paste seems to be the solution. Not sure why, but apparently using the Place command alters the colors, while Cutand Paste does not. It's weird... Place puts the Illustrator image in the PSD as a Smart Vector object, just like Paste does, yet it handles the image differently.
I don't quite understand it, but at least I have a solution.
Thanks for the help, guys!
extrarice on Apr 14, 2007
Make sure your Photoshop working spaces are using the same profiles as Illustrator, and it's color management policies is to preserve embedded profiles. Then make sure Photoshop's "Proof Setup" option (under the View menu in Photoshop 7 ((what I have)) ) is set to that working space, not any other "preview" spaces (like Macintosh RGB, etc.) Color calibration is a nightmare... O_O