User Guide Cancel

Use and create swatches

Search
Illustrator

Illustrator

Open on web
  1. Illustrator User Guide
  2. Get to know Illustrator
    1. Introduction to Illustrator
      1. What's new in Illustrator
      2. Common questions
      3. Illustrator system requirements
      4. Illustrator for Apple silicon
      5. GPU performance
    2. Workspace
      1. Workspace basics
      2. Create documents
      3. Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
      4. Accelerate workflows using the Contextual Task Bar
      5. Toolbar
      6. Default keyboard shortcuts
      7. Customize keyboard shortcuts
      8. Introduction to artboards
      9. Manage artboards
      10. Customize the workspace
      11. Properties panel
      12. Set preferences
      13. Touch Workspace
      14. Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
      15. Undo edits and manage design history
      16. Rotate view
      17. Rulers, grids, and guides
      18. Accessibility in Illustrator
      19. View artwork
      20. Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
      21. Files and templates
    3. Tools in Illustrator
      1. Tools at a glance
      2. Select tools
        1. Selection
        2. Direct Selection
        3. Group Selection
        4. Magic Wand
        5. Lasso
        6. Artboard
      3. Navigate tools
        1. Hand
        2. Rotate View
        3. Zoom
      4. Paint tools
        1. Gradient
        2. Mesh
        3. Shape Builder
      5. Text tools
        1. Type
        2. Type on a Path
        3. Vertical Type
      6. Draw tools
        1. Pen
        2. Add Anchor Point
        3. Delete Anchor Point
        4. Anchor Point
        5. Curvature
        6. Line Segment
        7. Rectangle
        8. Rounded Rectangle
        9. Ellipse
        10. Polygon
        11. Star
        12. Paintbrush
        13. Blob Brush
        14. Pencil
        15. Shaper
        16. Slice
      7. Modify tools
        1. Rotate
        2. Reflect
        3. Scale
        4. Shear
        5. Width
        6. Free Transform
        7. Eyedropper
        8. Blend
        9. Eraser
        10. Scissors
        11. Dimension
    4. Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
      1. Generate scenes, subjects, and icons using text prompts
      2. Generate vector patterns using text prompts
      3. Generate vector shape fills using text prompts
      4. Recolor your artwork using text prompts
    5. Quick actions
      1. Retro text
      2. Neon glow text
      3. Old school text
      4. Recolor
      5. Convert sketch to vector
  3. Illustrator on the web (beta)
    1. Illustrator on the web (beta) overview
    2. Illustrator on the web (beta) FAQ
    3. Troubleshooting issues FAQ
    4. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the web (beta)
    5. Create and combine shapes on the web
    6. Add and edit text on the web
    7. Apply colors and gradients on the web
    8. Draw and edit paths on the web
    9. Work with cloud documents on the web
    10. Invite collaborators to edit on the web
  4. Illustrator on the iPad
    1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
      1. Illustrator on the iPad overview
      2. Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
      3. System requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
      4. What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
    2. Workspace
      1. Illustrator on the iPad workspace
      2. Touch shortcuts and gestures
      3. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
      4. Manage your app settings
    3. Documents
      1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
      2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
    4. Select and arrange objects
      1. Create repeat objects
      2. Blend objects
    5. Drawing
      1. Draw and edit paths
      2. Draw and edit shapes
    6. Type
      1. Work with type and fonts
      2. Create text designs along a path
      3. Add your own fonts
    7. Work with images
      1. Vectorize raster images
    8. Color
      1. Apply colors and gradients
  5. Cloud documents
    1. Basics
      1. Work with Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Share and collaborate on Illustrator cloud documents
      3. Share documents for review
      4. Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
      5. Illustrator cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
  6. Add and edit content
    1. Drawing
      1. Drawing basics
      2. Edit paths
      3. Draw pixel-perfect art
      4. Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
      5. Draw simple lines and shapes
      6. Draw rectangular and polar grids
      7. Draw and edit flares
      8. Trace images
      9. Simplify a path
      10. Symbolism tools and symbol sets
      11. Adjust path segments
      12. Design a flower in 5 easy steps
      13. Create and edit a perspective grid
      14. Draw and modify objects on a perspective grid
      15. Use objects as symbols for repeat use
      16. Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
    2. Measurement
      1. Measure and plot dimensions
    3. 3D objects and materials
      1. About 3D effects in Illustrator
      2. Create 3D graphics
      3. Map artwork over 3D objects
      4. Create 3D Text
      5. Create 3D objects
    4. Color
      1. About color
      2. Select colors
      3. Use and create swatches
      4. Adjust colors
      5. Use the Adobe Color Themes panel
      6. Color groups (harmonies)
      7. Color Themes panel
      8. Recolor your artwork
    5. Painting
      1. About painting
      2. Paint with fills and strokes
      3. Live Paint groups
      4. Gradients
      5. Brushes
      6. Transparency and blending modes
      7. Apply stroke on an object
      8. Create and edit patterns
      9. Meshes
      10. Patterns
    6. Select and arrange objects
      1. Select objects
      2. Layers
      3. Expand, group, and ungroup objects
      4. Move, align, and distribute objects
      5. Align, arrange, and move objects on a path
      6. Snap objects to glyph
      7. Snap objects to Japanese glyph
      8. Stack objects    
      9. Lock, hide, and delete objects
      10. Copy and duplicate objects
      11. Rotate and reflect objects
      12. Intertwine objects
      13. Create realistic art mockups
    7. Reshape objects
      1. Crop images
      2. Transform objects
      3. Combine objects
      4. Cut, divide, and trim objects
      5. Puppet Warp
      6. Scale, shear, and distort objects
      7. Blend objects
      8. Reshape using envelopes
      9. Reshape objects with effects
      10. Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
      11. Work with Live Corners
      12. Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
      13. Edit clipping masks
      14. Live shapes
      15. Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
      16. Global editing
    8. Type
      1. Add text and work with type objects
      2. Reflow Viewer
      3. Create bulleted and numbered lists
      4. Manage text area
      5. Fonts and typography
      6. Convert text within images into editable text
      7. Add basic formatting to text
      8. Add advanced formatting to text
      9. Import and export text
      10. Format paragraphs
      11. Special characters
      12. Create type on a path
      13. Character and paragraph styles
      14. Tabs
      15. Find missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
      16. Arabic and Hebrew type
      17. Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
      18. Creative typography designs
      19. Scale and rotate type
      20. Line and character spacing
      21. Hyphenation and line breaks
      22. Spelling and language dictionaries
      23. Format Asian characters
      24. Composers for Asian scripts
      25. Create text designs with blend objects
      26. Create a text poster using Image Trace
    9. Create special effects
      1. Work with effects
      2. Graphic styles
      3. Appearance attributes
      4. Create sketches and mosaics
      5. Drop shadows, glows, and feathering
      6. Summary of effects
    10. Web graphics
      1. Best practices for creating web graphics
      2. Graphs
      3. SVG
      4. Slices and image maps
  7. Import, export, and save
    1. Import
      1. Place multiple files
      2. Manage linked and embedded files
      3. Links information
      4. Unembed images
      5. Import artwork from Photoshop
      6. Import bitmap images
      7. Import Adobe PDF files
      8. Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator 
      1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
    3. Save and export
      1. Save artwork
      2. Export artwork
      3. Create Adobe PDF files
      4. Adobe PDF options
      5. Use Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
      6. Collect assets and export in batches
      7. Package files
      8. Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
      9. Document info panel
  8. Printing
    1. Prepare for printing
      1. Set up documents for printing
      2. Change the page size and orientation
      3. Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
      4. Get started with large canvas
    2. Printing
      1. Overprint
      2. Print with color management
      3. PostScript printing
      4. Print presets
      5. Printer's marks and bleeds
      6. Print and save transparent artwork
      7. Trapping
      8. Print color separations
      9. Print gradients, meshes, and color blends
      10. White Overprint
  9. Automate tasks
    1. Data merge using the Variables panel
    2. Automation with scripts
    3. Automation with actions
  10. Troubleshooting 
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues
    3. Crash issues
    4. Recover files after crash
    5. Safe mode
    6. File issues
    7. Supported file formats
    8. GPU device driver issues
    9. Wacom device issues
    10. DLL file issues
    11. Memory issues
    12. Preferences file issues
    13. Font issues
    14. Printer issues
    15. Share crash report with Adobe
    16. Improve Illustrator performance

Use swatches for better management of colors, gradients, and patterns throughout your design.

Swatches are named colors, tints, gradients, and patterns. The swatches associated with a document appear in the Swatches panel. Swatches can appear individually or in groups.

Adobe Illustrator deeplink

Try it in the app
You'll get a sample file to follow along with as you learn how to use the Swatches panel.

Open Illustrator

You can open libraries of swatches from other Illustrator documents and various color systems. Swatch libraries appear in separate panels and are not saved with the document.

Note:

To learn about Pantone color libraries, check out Pantone Color Books.

The Swatches panel and swatch library panels can contain the following types of swatches:

  • Process colors: A process color is printed using a combination of the four standard process inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. By default, Illustrator defines new swatches as process colors.
  • Global process colors: A global color is automatically updated throughout your artwork when you edit it. All spot colors are global; however, process colors can be either global or local. You can identify global color swatches by the global color icon  (when the panel is in list view) or a triangle in the lower corner (when the panel is in thumbnail view).
  • Spot colors: A spot color is a premixed ink that is used instead of, or in addition to, CMYK process inks. You can identify spot-color swatches by the spot-color icon  (when the panel is in list view) or a dot in the lower corner (when the panel is in thumbnail view).
  • Gradients: A gradient is a graduated blend between two or more colors or tints of the same color or different colors. Gradient colors can be assigned as CMYK process colors, RGB colors, or a spot color. Transparency applied to a gradient stop, is preserved when the gradient is saved as a gradient swatch. The aspect-ratio and angle values of elliptical gradients (those created by adjusting the aspect ratio or angle of a radial gradient) are not saved.
  • Patterns: Patterns are repeating (tiled) paths, compound paths, text with solid fills or no fill.
  • None: The None swatch removes the stroke or fill from an object. You can’t edit or remove this swatch.
  • Registration: The registration swatch  is a built‑in swatch that causes objects filled or stroked with it to print on every separation from a PostScript printer. For example, registration marks use the Registration color so that printing plates can be aligned precisely on a press. You can’t remove this swatch.
Note:

If you use the Registration color for type, and then you separate the file and print it, the type may not register properly and the black ink may appear muddy. To avoid this, use black ink for type.

  • Swatch group: Swatch group can contain process, spot, and global process colors. They can contain both patterns or gradients. You create Swatch groups based on harmonies by using the Swatches panel. To put existing swatches into a Swatch group, select the swatches and click the New Swatch Group icon  in the Swatches panel. You can identify a Swatch group by the folder icon .

You can also create tints in the Swatches panel. A tint is a global process color or spot color with a modified intensity. Tints of the same color are linked together, so that if you edit the color of a tint swatch, all associated tint swatches (and the objects painted with those swatches) change color, though the tint values remain unchanged. Tints are identified by a percentage (when the Swatches panel is in list view)

Swatches panel overview

You use the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) to control all document colors, gradients, and patterns. You can name and store any of these items for instant access. When a selected object’s fill or stroke contains a color, gradient, pattern, or tint applied from the Swatches panel, the applied swatch is highlighted in the Swatches panel.

Change the display of swatches

  1. Select a view option from the Swatches panel menu: Small Thumbnail View, Medium Thumbnail View, Large Thumbnail View, Small List View, or Large List View.

Show a specific type of swatch and hide all others

  1. Click the Show Swatch Kinds button and choose one of the following: Show All Swatches, Show Color Swatches, Show Gradient Swatches, Show Pattern Swatches, or Show Color Groups.

Select all swatches that aren’t used in artwork

If you want to limit your Swatches panel to only the colors that are used in a document, you can select all unused swatches and then delete them.

  1. Choose Select All Unused in the Swatches panel menu.

Select a color group

  • To select the entire group, click the color group .

  • To select swatches inside the group, click individual swatches.

To edit the selected color group, make sure no artwork is selected and select Edit Color Group  , or double-click the color group folder. To edit the selected color group and apply the edits to selected artwork, click the Edit Or Apply Colors , or double-click the color group folder. For more information, see Edit colors in the Edit Colors dialog box.

Select a swatch by name

  1. Select Show Find Field from the Swatches panel menu. Type the first letter or letters of the swatch's name in the Find text box at the top of the panel.

    Note:

    This procedure does not work with double-byte characters.

Create swatch information

Create Swatch Info lets you create color specifications for multiple colors on cards to share with collaborators.

  1. Select your colors from the Swatches panel and choose Create Swatch Info from the Swatches panel menu.

  2. In the dialog box that appears, you can adjust the card’s width, height, text color, stacking order, and spacing between each card.

Move colors into a swatch group

  1. Drag individual color swatches to an existing color group folder.

  2. Select the colors you want in a new color group and select New Swatch Group .

Change the order of swatches

You can reorder individual swatches as well as swatches inside a color group.

  1. Select Sort By Name or Sort By Kind from the Swatches panel menu. These commands only work on individual swatches, not swatches in a color group.

Swatch libraries are collections of preset colors, including ink libraries such as HKS, Trumatch, FOCOLTONE, DIC, TOYO, and thematic libraries such as camouflage, nature, Greek, and jewel tones.

When you open a swatch library, it appears in a new panel (not the Swatches panel). You select, sort, and view swatches in a swatch library the same as you do in the Swatches panel. However, you can’t add swatches to, delete swatches from, or edit the swatches in the Swatch libraries panel.

Note:

To make a swatch library appear each time Illustrator is started, select Persistent from the swatch library’s panel menu.

Open a swatch library

  1. Do one of the following:

    • In the Swatches panel menu, choose Open Swatch Library > [library name].

    • In the Swatches panel, click the Swatch Libraries Menu button  , and choose a library from the list.

Create a swatch library

You create a swatch library by saving the current document as a swatch library.

  1. Edit the swatches in the Swatches panel so that it contains only the swatches you want in the swatch library.

  2. Select Save Swatch Library from the Swatches panel menu.

    To remove all swatches that aren’t used in the document, choose Select All Unused from the Swatches panel menu, and then click the Delete Swatch button .

Edit a swatch library

  1. Choose File > Open, locate and open the library file. By default, swatch library files are stored in the Illustrator/Presets/Swatches folder.

  2. Edit the colors in the Swatches panel and save your changes.

Move swatches from a swatch library to the Swatches panel

Do any of the following:

  • Drag one or more swatches from the swatch library panel to the Swatches panel.

  • Select the swatches you want to add, and select Add To Swatches from the library’s panel menu.

  • Apply a swatch to an object in the document. If the swatch is a global or spot-color swatch, the swatch is automatically added to the Swatches panel.

You can create process color, spot color, or gradient color swatches.

Create a process color swatch

Do one of the following:

  • Select a color using the Color Picker or Color panel, or select an object with the color you want. Then, drag the color from the Tools panel or Color panel to the Swatches panel.

  • In the Swatches panel, click the New Swatch button or select New Swatch from the panel menu. In the dialog box that appears, select Global if you want the swatch to be a global color. Set additional swatch options, and click OK. (See Swatch options.)

Create spot-color swatches

Do one of the following:

  • Select a color using the Color Picker or Color panel, or select an object with the color you want. Then, Ctrl‑drag (Windows) or Command‑drag (Mac OS) the color from the Tools panel or Color panel to the Swatches panel.

  • In the Swatches panel, Ctrl‑click (Windows) or Command‑click (Mac OS) the New Swatch button, or select New Swatch from the panel menu. In the dialog box that appears, select Spot Color for Color Type. Set additional swatch options and click OK. (See Swatch options.)

Create gradient swatches

  1. Create a gradient using the Gradient panel, or select an object with the gradient you want.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Drag the gradient fill from the Fill box in the Tools panel or Color panel to the Swatches panel.

    • In the Gradient panel, click the gradient menu (next to the gradient box) and click the Save To Swatches Library icon .

    • In the Swatches panel, click the New Swatch button or select New Swatch from the Swatches panel menu. In the dialog box that appears, enter a swatch name, and click OK. (See Swatch options.)

Create a swatch from the Color Guide panel

  1. Choose colors from the Harmony Rules menu in the Color Guide panel.

  2. Click the Save Color Group To Swatch Panel button  at the bottom of the Color Guide panel.

You can automatically add all the colors from selected artwork or all the colors in your document to the Swatches panel. Illustrator finds the colors that are not already in the Swatches panel, converts any process colors to global colors, and adds them to the panel as new swatches.

When you automatically add colors to the Swatches panel, all colors in the document are included, except the following:

  • Colors inside opacity masks (when not in opacity mask editing mode)

  • Interpolated colors in blends

  • Colors in image pixels

  • Guide colors

  • Colors in objects that are inside compound shapes and are not visible

If you change a gradient fill, pattern fill, or symbol instance to a new global color, the color is added as a new swatch and the original color swatch is retained.

Add all document colors

  1. Make sure that nothing is selected, and choose Add Used Colors from the Swatches panel menu.

Add colors from selected artwork

  1. Select the objects containing the colors you want to add to the Swatches panel, and do one of the following:

    • Choose Add Selected Colors from the Swatches panel menu.

    • Click the New Color Group button in the Swatches panel. Specify options in the dialog box that appears.

      Colors are arranged and saved using the Hue Forward rule.

Import swatches from another document

You can import all swatches or individual swatches from another document.

  • To import all swatches from another document, choose Open Swatch Library > Other Library from the Swatches panel menu. Select the file from which you want to import swatches, and click Open. The imported swatches appear in a swatch library panel (not the Swatches panel).

  • To import individual swatches from another document, copy and paste objects that use the swatches. The imported swatches appear in the Swatches panel.

If imported swatches for spot colors or global process colors have the same name but different color values as swatches already in the document, a swatch conflict occurs. For spot color conflicts, the color values of the existing swatches are preserved, and imported swatches are automatically merged with the existing swatches. The Swatch Conflict dialog box appears for process color conflicts, and color values for existing swatches are automatically retained. You can choose “Add Swatches” to add the swatches by appending a number to the conflicting swatch names or “Merge Swatches” to merge the swatches using the color values of the existing swatches.

Share swatches between applications

You can share the solid swatches you create in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign by saving a swatch library for exchange. The colors appear the same across apps as long as your color settings are synchronized.

Note:

You can create and share color group swatches by using the Color Themes panel (previously known as the Kuler panel). See Color Themes panel.

  1. In the Swatches panel, select the process and spot-color swatches you want to share.

    You cannot share the following types of swatches between applications: patterns, gradients, and the Registration swatch from Illustrator or InDesign; and book color references, HSB, XYZ, duotone, monitorRGB, opacity, total ink, and webRGB swatches from Photoshop. These types of swatches are automatically excluded when you save swatches for exchange.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Click the Add Selected Swatches And Color Groups To My Current Library icon in the Swatches panel.
    • Choose Swatch Options from the panel menu, and select Add To My Library. Then, click OK.
    • Choose Save Swatch Library As ASE or Save Swatch Library as AI from the Swatches panel menu, and save the swatch libraries in an easily accessible location.

    When you load a library that contains swatches with identical names, the definitions of the identically-named swatches are overwritten. Ensure that swatch names are unique.

  3. Load the swatch library into the Swatches panel for Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign.

You can manage the swatches in your Swatches panel by duplicating, grouping, replacing, merging, or deleting them. You can also specify swatch options such as swatch name, color type, color mode, or preview.

Duplicate swatches

  1. Select one or more swatches that you want to duplicate.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Select Duplicate Swatch from the Swatches panel menu.

    • Drag the swatches to the New Swatch button in the Swatches panel.

Group swatches

When you want to keep specific colors together in the Swatches panel, create a color group. For example, you can create a color group for colors you select in the Color Guide panel. When you save a color group in the Edit Colors dialog box, it is automatically saved as a color group in the Swatches panel. You can also manually group any set of solid color swatches.

  1. Select one or more swatches in the Swatches panel.

  2. Click the New Color Group button, or choose New Color Group from the panel menu.

Replace, merge, or delete swatches

  • To replace a swatch, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the color or gradient from the Color panel, Gradient panel, an object, or the Tools panel to the Swatches panel, highlighting the swatch you want to replace.

    Replacing an existing color, gradient, or pattern in the Swatches panel globally changes objects in the file containing that swatch color with the new color, gradient, or pattern. The only exception is for a process color that does not have the Global option selected in the Swatch Options dialog box.

  • To merge multiple swatches, select two or more swatches, and select Merge Swatches from the Swatches panel menu. The first selected swatch name and color value replace all other selected swatches.

  • To delete a swatch, select one or more swatches. Select Delete Swatch from the panel menu, click the Delete Swatch button, or drag the selected swatches to the Delete Swatch button.

    When you delete a spot-color or global process-color swatch (or a pattern or gradient containing a spot or global process color), all objects painted with those colors are converted to the non-global process color equivalent.

Swatch options

To set swatch options, double-click an existing swatch or select New Swatch from the Swatches panel menu.

Swatch Name: Specifies the name of the swatch in the Swatches panel.

Color Type: Specifies if the swatch is a process color or spot color.

Global: Creates a global process-color swatch.

Color Mode: Specifies the color mode of the swatch.

After you select the color mode you want, you can use the color sliders to adjust the color. If you select a color that is not web-safe, an alert cube appears. Click the cube to shift to the closest web-safe color (which is displayed to the right of the cube). If you select an out-of-gamut color, an alert triangle appears. Click the triangle to shift to the closest CMYK equivalent (which is displayed to the right of the triangle).

Preview: Displays color adjustments on any objects to which the swatch is applied.

More like this

Have a question or an idea?

Ask the Community

If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe Illustrator Community. We would love to hear from you and see your creations.

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans
View quick links
Hide quick links

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy