Color groups (harmonies)

Choose one of the following variations from the Color Guide panel menu:

Adds black to variations on the left and white to variations on the right

Adds red to variations on the left and blue to variations on the right

Decreases the saturation toward gray in variations on the left and increases saturation toward gray in variations on the right

Choose Color Guide Options from the Color Guide panel menu.

Specify the number of colors you want to appear to the left and right of each color in the generated color group. For example, choose 6 if you want to see six shades darker and six shades lighter of each color.

The original colors always appear down the center of the panel with a triangle directly above them, and the variations on those colors appear to the left and right of them.

Drag the Range slider to the left to decrease the variance range or drag to the right to increase the range.

Decreasing the range generates colors that are more similar to the originals.

Open the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box from any of the following locations:

Use these commands when you want to edit colors in selected artwork.

Use this button when you want to edit the colors of the selected artwork using the Recolor Artwork dialog box. This button is available when the selected artwork contains two or more colors.

note: Editing colors this way is a convenient way to globally adjust colors in artwork when global colors weren't used in the artwork's creation.

Click this button when you want to edit the colors in the Color Guide panel, or edit and then apply the colors in the Color Guide panel to selected art.

Click this button when you want to edit the colors in the selected color group, or when you want to edit the colors and apply them to the selected artwork. You can also double-click a color group in the Swatches panel to open the dialog box.

Open the Color Guide panel, and do any of the following to set the base color for the color harmony:

• Click a color swatch in the Swatches panel.

• Click a color in the Color panel. (You may want to drag out the Color panel so that you can use it along with the Color Guide panel.)

• Double-click the Fill Color in the Tools panel and pick a color in the Color Picker.

• Using the eyedropper, click artwork containing the color you want.

• Select artwork containing the color you want, and then click the Set Base Color To The Current Color icon .

• Click a color variation in the Color Guide panel, and then click the Set Base Color To The Current Color icon .

Choose a rule from the Harmony Rules menu.

To save the color group or an individual color to the Swatches panel, do one of the following:

• To save the current color group in the Color Guide panel, click the Save Color Group To Swatches Panel button .

• To save one or more color variations as individual swatches, drag the colors from the Color Guide panel to the Swatches panel.

• To save multiple color variations as a group, select them in the Color Guide panel and click the Save Color Group To Swatches Panel button .

To name the new group, select the group in the Swatches panel and choose Color Group Options from the panel menu.

To color your artwork with a color from the color group, select your artwork and click any color in the Color Guide panel.

Open the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, and choose a color harmony from the Harmony Rules menu, if desired.

If the color bars are showing, click a Color Wheel icon to display the color wheel instead.

Set the base color by doing one of the following:

• Drag the base color marker (the largest, double-ringed color marker) around the wheel to set the base color you want.

• Adjust the color sliders at the bottom of the dialog box.

Choose a new harmony rule or move the color markers, as desired.

To preview the new colors on selected artwork, click Recolor Art.

Type a name in the Name box to the right of the Harmony Rules menu, and click New Color Group .

To save the new color group to the Swatches panel, click OK and close the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box.

Do either of the following:

• To keep your original color group unchanged and save the changes as a new color group, click New Color Group  at the top of the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box.

• To save the changes to your original color group (thus overwriting the original color group), click Save Changes To Color Group .

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, select the desired color group from the Color Groups storage area, if necessary.

If you have selected an object on the artboard, click Recolor Art to preview the colors on the artwork. If you don’t want to recolor the artwork, deselect Recolor Art before closing the dialog box, or click Cancel to close it.

To confine colors to a swatch library, click the Limits The Color Group To Colors In A Swatch Library button  and choose a library from the list.

To change the base color to a different color in the current group, right-click the color in a color wheel or color bars and choose Set As Base Color. Or click a color in the Active Colors box, and then click Set Current Color As Base Color  to the left of the Active Colors box.

Drag a marker on the wheel to change its color. If the harmony is linked, all the colors move according to the rule as you drag. If the harmony is unlinked, only the marker that you drag moves.

While editing, you can do any of the following:

• To change hue, move the marker around the wheel. To change saturation or brightness, move it inward and outward on the wheel.

• To change hue, move the marker around the wheel. To change saturation or brightness, move it inward and outward on the wheel.

• To add a color, right-click in the color wheel where you want to add the color and choose Add New Color.

• To remove a color, right-click on the color marker (or the line of the marker) in the color wheel and choose Remove Color.

• To change a color using the Color Picker, right-click the color and choose Color Picker.

• To constrain the marker to move in only one direction, hold down the shift key as you drag.

• To see hue and saturation instead of hue and brightness on the wheel, click the Show Saturation And Hue On The Wheel button , directly below the wheel to toggle between the two views.

• To change the color values manually, click the color marker or click the color in the Active Colors box. Edit the color values using the sliders or color value text boxes under the color wheel.

• To change the saturation and brightness of a color on the wheel, right-click a color marker, and choose Select Shade; then click the desired color in the box that appears.

Save your changes by clicking New Color Group , which keeps your original color group unchanged and saves the changes as a new color group. Or click Save Changes To Color Group  to overwrite your original color group with the changes.

Do one of the following:

• In the Active Colors menu, drag a color left or right.

• In Color Bars view, drag a color bar left or right.

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, select the color group you want to edit and click Edit.

Click the Unlink Harmony Colors icon .

Do one of the following in either the color wheel or color bar view:

• Drag the color marker you want to edit to set a new color.

• Click the color bar or color marker you want to change and manually edit the color values.

• Double-click (or right-click) the color bar or marker and choose a new color in the Color Picker.

• Right-click a color marker or color bar and pick a new shade.

To relink the colors so that the markers move again according to the newly defined harmony rule, click the Link Harmony Colors button.

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, do one of the following:

• Double-click a wheel marker or right-click a wheel marker and choose Color Picker.

• Double-click a color bar.

• Click the color swatch to the left of the color sliders.

Save the edits by doing one of the following:

• To save the edited colors as a new group, type a new name in the name box at the top of the dialog box, and then click New Color Group .

• To save the edits to the original color group, click Save Changes To Color Group .

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, select a color group.

Click Edit, and then click Display Color Bars; or click Assign.

Do either of the following:

• To shuffle the order of the current color group, click Randomly Change Color Order . Use this button when recoloring artwork to quickly explore the different ways artwork can be recolored with the current color group.

• To randomly change the brightness and saturation of the current color group while retaining the hues, click Randomly Changes Saturation and Brightness .

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, click Edit.

Click the Color Mode button , and choose Global Adjust.

Change the values for Saturation, Brightness, Temperature, and Luminosity.

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, click Edit.

Do either of the following:

• To add a color to the color group, right-click in the color wheel where you want to add the color and choose Add New Color. If you click the line of an existing color marker, the new marker moves with that marker.

• To remove a color, right-click the color marker or color bar and choose Remove Color. You cannot remove the base color marker.

  note: In the color wheel, you can also use the Add Color Tool button  or the Remove Color Tool button , and then click in the color wheel on the color you want to add or remove.

• To remove a color from a color group in the Color Groups list, expand the color group, right-click the color swatch you want to remove, and choose Remove Color.

Select a color group in the Color Groups list and click Delete . Or right-click and choose Remove Color Group.

Select the artwork you want to recolor.

Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork.

The Recolor Artwork dialog box opens, displaying the Assign area with colors from the original artwork in both columns.

If you want to assign colors from a color group, do one of the following:

• Choose a color group from the Color Groups list.

• Create a color group by selecting a new harmony rule from the menu from the Harmony Rules menu.

To preview the color changes in your artwork, click Recolor Art.

Do any of the following to reassign colors:

• To assign a current color to a different color, drag the current color up or down in the Current Colors column until it’s adjacent to the new color you want.

  Tip: If a row contains multiple colors and you want to move them all, click the selector bar at the left of the row and drag up or down.

• To assign a new color to a different row of current colors, drag the new color up or down in the New column. (To add a new color to or remove a color from the New column, right-click in the list and choose Add New Color or Remove Color.)

• To change a color in the New column, right-click it and choose Color Picker to set a new color.

• To exclude a row of current colors from being reassigned, click the arrow between the columns. To include it again, click the dash.

• To exclude a single current color from being reassigned, right-click the color and choose Exclude Colors, or click the icon .

• To randomly reassign colors, click the Randomly Change Color Order button . The new colors move randomly to different rows of current colors.

• To add a row to the Current Colors column, right-click and choose Add New Row, or click the icon .

To separate or merge colors in the Current Colors row, do either of the following:

• To separate colors into separate rows, select the color block you want to move and right-click and choose Separate Colors Into Different Rows, or click the icon .

• To merge colors into one row, Shift-click to select multiple colors, and then right-click and choose Merge Colors Into A Row, or click the icon .

To change tints or shades of new colors, click the triangle next to the right of a new color (or right-click a color and choose Colorize Method), and choose an option. Select Apply To All if you want the same option to apply to all new colors in the color group.

Click OK to recolor the artwork. If you don’t want to recolor the artwork, click Cancel, or deselect Recolor Artwork and click OK.

If necessary, select an object and choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork.

In the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box, click the Randomly Change Saturation and Brightness button .

If necessary, select an object and choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork.

In the Recolor Artwork dialog box, click the Click On Colors Above To Find Them In Artwork button , and then click a color in the Current Colors column.

The artwork that uses that color appears in full color on the artboard while all other areas of the selected artwork are dimmed.

Click the icon again to return your artwork to full color.

Select the artwork you want to reduce.

Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor With Preset, and choose a preset option.

Do one of the following:

• If you want to limit colors to a swatch library, click the library button , select the library you want, and then click OK.

• If you don’t want to limit colors to a swatch library, click OK.

The Recolor Artwork dialog box opens. The New column displays the number of colors you chose as your preset, plus black. The new colors are taken from your original artwork.

Assign your original colors to the new colors as desired.

Make sure that Recolor Art is selected, and click OK.

Select the artwork you want to recolor.

Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork.

The Recolor Artwork dialog box opens. The New column displays all the colors from your selected artwork.

To use different colors, select or create a color group.

Choose the number of colors you want to reduce down to from the Colors menu.

Click the Color Reduction Options button , specify any of the following options, and click OK:

Specifies a preset color job, including the number of colors used and optimal settings for that job. If you select a preset and then change any of the other options, the preset changes to Custom.

Specifies the number of new colors that the current colors are reduced to.

Specifies a swatch library from which all new colors are derived.

Determines how the original colors are sorted in the Current Colors column.

Specifies the types of variations allowed for the new colors.

• Exact exactly replaces each current color with the specified new color.

• Scale Tints (default option) replaces the darkest current color in the row with the specified new color. Other current colors in the row are replaced with a proportionally lighter tint.

• Preserve Tints is the same as Scale Tints for non-global colors. For spot or global colors, it applies the current color’s tint to the new color. Use Preserve Tints when all the current colors in the row are tints of the same or similar global color. For best results when using Preserve Tints, also select Combine Tints.

• Tints And Shades replaces the current color with the average lightness and darkness with the specified new color. Current colors that are lighter than the average are replaced with a proportionally lighter tint of the new color. Current colors that are darker than the average are replaced by adding black to the new color.

• Hue Shift sets the most typical color in the Current Colors row as a key color and exactly replaces the key color with the new color. The other current colors are replaced by colors that differ from the new color in brightness, saturation, and hue by the same amounts that the current color differs from the key color.

Sorts all tints of the same global color into the same Current Colors row, even if colors are not being reduced. Use this option only when the selected art contains global or spot colors applied at tints less than 100%. For best results, use in combination with the Preserve Tints colorization method.

note: Even when Combine Tints is not selected, color reduction combines tints of the same global color before it combines different non-global colors.

Determines whether white, black, or gray is preserved in the final reduction. If a color is preserved, it appears in the Current Colors column as an excluded row.

Assign current colors to the new colors as desired.

Make sure that Recolor Art is selected, and click OK.