# Solved: Colour Difference/Dullness Between Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop



## TW.87 (Dec 30, 2005)

Hello,

I am relatively new to graphic design and imaging, but I have a question regarding my use of Adobe Illustrator CS3 and Adobe Photoshop CS3.

I have designed a logo in Adobe Illustrator CS3, and saved it as both an ".AI" file and an ".EPS" file.

Now, when I open the ".EPS" file in Adobe Photoshop CS3, it appears that the bright cyan (it's a white logo with one of the characters in bright cyan) is duller than what it seemed to be in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Does anyone know why this would be, and what I can do to stop it?

Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Not familiar with those particular programs but I have seen similar problems when a picture or graphic was saved in "RGB" or "HSV" color mode in one program and then placed in a page of a publishing program set to work in "CMYK" color separation mode. Similar problems will occur with the color modes reversed in each program as well. The software is representing an approximation of how the color will look and print in the current color mode.


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## TW.87 (Dec 30, 2005)

Ah okay...so, a solution may be that when I open the ".EPS" in Adobe Photoshop CS3, I need to open it in the same colour mode that I created it in Adobe Illustrator CS3? Is that right?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

That would be correct. You might also want to choose the color mode that will be most used for the logo. RGB is good for web pages and viewing on a computer monitor while CMYK is almost the only choice for printing of any type.


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## TW.87 (Dec 30, 2005)

Okay, cool...thank you very much for your help!


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

If you don&#8217;t have an incompatibility with the color mode, take a look at "Photoshop export options" in Illustrator Help. There is a way to export in a Photoshop format that allows you to control things like resolution. My best guess is that you might be displaying the preview that comes with an EPS or just got the resolution too low when it was rasterized.

You can change the color mode after you open it BYW. Image > Mode


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## Kaveen (Jun 21, 2007)

Ok this is a small technical issue. So I'm posting some theory on color 

In Illustrator The default color profile for a new file IS CMYK. Thats's fine if ur using that graphic for printing work. But for web and TV it's different.

In drawing the basic three colors are Red , Yellow and Blue. But that color space cant produce every color. So the printing industry found a solution it's CMY. That's Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. In the theory it says mixing those colors in same amount will produce Black color. But in practice it wont. It produce a dark brown like color. So the printers add Black as the fourth color. Thy call it the ' Key plate color' Then it becomes 'key' color. CMYK. But this works only on white printing paper or canvas. CMYK is called an additive color space. because u add ink to produce colors. In the maximum it's Black. CMYK is a reflected color space. Because u can only see the graphics by the reflected color. CMYK couldn't produce every color that human eyes can see. Printer add gold and silver with CMYK to achieve better variation. It's 6 color printing. CMYK is unable to produce bright colors. 

In the case of illuminated monitors we use (and TV's too) it functions with RGB color space. It can produce almost every color. Even gold and silver. but it works with only illuminated electrical devices. RGB is able to produce bright colors which CMYK does not. RGB is a additive color space because it adds basic colors to produce other colors. In the extream it's White. 

But when u work with Illustrator with CMYK color it allows u to assign color's out of CMYK's printing ability. We call it the 'Color gamut'. U can notice a small yellow color exclamation mark in the pallet when u exceed the color gamut. When u click on it it automatically changes the current color to the closest printable color. But when u save it and re open it from Photoshop it automatically alter colors to CMYK's color gamut. That's u can notice an ugly color change. So select RBG as ur color modal when u work for WEB and Broadcast graphics. 

But HSV is the finest color modal for human eyes. More than RGB it's more accurate. But u can't print or broadcast HSV modal. The software will convert it to CMYK or RGB. In analogue broadcasting it uses a YUV color space. Then it converts to RGB to display on the monitor.

Tell me if this is useful to u.....

Thanks.....
Kaveen


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Hi Kaveen, and welcome to TSG.



Kaveen said:


> CMYK is called an *additive color space*. because u add ink to produce colors. In the maximum it's Black. CMYK is a reflected color space.


You are correct that CMYK is reflective but I believe it is a subtractive color space, not additive. You start with a white sheet of paper, which reflects all colors, and add an ink that blocks (subtracts) the reflection of some of the colors and only reflects its own color.

For reference:
http://www.techcolor.com/help/cmyk.html
http://www.viovio.com/wiki/Understanding+Color
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtractive_color


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## Kaveen (Jun 21, 2007)

Sorry for my mistake. CMYK is subtractive and RGB is additive. That was due to some confusion

Kaveen


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## lister (Aug 10, 2004)

Another point about transferring files within CS3; set up your colour settings in one of the Programs and save it, then use Bridge to synchronise.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Kaveen said:


> Sorry for my mistake. CMYK is subtractive and RGB is additive. That was due to some confusion
> 
> Kaveen


You may also wish to correct your notes on broadcast television 



Kaveen said:


> But u can't print or broadcast HSV modal.


Actually, standard definition NTSC and PAL (can't remember details of SECAM) color broadcasting does use HSV (aka HSB) mode. The baseband video contains the Brightness V (B) signal. This brightness signal is backward compatible with with older black and white television broadcasting and black and white TV sets. A color sub-carrier signal whose phase determines the Hue and whose amplitude determines the Saturation is then added to the broadcast signal to send the color information.

For additional information on the NTSC standard:
http://www.ntsc-tv.com/


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## Kaveen (Jun 21, 2007)

No TV doesn't use HSV color model it self. It works with YUV and YIQ color spaces( PAL SD and NTSC SD) It carries a Y signal like u said luminance to support old tv sets. For color information it carries U and v signals. That's chroma blue and chroma red. There are no HSV involvment in TV's.

U work with HSV and save it with RGB and when broadcast it converts to YUV and in the TV set it convert back to RGB to display. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSV_color_space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuv
http://www.poynton.com/Poynton-video-eng.html
http://www.fourcc.org/yuv.php


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Kaveen said:


> No TV doesn't use HSV color model it self.


Yes, you are correct. Hue and Saturation are not the same as UV or IQ Chrominance signals for television. 

It has been a few years since I have used a vectorscope or been on the Poynton web site. I guess I need to back to the site and get a refresher course on broadcast TV standards.


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