How To Load Color Swatches In Illustrator

vi Minute Read

Design 101: Saving & Exporting Your Own Color Swatches in Illustrator

Kyle Christensen

Kyle is the Lead Graphic Designer at Cherry Branch Media.

#bestpractices, #design101

Updated for macOS Big Sur February 4, 2021

If you're working with multiple clients and creating a lot of pattern work, you're probably working with a lot of dissimilar visitor colors and color palettes. Rather than copying and pasting their color codes in all of the time, you might desire to consider creating a custom swatch library in Illustrator. This mode, you lot'll e'er have all of your clients' colors ready to go at whatsoever time. In this article, I'll testify y'all how to create your own swatch library, how to export it and how to load information technology up into any Adobe Creative Deject plan.

Creating Your Swatch Library

First, open up Illustrator and create a new blank document at whatsoever dimensions (y'all won't exist saving the document, just the swatch library). In that location are two ways to create your swatch library, but I'll show you how I create the library. Open upwards your swatches console and click on the white colour swatch, and then hold down shift and click on the last swatch (including all folder icons likewise) and click on the trash can to delete all of the swatches. At present, click on the folder icon to create your custom color grouping and title it as you'd like. I titled mine "Red Co-operative Media." To beginning edifice your swatches, you tin do this two means:

Images-for-Article-02 1. The beginning way is to draw out a shape and and then double-click it to enter the colour value or find a custom color. Now, click and hold the swatch color from your left toolbar and drag it next to the folder icon in your swatch panel to place your color in your color group folder. To name your color, double-click on the swatch and enter in the name under "Swatch Proper noun" in the Swatch Options menu.

Images-for-Article-03 two. You could likewise add swatches to your swatch library is by opening up your swatch panel and clicking on the "New Swatch" icon. Here, you can proper name your swatch, define the colour type and switch between colour modes to enter in the color value.

Exporting Your Swatch Library

Images-for-Article-04 Now that you've created your swatch library, it's fourth dimension to export it. Open your swatch console and click the icon in the top right corner and from the drop down bill of fare, select "Relieve Swatch Library as ASE" (Adobe Swatch Commutation). The reason for selecting this option is then you can load this library in any Adobe Creative Deject program . The only disadvantage is that this library doesn't salvage tints, gradients or patterns.

If you select "Salve Swatch Library every bit AI" (Adobe Illustrator), you can save all tints, gradients and patterns only tin only open the swatch library in Illustrator files. Later saving your swatch library, it's gear up to go!

Opening Your Swatch Library in Illustrator, Photoshop & InDesign

To begin using your custom color palette, here'south how y'all tin can do and so with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. With Illustrator, open a new document and open up up your swatch panel. Click on the icon in the top right corner of the swatch console to bring down the drop downwards menu and select "Open Swatch Library" and then "Other Library." Observe your saved swatch library and click "Open" to find your color palette now loaded into Illustrator as its own color swatch tab/card!

For Photoshop, open up a new certificate and open your swatch console. Just like Illustrator, click on the icon in the top correct corner of the swatch panel to bring downward the drib downward menu, simply instead of clicking "Open Swatch Library," yous select "Load Swatches" instead. From at that place, detect your saved swatch file and click "Open" to meet your swatches now added to the stop of default colors in the swatch panel. You can delete all of these default swatches if you'd like.

For InDesign, open up a new certificate and open up up your swatch panel. Similar to Photoshop, you lot'll click the icon in the elevation right corner of the swatch panel to bring down the drop-downwards carte, and select "Load Swatches" to load your swatch library. Later on you load your swatch library, you'll encounter a folder appear in the swatch panel under the default swatches that'south titled equally it was in Illustrator, with all of the swatches actualization nether it.

Creating and storing color palettes is a bully way to proceed all of your clients' or your own colour palettes organized and consistent. You won't have to type in color codes every time you lot create a new document and y'all can just load up a color palette in seconds to become started with design work. Amid creating and exporting swatches, you can as well create and export custom patterns as well. There is another type of swatch library Adobe offers, and they're chosen Adobe CC libraries. For more information on what they are and how they can be used, click here !

Kyle Christensen

Kyle is the Lead Graphic Designer at Blood-red Co-operative Media.

Kyle leads our Graphic Design Department at Red Branch Media. His ability to manage incoming tasks, collaborate with the design team, hit deadlines and keep our file storage system well-organized has helped to shape the pattern section clients love today. While he'south away from the branch, he spends his time playing drums, video games, cranking the latest emo, pop-punk and screamo songs on Spotify, drinking local Omaha brews, and enjoying life with his wife. Kyle has a BASA with a Concentration in Graphic Blueprint and a Minor in Art History from UNO.