Adobe Illustrator CS4 - Manual (Page 116)

109 USING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS4
Color
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 replaces 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.
Working with color groups (harmonies)
About color groups
A color group is an organization tool that lets you group together related color swatches in the Swatches panel. In
addition, a color group can be a container for color harmonies, which you create using the Edit Colors/Recolor
Artwork dialog box or the Color Guide panel. Color groups can contain only solid colors that include spot, process, or
global colors. Gradients and patterns cannot be grouped.