How to Get Color Codes Automatically & Create a Color Palette in Adobe Illustrator, by TK GRAPHICS on YouTube. 2 min 25 s.
- Video length
- 2 min 25 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Open Illustrator and create a new document, then go to File > Place, pick your photo and click once on the artboard to drop it in.
Select the photo with the Selection tool by pressing V. Keep it selected so the color tools read the pixels inside it.
Find the Color Theme tool in the toolbar. It sits under the Eyedropper, so press J to switch to it.
Click once on the photo. Illustrator builds a theme of swatches from the colors around your click point.
Adjust the theme by dragging the markers on the photo or using the arrows in the widget to swap single colors for nearby ones.
Open the widget menu and choose Add to Swatches, then As a Color Group to store the palette in the Swatches panel.
Read the codes by opening Window > Swatches, selecting a swatch and checking the Color panel for its hex, RGB and CMYK values.
For the manual route, select the image, go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork, click Get colors from selected art, then Save color group to Swatches panel.
Name the group by double-clicking it in the Swatches panel, then use the panel menu to save a Swatch Library as ASE for other Adobe apps.
Tips and common mistakes
Start from a photo with clean, well-lit colors, because muddy shadows give you muddy swatches.
Hold Shift while clicking with the Color Theme tool to add extra colors to the same theme.
A working palette usually has 3 to 5 colors plus a light and a dark neutral for text.
Check the CMYK values before a print job, since bright RGB colors can shift on paper.
Questions
How do I copy a hex code in Illustrator?
Select the object or swatch and read the hex field in the Color panel, or double-click the fill square in the toolbar to open the Color Picker and copy it there.
Can I use an Illustrator palette in Photoshop?
Yes. Save it as an ASE swatch library from the Swatches panel menu, then load that file through the Swatches panel in Photoshop.
Does the Color Theme tool work on a linked image?
Yes, as long as the image is visible and selected on the artboard. It reads the pixels shown on screen, not the original file.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
