Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem

October 22, 2009 | Posted in Illustrator | 23 Comments »

If you’ve ever run into this annoying little Illustrator problem, it can be very frustrating, but it has a simple fix. Every so often you may find that no matter what color you select, Illustrator converts your selection to grayscale…

Why? Well if you open your Color palette (Window>Color), you’ll most likley find that it’s set to grayscale. (like below)

Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem

All you have to do is set your color palette to something else, like RGB or CMYK. Now you’re good to go. Personally, I have no idea why this problem has made it all the way to CS4. If I wanted to fill a shape with a gray, I’d choose a gray.

Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem

Tags: Color, Grayscale, Illustrator

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Illustrator. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

23 Responses to “Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem”

VT2500: Computer Illustration (F09) » Blog Archive » The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem Oct 22, 09 at 1:38 pm

[...] been a long time, but I have run into this. Posted by admin Filed in Uncategorized No Comments [...]
cappy Oct 22, 09 at 2:13 pm

I have the same problem, but only when selecting colors in the gradient sliders. Click a color in the gradient and it shows up as grayscale in the color pallet. Very annoying.
jeyaONE! Oct 22, 09 at 5:36 pm

Thanks! I usually take the quick way out and open a new ai document. Glad to know how to fix it now.
Samsung LN32B650 32-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color | Samsung HDTV LCD Oct 22, 09 at 11:23 pm

[...] Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem | BittBox Share and Enjoy: [...]
Narr Bitbox Oct 22, 09 at 11:27 pm

Thank you. This happens it seems very often if not always with the Gradient in CS3. It’s great to know how to fix it. Very surprising that Adobe hasn’t dealt with it.

Regards,
NB
Annukka Oct 22, 09 at 11:39 pm

Been there, done that, very annoying. Took me a while to figure it out :)
Samsung LN37B550 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color | Buy & Review : HDTV LCD Oct 22, 09 at 11:59 pm

[...] Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem | BittBox Share and Enjoy: [...]
Delacour Oct 23, 09 at 1:09 am

I thought i was the only one having this problem…thx for sharing…
Dara Oct 23, 09 at 8:08 pm

Thanks for the fyi. That is so frustrating when it happens.
TheUglyVector Oct 24, 09 at 6:20 am

Novell! I’ve noticed this also but didn’t really make a stink out of it. Thanks for the tip.
Jan Cavan Oct 25, 09 at 2:32 am

Thanks for this simple tip! What I actually do is click on any color from the color palette, but glad to know about this easy fix!
SPAR 6 Oct 25, 09 at 8:52 am

Thanks! That’s quite a pesky issue that seems to pop up whenever it feels like annoying someone. Another way that works for me is just opening or clicking on the swatches menu.
Gayle Devonport Oct 26, 09 at 2:19 pm

i always run into that! and i get so annoyed..thanks SO much for that.
Inovan Oct 26, 09 at 5:42 pm

Bonus Tip: Alternatively you can hold the shift key and click in the color space (or gray space in this instance) and it will rotate through the different color spaces (RGB, CMYK, Grayscale, Brightness Hue Saturation). This will only shave off a couple of seconds, but every shortcut adds up!
Nincompoop Oct 27, 09 at 4:06 am

that was the worst tip ever. Sry, but in my opinion you didn’t solve it, you showed an alternative way. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
dinny Oct 28, 09 at 5:04 pm

thanx! It always happens to me when I do a live trace. I thought it was something I was doing.
Samsung LN40B630 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color | LCD HDTV Buy Now Nov 1, 09 at 8:33 pm

[...] Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem | BittBox [...]
AnthonyProulx Nov 5, 09 at 10:59 am

Great tip, why the hell does this happen anyways?
Greyscale color problem in Adobe Illustrator - FlightCheck and correct it… Nov 10, 09 at 3:02 pm

[...] “If you’ve ever run into this annoying little Illustrator problem, it can be very frustrating, but it has a simple fix. Every so often you may find that no matter what color you select, Illustrator converts your selection to grayscale…” Source: Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem [...]
miranda levy Dec 9, 09 at 1:13 pm

Thanx this helped! This problem was driving me insane!
CaleH Dec 23, 09 at 12:05 pm

I have always just held shift & click on the color spectrum below the color sliders. Pretty quick fix.
siki? Dec 26, 09 at 5:14 pm

thanks you
You will have to crawl very nice
1965 Chevy Corvette Color Wiring Diagram | On The Go Videos Jan 18, 10 at 7:03 am

[...] Illustrator 101: The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem | BittBox [...]