Illustrator, swatch matching Q

[strawberryluna]

So, this might be a dumb question, but is there a shortcut way to choose the correct (or similar), existing swatch in the library other than going through the library and trying to pick one of one million colors to match a color that you've essentially "made" yourself?

I'm asking because whenever I send a file to a printer, I try to include PMS approximated color guides, so I look at my color & then wade through the swatches. Which is what I am doing now, and it always seems to take a while. And, it seems like there should be a "find closest swatch" option though.

[swampviking]

Pms?

[frank000]

I'm not sure what you're asking here, but you can have Illustrator convert Pantone swatches to CMYK if that's what you're asking. There's also the conversion swatch book.

[dennyschmickle]

this probably isn't what you were looking for, but here's an answer none the less.

just click the cmyk icon in the spot color palette, and it will convrt it.

[strawberryluna]

no, not quite. sorry, but thanks frank. i'm not explaining myself well.

basically, i'll do an illustration in Illustrator, and lots of times i'll use a swatch as a jumping point for color but then goof with it. if i am setting up a file for myself to screenprint, no biggie cause i match the colors that i intended (onscreen) to my inks.

but, when i send a file out to be printed (say, for a t-shirt) and i need to give a PMS approximation of a color...i wade through the swatches in my library to find the closest matches so that the printer knows what color i'm going for and how to try and mix them. does that make more sense?

so, it's not like a huge issues, but since i'm self-taught in AI, i figure that i am surely missing lots of good short cuts. and in my head, having the ability to highlight an object/color and ask AI to retrieve the closest PMS swatch seems like something that does or ought to exist in this program. you know, like "select > same > fill & stroke" or something that quick and easy.

of course, in the time that it took between posting and then looking through the swatches, i found one that works for what i am prepping for print. so this is more of a tip-seeking post than an SOS.

[strawberryluna]

and denden.

[Mazza]

I'm not sure how to do that in Illustrator but if you save your file as a jpeg and bring it into photoshop you can open the color picker and use the eyedropper tool to select a color off of your jpeg then click on custom and it will bring up the closest pms color to the one you've selected.

[ASPrintingPress]

What I normally do is find the color in an actual Pantone swatch book then go to my Illustrator Swatch menu in Illustrator and go to show find field, type in the PMS # and use that even if it doesn't look exact on screen at least its there for the printers sake.

[dennyschmickle]

mazza winzza

EDIT: actually you can do that in Illustrator too.

[swampviking]

Hi LOOBA!