How to Proof Colors in Illustrator: A Step-by-Step Guide for Designers

In this post we are going to learn about proofing colors in Illustrator. I’ll share some basic concepts with you, explaining why color proofing is key when you create artwork for both print and screens, ensuring your designs are consistent with branding guidelines across different devices and printing materials. We will be more focused on theory this time, but keep on reading – this knowledge is very important for any aspiring professional designers.

This post is based on my recently updated Illustrator Advanced course, make sure to sign up at Bring Your Own Laptop! When you become a BYOL member, you gain access to this course as well as my 30+ additional courses on Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Figma, and more. As a BYOL member you will also enjoy personalized support, earn certificates, and tackle exciting community challenges. Head here to sign-up!

Let 's go!

Benefits and Challenges of Color Proofing

Color is one of the most fundamental design principles. Colors influence perception, set a mood, communicate feelings, and strongly contribute to brand identity. A professional designer must have a strong understanding of color, know how colors interact across different screens and printing materials, and always proof a design to make sure all colors are set to match the clients’ specific guidelines.

Color Proofing Benefits

• Consistency If you are working on a branding project, you will probably create content for multiple devices and printing materials, ranging from social media posts or video presentations, to printed posters, brochures, and packaging. Proofing ensures that all designs look consistent and a brand is recognizable.

• Precision Proofing prevents color shifts across different digital or print media and guarantees that you have set the exact color output you are looking for. Once again, this is key when you are working with brands and following strict color guidelines.

• Efficiency Proofing color while designing your visual materials saves precious time and money. You want to avoid unexpected revisions or sending your designs back for reprints because colors don’t match.

• Accessibility Color proofing for accessibility allows you to make sure that your colors are distinguishable by people with visual impairments, like color blindness. This will place you one step ahead of many of your competitors and show that you are a committed and empathic professional.

Color Proofing Challenges

• Calibration Keeping monitors and printers calibrated is key to maintaining color accuracy. These procedures can be time-consuming and technical but should be done regularly.

• Complexity Designing for different media means you will need to manage different color profiles. It takes time and effort to properly grasp all the nuances between digital and print colors, screens, materials, but it is necessary. 

• Learning Curve Beginners may find proofing, calibration, and other tasks related to color management a bit overwhelming at start. There’s a lot of theory involved, such as understanding the differences between the action of light or ink to create colors, knowing the best equipment and software to conduct the best proofing, and how to operate them. Mastering these skills takes practice and study.

• Cost When it comes to quality proofing equipment and software, the issue is not only time but also cost. These tools can be expensive, so make sure you are making a smart investment. This is especially important if you are working as an independent designer.

Color Shifts in Design

Color Shifts across Different Screens

Is it possible to find differences in color across screens? Isn’t it just a printing issue? Yes, different screens may vary in calibration, color profile and display technology. It doesn’t happen only when you switch from the digital RGB (Reg, Green, Blue) to analogic CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black).

LCD, LED, or OLED screens may result in noticeable shifts in color management, so calibration and color proofing will prevent significant issues and help you develop accurate and consistent content for each specific device.

Color Shifts across Different Printing Jobs

Here’s why color proofing for printing jobs is essential.

• Material surface. Glossy surfaces reflect light and make colors more vivid and intense. Matte surfaces, on the other hand, absorb light, which means you end up with a softer color finish.

• Material ink absorption. You may have heard of coated and uncoated paper. The difference between them is the amount of ink they absorb. Coated paper absorbs less ink, giving you more color vibrance. Uncoated paper, on the other hand, absorbs more ink and offers duller color results.

• Interaction with light. Metallic and iridescent materials are often used in marketing and packaging. The way light interacts with these surfaces may cause color shifts and make it harder for you to ensure consistency and precision.

• Print methods and Color Profile Management. Large printing companies are comfortable with diverse and complex color settings and likely ready to set up printing jobs for all kinds of materials with different features. Smaller print shops may have more difficulty in properly managing different color profiles, so make sure to choose according to the specifications of your project. 

Color Proofing in Illustrator

I’ll show you how to proof colors for this lovely whale illustration, part of the exclusive downloadable content for BYOL students, you can find in the Exercise Files folder for the Illustrator Advanced Course. If you aren’t a BYOL student, you can pick any image, as long as it is in the RGB format.

I’ll start by showing you what you shouldn’t do to color proof your Illustrator file. Some people change the document’s Color Mode to CMYK to verify color. This is not the best choice. It’s quite destructive, Illustrator actually changes the document’s colors and, even if we change the color mode back to RGB, some of the initial colors may be lost.

There are some issues in this process, so let’s just forget about it and I’ll guide you through the best method!

Alright, let’s do it like a Pro and preview if colors suffer any shift when printed out in CMYK! Start by clicking on View from the top menu bar, and then click on Proof Colors. By default, Proof Colors will preview the document’s colors in your region’s standard CMYK mode, without actually changing them. It’s a non-destructive preview, perfectly reversible.

I’m pretty sure that the color shift from RGB to CMYK is visible in the image below. If you pay attention to the area near the whale’s blowhole, there’s a clear line dividing the vector shape. If you can’t see it on your screen, you can take my word for it, it’s there.

You may be thinking: “well, Dan, it’s not a huge difference, probably hardly noticeable unless you are comparing two samples side by side.” It is true, it’s not a huge shift,  but it really depends on the project you are working on. If your client has strict brand guidelines, he will probably send everything back for reprint – and you don’t want that.

Proofing will help you prevent and fix these small issues that may bring a lot of headaches, so make sure you never forget to do it before sending your work to the print company.

If soft proof (digital proof in a software like Illustrator) isn’t accurate enough for you, factors like monitor calibration may bring up some doubts, don’t hesitate and ask your printer for a physical sample of the printed material – the hard proof. This is, by far, the most reliable way to check your final print colors before giving the order to make 50,000 copies of your design.

To guide in the proofing process, you can check the file’s tab above the workspace, and you will see in the description that you have a RGB document being previewed in a CMYK Coated FOGRA39(…) color mode. This is your region’s default CMYK color mode. If you are working in a different part of the world, you may find some other default color mode, it’s perfectly fine. We will come back to this a few steps down in this guide.

 Let’s leave the CMYK preview. We can’t undo a Color Proof, no matter how many times we smash Command + Z on a Mac or Control + Z on a PC (that’s such a nice shortcut placement, Dan!). How do we quit the Preview? Quick and easy, exactly the same way we activate it. We click on View and then on Proof Colors.

As you can see in the tab, the CMYK description is gone! Cool, huh?

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Do you still have questions about what separates RGB from CMYK? Check out this cool read about Color Models, Profiles, Systems, and more!

How to Set Up Proof Colors in Illustrator

We’ve covered that there’s a default CMYK color mode in Proof Colors. We can also go to View and click on Proof Setup to check alternatives for proofing the most common region and media options, including a couple of accessibility options. There’s a lot of nerdy information around these settings. For this post’s purpose, I’ll keep things as simple as possible. I’ll include some additional links for diving deeper into the color modes rabbit hole. It’s worth it!

One thing I want to show you before moving on:

If you click on Customize inside the Proof Setup menu, you will access advanced settings to fully align your design with clients and print companies from anywhere in the world, always ensuring that colors will come out accurately and consistently.

Inside the Proof Setup panel, you will find a comprehensive list of Devices to Simulate, giving you the freedom to test for color shift across a wide range of devices, materials, or displays, from multiple countries and regions.

Here’s an important detail. You don’t have to know all these modes and devices by heart or exactly when to apply each one of them. When you are working with large companies that send you very specific color guidelines, plan on sending your artwork to a large printing company and talking to them before anything else. Don’t worry, they are experts and they will help you make the best choices.

It’s a straightforward conversation. “Hi, this is Dan, calling from Ireland. I need to get this artwork, with these specifications, printed for a client there in Tokyo and have it delivered to his office. I’m proofing colors in Illustrator on my side, can you please point me to the best option for CMYK Proof Setup?” They will get back to you with something like “Hi, Dan. Select Japan Color 2011 Coated and you will be fine”. And that way you will feel a lot safer. Small print shops may not have this kind of service, so consider your project, budget, time, and plan for the best choice.

As we browse the Device to Simulate options, we can toggle the Preview option on and off by clicking on its checkbox to see how colors update according to each active setting.

Timeout #2

Learn more about Color Theory in this awesome BYOL course. Join our friend and teacher Sarah Parkinson-Howe on a fun journey through color systems, color schemes, branding, and the psychology of color. Don’t miss it!

One last tip, make sure that Proof Colors is off when you are done testing. You can verify if the option is checked inside View on the top menu bar or have a look at the document tab above the workspace, it should only display the document’s active color mode.

And There We Have It!

Alright, I shared a lot of theory this time, but sometimes it’s really useful to take a break from tools and filters and dedicate attention to the more technical side of graphic design. Color proofing is essential to a professional designer’s daily work, especially if you work with a lot of brands and printing materials, but it will also be most helpful when you work with different screens, as we’ve seen. Check and double check your work, it always pays off in the long run.

What 's Next?

To go deeper with Illustrator, join BYOL and you will gain access to my Illustrator Essentials and Advanced courses as well as my 30+ additional courses on Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Figma, Webflow, and more. As a BYOL member you will also enjoy personalized support, earn certificates, and tackle exciting community challenges. Get started here. 

See you in class! – Dan