Changing global colors and tints


    You can change the color or tint of all objects that share the same properties, or you can use the Swatches palette to change a color or tint throughout a file.

    The Select Same Tint % option in the General Preferences dialog box specifies that objects must have the same tint when you select objects based on color. For instance, with this option selected, if you select an object filled with a 50% tint of Pantone Yellow C and choose Select > Same > Fill Color, Illustrator selects only those objects filled with a 50% tint of that color. With the option deselected, objects with any tint of Pantone Yellow C are selected.

To change the color or tint of objects with the same properties:

  1. Select objects using one of the following methods:
    • To select all objects with the same style, select an object with that style or choose the style from the Graphic Styles palette. Then choose Select > Same > Style.
    • To select all objects with the same fill or stroke color, select an object with that fill or stroke color or choose the color from the Color palette or Swatches palette. Then choose Select > Same > Fill Color, Select > Same > Stroke Color or Select > Same > Fill & Stroke.
    • To select all objects with the same stroke weight, select an object with that stroke weight or choose the stroke weight from the Stroke palette. Then choose Select > Same > Stroke Weight.
    • To apply the same selection options using a different object (for example, if you have already selected all red objects using the Same Fill Color command and now you want to search for all green objects), select a new object and then choose Select > Reselect.
  2. In the Color palette, do one of the following:
    • For objects with a non-spot color, enter a color value in the associated text box.
    • For objects with a spot color, enter a tint value in the Tint Percentage text box.

To specify that a fill or stroke must be the same tint when selecting based on color:

    Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS), select Select Same Tint %, and click OK.

To change a global process color or a spot color throughout a file:

    Replace a color swatch in the Swatches palette using one of the following options:

    • Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) a swatch from the Swatches palette over the swatch you want to replace.
    • Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) a color from the Color palette over the swatch you want to replace.
    • Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) a color from the Fill box or the Stroke box (in the toolbox or Color palette) over the swatch you want to replace.
    • Double-click the swatch and edit the color in the Swatch Options dialog box. (See Editing swatches.)

To change the tint of a global process color or spot color:

  1. Select a color swatch in the Swatches palette.
  2. In the Color palette, enter a tint value in the Tint Percentage text box.