In the following tutorial, you will learn how to change color in Illustrator and how to find and replace colors in Illustrator.
Once you learn to replace colors in Illustrator, you can head over to Envato Elements, where you can get unlimited downloads of stock videos, music, graphics, photos, fonts, and more.
What You'll Learn in This Tutorial
- How to change color in Illustrator
- How to find and replace a color in Illustrator
1. How to Color Vector Shapes in Illustrator
Before we learn how to change colors in Illustrator, let's see how you can color vector objects.
Any vector shape comes with a fill and stroke. Focus on the color settings from your Toolbar, and below the tools you will find the Fill and the Stroke color settings. By default, these settings will be set to black and white. A red slash indicates that there's no color set for that attribute. Whenever you need to edit the fill or the stroke, make sure that it is selected—a simple click will do it.
2. How to Change the Color in Illustrator
To replace a color in Illustrator, double-click the Fill or the Stroke color box and use the settings from the Color Picker window to set the new color.
3. How to Change the Color in Illustrator Using Panels
Alternatively, you can use some of Illustrator's panels to replace colors in Illustrator.
First, there's the Control panel (Window > Control). Click the Fill or the Stroke color box to open the Swatches fly-out panel, or hold down the Shift key and click the same box to open the Color fly-out panel.
Go to Window > Color and Window > Swatches whenever you wish to open these standalone panels and use them to replace colors in Illustrator.
Using the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance), you can replace colors in Illustrator just as you would using the Control panel. Remember to hold down the Shift key to toggle between the Color and the Swatches panels.
Similarly, you can use the Properties panel (Window > Properties) to replace colors in Illustrator.
4. How to Change Color in Illustrator Using Recolor Artwork
Recolor Artwork is another method that you can use to replace colors in Illustrator.
Select your vector object and click the Recolor Artwork button from the Control panel (or go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork). Once the dialog box is opened, you can use the color handles to easily change any color in your design.
Clicking the Advanced Options button will open the expanded Recolor Artwork panel, which you can use to find and replace colors in Illustrator.
5. How to Change Color in Illustrator Using the Eyedropper Tool
Finally, you can use the Eyedropper Tool (I) to easily replace the color of a selected object with the color of another object from your design.
Congratulations! You're Done!
Now that you've learned how to change color in Illustrator, feel free to use these techniques in your future projects.
You can find some great sources of inspiration at Envato Elements, with interesting solutions to improve your design portfolio.
Want to Learn More?
We have loads of tutorials on Envato Tuts+, from beginner to intermediate level. Take a look!
How to Draw a Circle in Illustrator
How to Draw a Line in Illustrator
How to Make a Semicircle in Illustrator
How to Make a Triangle in Illustrator
How to Make a Wavy Line in Illustrator
How to Draw Stars in Illustrator
Note: This tutorial was written with the aid of an artificial intelligence tool. It has been thoroughly edited and checked for accuracy by the Envato Tuts+ editorial team.
