Advanced recolor options overview

Last updated on Oct 27, 2025

Learn about the advanced recolor options in the Assign and Edit tab of the Recolor Artwork dialog box.

Recolor Artwork dialog box

To access the Recolor Artwork dialog box, select the artwork, go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork, and then select Advanced Options.

Note

You can also access the Recolor Artwork dialog box by selecting Edit or Apply Colors from Window > Color Guide. If you didn’t select the artwork, you get the Edit Colors dialog box in place of the Recolor Artwork dialog box in which the Assign tab is greyed out.

The main areas of the dialog box are:

Tab or panel

Description

Assign

Use the Assign tab to assign colors from a swatch group to replace the original colors or reduce the number of colors in the selected artwork.

Edit

Use the Edit tab to create or modify swatch groups. The smooth and segmented color wheels show the relationship between colors, while color bars let you adjust individual color properties. You can also adjust brightness, add, and remove colors.

Swatch Groups

Use the Swatch Groups list to edit, delete, and create swatch groups for the current document. If this list doesn’t appear in the Recolor Artwork dialog box, select Show swatch group storage .

The selected swatch group denotes which swatch group is currently being edited. You can select any swatch group and use it to recolor the selected artwork. All changes you make in the Swatch Groups are reflected in the Swatches panel.

Assign tab

The Recolor Artwork dialog box displays various recoloring options such as Harmony Rules, Save changes to swatch group, New Swatch Group, and more., Picture

A. Set current color as the base color B. Active Colors C. Save changes to swatch group D. New Swatch Group E. Delete Swatch Group F. Click on colors above to find them in the artwork G. Randomly changes saturation and brightness H. Randomly change color order I. New Row J. Excludes selected colors so they will not be recolored K. Separate colors into different rows L. Merge colors into a row 

You can assign colors in the following ways:

Option

Function

Swatch Groups

Displays predefined or custom sets of related colors that you can apply to the artwork.

Harmony Rules

Generates balanced color schemes based on the selected base color.

Reset

Restores the original artwork colors.

Set current color as the base color

Sets the base color for the edits.

Save changes to swatch group

Saves the recolored changes to the selected swatch group.

New Swatch Group

Creates a new swatch group from the colors in your recolored artwork.

Delete Swatch Group

Removes the selected swatch group from the Swatches panel.

Preset

Shows predefined recolor adjustment options, such as Custom, Color Library, Single Color, Two Color, Three Color, or Color Harmony.

Colors

Sets the number of colors to display in the artwork.

Current Colors

Shows the original colors used in the artwork that can be reassigned.

New

Displays the colors that are assigned to replace the current colors.

Merge colors into a row

Combines selected color from the Current Colors column into a single row.

Separate colors into different rows

Separates merged row into individual colors.

Exclude selected colors so they will not be recolored

Excludes the selected colors from the recoloring process.

New Row

Adds a new color row to manually map an original color to a new one.

Change color order randomly

Changes the order of colors on the wheel randomly.

Change saturation and brightness randomnly

Adjusts saturation and brightness values of the colors randomly.

Click on colors above to find them in the artwork

Finds the selected colors from the Current Colors to find them in the artwork.

Recolor Art

Previews and recolors the selected artwork using the active color group based on the assignments in the Current Colors and New columns.

Generative Recolor

Uses generative AI to recolor the artwork based on a text prompt.

Edit tab

The Recolor Artwork dialog box displays options to select color harmony rules, set name, move base color marker, unlink the harmony colors, limit swatch group to swatch library colors, add or remove color, display brightness and hue on the wheel, display color options, and set current color as base color.
Edit colors using options in the Recolor Artwork dialog box

A. Harmony Rules B. Name field C. Base color marker D. Unlink harmony colors E. Limits the swatch group to colors in a swatch library F. Add Color Tool or Remove Color Tool G. Show brightness and hue on wheel H. Selected color I. Display color options J. Set current color as the base color 

Option

Function

Display smooth color wheel

Displays hue, saturation, and brightness in a smooth, continuous circle. Each color in the current swatch group is drawn on the wheel inside a circle. This wheel lets you select from numerous colors with great precision.

Display segmented color wheel 

Displays colors as a set of segmented color patches. This wheel makes it easy to see individual colors.

Display color bars 

Displays the color group as solid bars of color that you can select and edit individually. You can reorganize colors in this display by dragging and dropping color bars. You can remove a color, set it as the base color, change its shade, or change it using the Color Picker by right-clicking on it.