Color reduction options

Last updated on Oct 27, 2025

Learn about the Color Reduction Options in the Recolor Artwork dialog box to simplify your artworks.

You can simplify your artwork by limiting the colors using Color Reduction Options in Adobe Illustrator. Select Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork, and then select Advanced Options to access the Recolor Artwork dialog box, where you can reduce the colors of your selected artwork using custom options.

In the Recolor Artwork dialog box, select the Assign tab, where the New column displays all the colors from your selected artwork. Select the Color Reduction Options icon, and specify any of the following options:

Option	Function
Preset	Specifies a preset color job, including the number of colors used and optimal settings. If you select a preset and then change any other options, the preset changes to Custom.
Colors	Specifies the number of new colors that the current colors are reduced to.
Limit To Library	Specifies a swatch library from which all new colors are derived.
Sort	Determines the order in which the original colors appear in the Current Colors column.
Colorize Method	Specifies the types of variations allowed for the new colors. Exact replaces each current color exactly with the specified new color. Preserve Tints is the same as Scale Tints for non-global colors. It applies the current color’s tint to the new color for spot or global colors. Use Preserve Tints when all the current colors in the row are tints of the same or similar global color. For best results when using Preserve Tints, also select Combine Tints. Scale Tints (default option) replaces the darkest current color in the row with the specified new color. Other current colors in the row are replaced with a proportionally lighter tint. Tints and Shades replaces the current color with the average lightness and darkness with the specified new color. Current colors that are lighter than the average are replaced with a proportionally lighter tint of the new color. Adding black to the new color replaces current colors that are darker than the average. Hue Shift sets the most typical color in the Current Colors row as a key color and exactly replaces the key color with the new color. The other current colors are replaced by colors that differ from the new color in brightness, saturation, and hue by the same amounts that the current color differs from the key color.
Combine Tints	Sorts all tints of the same global color into the same Current Colors row, even if colors are not being reduced. Use this option only when the selected art contains global or spot colors applied at tints less than 100%. For best results, use in combination with the Preserve Tints colorization method. Even when Combine Tints isn't selected, color reduction combines tints of the same global color before it combines different non-global colors.
Preserve	Determines whether white, black, or gray is preserved in the final reduction. If a color is preserved, it appears as an excluded row in the Current Colors column.

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