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illustrator recolor artwork greyed out

HeyBraza spots why recolor artwork is greyed out for your selection and points you to the path that makes it active.

the recolor artwork button greys out when your selection isn't editable vector - most often a placed photo, a mesh, or a single path. once you know which, it's a quick fix. here's how to make recolor work on your art.

or do it yourself

  1. 1select your artwork with the selection tool (v) - recolor needs at least two vector colors selected to switch on.
  2. 2if it's a placed photo, recolor won't apply; trace it first via image trace, then expand it into vectors.
  3. 3if it's a single path, recolor stays greyed out - select a group of two or more colored objects instead.
  4. 4open the recolor panel via edit > edit colors > recolor artwork, or the color-wheel icon in the top control bar.
  5. 5drag the handles on the color wheel, or click 'edit' to map each old color to a new one across the whole selection.

let HeyBraza do this with you

HeyBraza is a tiny on-screen guide that points at the right buttons and talks you through it, on windows and mac.

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common questions

why is recolor artwork greyed out on my image?

it's a raster photo, not vectors - recolor only works on vector art, so run image trace and expand it first.

why won't recolor change a mesh object?

gradient mesh objects aren't supported by recolor artwork; recolor the mesh points manually or rebuild it as flat shapes.

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