Sharing Preferences Across Adobe Creative Suite Applications

One of the benefits of the Adobe Common Color Architecture is the shared Color Settings file. This file allows you to set preferences once and use them throughout the Adobe Creative Suite. By using the same settings throughout the suite, you ensure that all of the applications handle color the same way.

Configuring the Color Settings File for Illustrator and InDesign

Let's begin by setting up the Color Settings file for Adobe Illustrator CS2, much as we did for Photoshop.

1.	Launch Adobe Illustrator CS2. Tip Make sure you set up Photoshop first, because it has more options than the other applications in the suite.
2.	Choose Edit > Color Settings. The Color Settings dialog box appears. Figure 7.1. Adobe Illustrator CS2 automatically selects the Color Settings file that we set up in Photoshop. Each of the options is set to the same selections that we made when we created the Color Settings file in Chapter 5. If you check the Advanced Mode check box, you will see that even the advanced options, such as the chosen color engine and use of black point compensation, are consistent with the ones we're using in Photoshop.
3.	Click OK to close Illustrator's Color Settings dialog box. Note If you are using Adobe Creative Suite CS applications rather than CS2, you simply need to select the Color Settings file from the Settings menu within each application. InDesign CS2 and Acrobat Professional 7 will also automatically select the Color Settings file you set up earlier. If you didn't save your custom color settings in Photoshop, you can go back and do that now and then choose them in Illustrator. Alternatively, if you chose one of the presets in Photoshop, such as U.S. Prepress Defaults, Illustrator CS2 will automatically use the same option. By using the same color settings in both applications, you ensure that the colors in files that are opened in both applications will be consistent both on the screen and when you print.