Exact same colors in 2 separate Illustrator CS6 objects appear way less saturated in one

Question

I have 2 different objects in Illustrator CS6. They are both their own layer. They both consist of several paths which are filled with a gradient made to resemble gold.

My problem is that of one the object's colors suddenly seemed washed out. I don't remember what I did exactly. For example, a black stroke seems dark gray, almost as if it was transparent, and a gold gradient fill also seems like if all the colors that make up the gradient were a lighter shade.

I double checked and yes, the colors are identical in both objects, and the document color setting is CMKY. Also, the opacity levels are identical in both (100%). Is there any setting that would cause this? It almost looks as if when you get an object in isolation mode, the rest of the non-isolated objects become a bit washed out and transparent, but not to that point, a little bit less. In other words, the object with washed out colors looks like the other objects that are not in isolation mode, but nothing is in isolation mode! I hope this makes sense.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I have had this problem before---check out the color mode of the document. For reasons someone else can explain better, you can switch Illustrator files between RGB and CMYK, but because the two color spaces aren't perfectly equivalent the system has to approximate colors in making the transformation.

You've probably already tried this, but also take a look at the "Swatch Options," which may be different in the two files.

Answer 2

Window>Appearance. Remove any unwanted attributes. For one of mine I had extrude and 3D bevel on it. Once I deleted those layers from the Appearance panel of the selected objects the colors were identical.