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Frequently asked questions

Answers to common questions about Swatch Mill.

Still have questions? Email us.

Adobe Illustrator CC 2022 or later is required. Adobe Photoshop is also required if your artwork includes placed Photoshop files; it will open automatically when needed. For vector artwork, Illustrator alone is sufficient.
Swatch Mill's analysis runs in RGB color space, so your swatch library needs to be in RGB. To ensure your .ASE file is correct, switch your Illustrator document to RGB Color mode (File → Document Color Mode → RGB Color) before exporting your swatches as an .ASE file.
Install directly from Adobe Exchange — Creative Cloud handles everything automatically. After installation, restart Illustrator and open the panel from Window → Extensions → Swatch Mill.
Swatch Mill handles vectors and placed Photoshop files. It applies a multi-level analysis across element types, each handled with the appropriate method, so mixed artwork is analyzed accurately in a single pass. For best coverage accuracy, fit your artwork to the artboard bounds before analyzing.
Four output types are available, each added as a new artboard in your Illustrator document: Print Mill Sheet (production-ready color spec with coverage counts), Graphic Mill Sheet (artwork with body color separation for screen printing and embroidery), Presentation Fill (artwork tiled as a repeat pattern at adjustable scale), and Swatch Artboard (visual swatch reference guide).
Each purchase is a single-seat license for the purchaser only. For team or volume needs, contact us.
Swatch Mill is a subscription at $49/year, billed through Adobe Exchange. Your subscription includes all updates for the duration of your plan.

Swatch Mill Documentation

Everything you need to install and use the Swatch Mill plugin for Adobe Illustrator.

System Requirements

  • › Adobe Illustrator CC 2022 (v26.0) or later
  • › Adobe Photoshop, required for analyzing placed Photoshop files; will open automatically when needed
  • › macOS or Windows

Installation

Swatch Mill is installed directly through Adobe Creative Cloud — no manual download or third-party tool required.

  1. 1 Visit the Swatch Mill listing on Adobe Exchange and click Install.
  2. 2 Creative Cloud will handle the installation automatically.
  3. 3 Restart Adobe Illustrator.
  4. 4 Open Swatch Mill from Window → Extensions → Swatch Mill.

Getting Started

Open Swatch Mill from Window → Extensions → Swatch Mill. The panel docks like any other Illustrator panel.

Before analyzing, load a swatch library. Click Load .ASE File or drag and drop an ASE file into the panel.

Saved libraries appear in the Library Manager and reload in one click next session. Keep libraries organized per client or product line for best results.

Analyzing Artwork

With a swatch library loaded and your artwork open, select the objects on your artboard and click Analyze Selected Artboard. Swatch Mill runs a multi-level analysis across your artboard. Vectors and placed Photoshop files are each handled with the appropriate method to produce accurate color matching results.

After analysis, each matched swatch displays its coverage percentage — the share of the artboard area it occupies. From there, choose an output type to generate your mill sheet.

Indexing Artwork

Indexing reduces your artwork to a fixed set of spot colors before or alongside Swatch Mill analysis. It's a quick way to visualize how a design will separate into your swatch palette for screen printing, embroidery, or similar production processes.

Photoshop

If your artwork is a raster file or you've exported your Illustrator artwork as a TIFF or PNG, Photoshop's Indexed Color mode lets you reduce it to a precise palette:

  1. 1 Flatten the image: Layer → Flatten Image.
  2. 2 Go to Image → Mode → Indexed Color.
  3. 3 In the dialog, set Palette to Local (Selective) to auto-detect dominant colors, or Custom to load a saved palette. Set Colors to your target spot-color count (e.g., 6 for a 6-color screen print). Set Dither to None for flat artwork.
  4. 4 Click OK. Photoshop maps every pixel to the nearest color in the palette.

You can inspect or edit the resulting palette under Image → Mode → Color Table.

Illustrator — Recolor Artwork

Illustrator doesn't have an indexed color mode, but Recolor Artwork achieves the same result for vector files:

  1. 1 Select all artwork (Cmd / Ctrl + A).
  2. 2 Go to Edit → Recolor Artwork (or click the Recolor button in the Properties panel).
  3. 3 Set the Colors count to your target number. To snap colors to your swatch library, click the library icon in the color wheel and load your .ASE file.
  4. 4 Click OK to apply the reduced palette. Then run Swatch Mill to analyze and generate your mill sheet.

Recolor Artwork modifies the document — work on a copy if you want to preserve the original colors.

Output Types

All outputs are generated as new artboards added directly to your Illustrator document. Choose the type that matches your production need:

Print Mill Sheet

Full artwork preview with color breakdown, coverage counts, and swatch references. The standard format for mill submission.

Graphic Mill Sheet

Artwork with a designated body color prominently displayed and additional colors listed separately. Ideal for screen printing and embroidery.

Presentation Fill

Your artwork tiled as a repeat pattern at adjustable scale. Great for client presentations and colorway reviews.

Swatch Artboard

A visual swatch reference guide added directly to your document. Useful for internal handoff and production reference.

You can optionally add a company logo (620×125 px recommended) to the top-left cell of Print and Graphic Mill Sheets.

Advanced Settings

Swatch Mill works out of the box for most workflows. These settings are available if you need to tune behavior for specific situations.

Sample Rate

Controls analysis thoroughness on a scale of 1–10. At 1, every pixel is sampled for maximum accuracy. At 10, analysis is fastest but less precise. The default is suitable for most work — only adjust this if analysis is too slow or you need absolute precision for a final production run.

Min % Threshold

Filters out matched swatches below a minimum coverage percentage. Useful if incidental colors are showing up in results that you don't want included in your mill sheet output.

Troubleshooting

Plugin not showing under Window → Extensions

Make sure the installation completed in Creative Cloud, then fully restart Illustrator. If it still doesn't appear, email support and include your Illustrator version.

"No active document found"

Open an Illustrator document before running analysis, and make sure an artboard is active.

Color matches look wrong or incomplete

Make sure your swatch library contains the colors you expect to find in the artwork. If swatches are missing from results, check that they're loaded correctly in the Library Manager.

Still stuck? Email support.

Changelog

v1.0.0: Initial Release

  • + Multi-level color analysis across vectors and placed Photoshop files
  • + ASE and plain-text swatch library support
  • + Coverage percentage reporting with Min % threshold slider
  • + Print Mill Sheet and Graphic Mill Sheet output
  • + Presentation Fill and Swatch Artboard output
  • + Saved Library Manager
  • + Ground color and eyedropper tools