Adobe Swatch Exchange file not showing in Swatches palette

[henryanthony]

I am trying to import Adobe Swatch Exchange (.ase) files into AP and AD V1 but no colors are appearing in the drop-down. Title of the palette is there and that is all. I opened the .ase file with word pad just to make sure there was content and there was. Instructions for import was simple and straightforward. FYI I did a restart after installing but that did not help.

Any ideas? Thanks!

[R C-R]

For what very little it is worth, I found a few sample *.ase files online, downloaded them & imported them as application palettes in the Swatches panel of AP V1 on my Mac with no problems.

If you could attach one of the *.ase files that do not work for you (or provide a link to where they could be downloaded if as a relatively new forum member you do not yet have permission to add attachments), we might be able to help you figure out what the problem is.

[henryanthony]

R C-R, file is attached. FYI, after downloading this, I installed it to the Swatches from the my Downloads folder. I don't think that should matter but I don't know. The file is from Benjamin Moore paint company so, not some fly by night outfit.

Thanks for taking a look.

BenjaminMoore_ClassicColors_en-us.ase

[R C-R]

I could not add the Benjamin Moore file to my Swatches panel, either. Don't know why it doesn't work. Sorry.

[henryanthony]

Thanks! Good news is I set the Fills back to default. Not going to spend a lot of time with this but will post if I find a solution.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[henryanthony]

4 hours ago, lacerto said:

The problem was that each color was placed in a separate folder and it seems that the Affinity routine cannot read them. I imported them to Photoshop and exported the complete swatch selection to an .ase file without folder construction, and now they can be imported to Affinity apps.

Hi Lacerto!

Thank you for your response.

I followed your instructions and now have the swatches in Affinity Photo.

Thanks again. Saved me a lot of work!

How did you determine the folder structure? A debug program?

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[henryanthony]

I opened the files in PS CS2 and they imported as expected. Perhaps the Ben Moore files are in an older version of .ase? I think I will try contacting Ben Moore. They may well have been ignoring their .ase production. I'll post if I find out anything.

[R C-R]

8 minutes ago, lacerto said:

When added to Swatches, folders would be copied along with swatches but the swatches could then be moved out of the groups and groups deleted.

I am guessing that here you do not mean the Affinity Swatches panel, right?

Oddly, when I try to add the original *ase file to that panel in AP v2, I get an empty, unnamed palette showing the link symbol & nothing else, & it shows up that way in all3 V2 apps. I have to delete it separately from each of them to completely remove it from that panel.

[lacerto]

Obsolete.

[fiery.spirit]

On 1/2/2023 at 4:00 AM, lacerto said:

The problem was that each color was placed in a separate folder (group) and it seems that the Affinity routine cannot read them. I imported them to Photoshop and exported the complete swatch selection to an .ase file without folder construction, and now they can be imported to Affinity apps.

BenjaminMooreClassicColors_fixed.ase 99.46 kB · 8 downloads

I suppose this is an ok thing to do because the palettes are distributed free of charge by the manufacturer:

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/architects-designers/download-benjamin-moore-color-palettes

Thank you so much for doing this! I was also able to get it to work and now I can design fabrics and wallpapers with their trending colors in mind!