Swatches exchange files .ase and .ai

[Fuschia]

Hi!

When i save my swatches library, i have two format options: .ai and .ase. I guess .ai is only to illustrator and .ase is to adobe apllications. Why .ai?Couldn't they simplify and have only .ase? Well just wondering. My real question was, .ase files are ONLY to Adobe right? No use for Quark, Freehand and so, right?


Second, I know that in Photoshop we shouldn't exchange the document color mode many times...we should work it on RBG and then later make a file copy, flatten and make it CMYK. But, since in Illustrator im using vectors, should i be that careful? Or, i can change from CMYK to RGB as many times i want without losing color information?

Thanks

[Lukas Engqvist]

With swatches there are some swatches such as patterns that are Illustrator specific.

Colour modes? Well first I don't see the point in not just leaving your Photoshop images in the RGB space, if you are creating the ready files and they are tagged with the right ICC the separation and the flattening will occur as you export from a PDF from InDesign, no need to do it before.
In Illustrator changing modes is also dangerous, mostly due to blacks getting converted, and pollution of pure colours, a telltale that the image has been converted.
I have said before for technical artwork it is safest to work in CMYK and don't tagg the files with ICC profiles (RANT: syncing colour settings across adobe applications work fine if everyone on the planet uses the same settings, and the same device, and the same paper).
If you place photographs in Illustrator however you will have to activate colourmanagement, but then you can still keep the photoshop files in RGB and convert the file to a PDFx1a when you want to hand it over to the layout program.