Randomizing colors in Adobe Illustrator is a great way to add visual interest, test design variations, or achieve a more organic look in your artwork. Whether you’re working with icons, patterns, or abstract shapes, there are a few effective methods for assigning random colors to multiple objects in Illustrator. This guide covers three approaches:
- Using Randomill’s Random Color Functions
- Using a Color Randomization Script
- Using Illustrator’s Native Recolor Artwork Feature
Method 1: Randomizing Colors with Randomill
Randomill is a powerful paid plugin for Adobe Illustrator that offers robust randomization features — including colors, positions, opacity, rotation, and more. It’s especially handy for designers who frequently need randomized elements with precision.
How to Use Randomill for Color Randomization:
- Select Your Objects: Select the objects you want to recolor.
- Launch Randomill: Go to
Window > Extensions > Randomill2. - Open the Color Tab: In the Randomill panel, navigate to the “Fill” or “Stroke” section depending on what you want to randomize and enable these functions using the toggle switch. You can enable both at the same time, and dial in different settings for each.
- Dial in your color constraints:
- You can select from a color range (HSL/RGB/CMYK), or a custom swatch set that you import from the swatches panel or from existing objects in the artboard..
- You can define brightness, saturation, or hue limits to keep things within a certain style. Each color parameter can have an individual range.
- Apply Changes: Click the “Play” button at the top left of the panel to execute all enabled functions, or enable individual play buttons in the settings and use that to execute just the color function.
Pros:
- Intuitive and powerful UI that looks right at home inside of Illustrator.
- Highly flexible and customizable, with preset support.
- Supports multiple randomization modes for almost every type of object in Illustrator.
- Can target stroke or fill independently, with separate color settings.
- Has three other (non-randomized) color manipulation modes (shift, loop, and blend).
- Has 10 other major features apart from color manipulation that allow users to generate all kinds of patterns and designs.
Cons:
- Paid plugin.
Method 2: Randomizing colors with a free script in Adobe Illustrator
If you’re comfortable with basic scripting or want a free alternative, using a JavaScript script in Illustrator is a solid option. Several community-created free scripts exist to randomize fill colors (and accomplish a whole bunch of other useful things).
Randomize Color using a free random color script in Adobe Illustrator:
- Acquire your script: several color randomization scripts exist. You download the one here if you want to just randomize from selected swatches. Alternatively, there’s another free script to randomize from min/max ranges of HSL/RGB/CMYK values.
- Open Illustrator and select objects: Make sure your target objects are selected.
- Select swatches: open the swatches panel and select which swatches you want to pull random colors from.
- Open the script: In illustrator, go to
File > Scripts > Other Script…and choose your saved file. This will open the script UI. - Run the script. Click ‘Apply’ to execute the script.
Pros:
- Free and open-source.
- Tweakable if you know your way around JavaScript.
- Tons of different scripts available.
Cons:
- Most scripts don’t have a GUI or easily adjustable settings.
- Less approachable for non-technical users.
- Less flexible than plugins like Randomill.
- Can be cumbersome to continuously run scripts over and over if your workflow requires repetitive randomization.
- Often limited in terms of settings. Most scripts randomize only from selected swatches, or only from colors that already exist on the artboard, etc.
- Might need a combination of scripts to achieve desired result.
Method 3: Using Illustrator’s Recolor Artwork Feature
While not truly “random,” the Recolor Artwork tool can simulate random colorization by shuffling color groups.
How to Use Recolor for Randomizing Colors:
- Select Your Objects.
- Go to
Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork.- This will open up the Recolor Artwork panel, allowing you to dial in your color settings.
- Dial in the color settings:
- Use an existing swatch library or create one by selecting desired swatches in the Swatches panel and clicking the folder icon.
- Alternatively, Illustrator recently introduced a ‘Generative Recolor’ feature that allows you to generate color palettes from a prompt.
- Clicking the ‘Advanced Options’ button allows for deeper customization of color settings.
- Close the panel when you get your desired result:
- Illustrator will continuously apply random colors to your selected objects as you change the settings in the panel.
- When you have a result you like, just close the panel and you’re good to go.
Pros:
- Native to Illustrator, totally free, and no plugins required.
- Allows for ai-generated color palettes for fast tinkering.
- Easy to apply with color swatches.
- Keeps harmony when using thematic palettes.
Cons:
- Limited true randomness — based on shuffling existing colors.
- Requires color groups to be set up, which can be cumbersome.
- Doesn’t support randomizing from color ranges.
- Cumbersome to continuously re-apply randomization.
Which Color Randomization Method Should You Use?
| Method | Best For | Skill Level |
| Randomill | Designers needing precision + UI support | Beginner, Intermediate, & Pro |
| Scripts | Free, flexible automation | Intermediate |
| Recolor Artwork | Recoloring based on a theme | Beginner |
Randomizing color in Illustrator doesn’t have to be tedious. Whether you go the route of a premium plugin like Randomill, a customizable script, or the built-in Recolor tool, you have options that suit every workflow and budget. Explore each method to find what aligns best with your creative process.