Adobe Community: how to convert to 1 color black from rgb black

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1. SRiegel,

Jun 25, 2012 12:06 PM in reply to notannsteer

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Are there linked images in the file? I run into this sometimes with images that look like greyscale, but are actually RGB. I find them by turning on separations, and turning off the black plate. With the file view reduced, it's easy to see where the errant colors are coming from.

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2. notannsteer,

Jun 25, 2012 12:11 PM in reply to SRiegel

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no linked images - just black and white and grey text. I've never had this problem before! I'm thinking it is because of the mismach of source files dating back to pagemaker that I worked form. Is there not a settign in InDesign to ensure that black is jsut black - not cmyk black?

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3. SRiegel,

Jun 25, 2012 12:21 PM in reply to notannsteer

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I don't know of a setting, but you could try this:

In your Swatches panel, choose "Add Unnamed Colors". This should add all the various blacks from the source files. Then just delete all the blacks except the default one from the doucment. There will be a dialog that asks what to replace them with; choose the default black. As long as its icon looks like this

you can be sure that it is made of black ink only.

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4. notannsteer,

Jun 25, 2012 12:39 PM in reply to SRiegel

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I have tried that - there are no unnamed colors - it seems that the basic black is cmyk black and although there are no values for cmy - it shows up as cmyk - Is tehre nothign I can do to fix this? I can't delete teh basic black - how can I change it to black only?

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Oct 16, 2007

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5. Rob Day,

Jun 25, 2012 12:46 PM in reply to notannsteer

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If black is converting to 4-colors then there is a profile mismatch somewhere—you're exporting using a destination profile that conflicts with your document's profile, or you are including profiles with the exported PDF and your printer is inadvertantly making the conversion. The simplest solution is to use the default PDF/X-1a preset, which sets the destination to Document CMYK and does not include profiles.

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6. SRiegel,

Jun 25, 2012 12:46 PM in reply to notannsteer

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If the file is not confidential, I'd be happy to take a look at it. Without the acutal file in front of me, I afraid I'm out of ideas.

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7. Rob Day,

Jun 25, 2012 12:51 PM in reply to notannsteer

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it seems that the basic black is cmyk black and although there are no values for cmy - it shows up as cmyk

InDesign has no grayscale color space. Colors can only be CMYK, RGB, or Lab.

There's not a problem if black is exporting as 0|0|0|100 CMYK—your printer can simply output the Black separation.

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8. Rob Day,

Jun 25, 2012 1:01 PM in reply to notannsteer

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You can quickly see if there is CMY in the document via separation setup in either ID or Acrobat. Open the Separation Preview panel and turn off the Black channel:

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9. notannsteer,

Jun 25, 2012 1:17 PM in reply to Rob Day

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Tha t is good advice - I think I've found the offending objects - how can I convert those to black only - how can I show you the file?

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10. notannsteer,

Jun 25, 2012 1:19 PM in reply to Rob Day

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Here is the file – I inserted these individually from another program – some sort of calendar wizard – they need to be black only

Thanks Ann

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11. notannsteer,

Jun 25, 2012 1:31 PM in reply to notannsteer

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The little calendars are individual pdf files - i have found that I can convert them to black only by using tools-convert colors- color destination - and choosing grey gamma

then when I check teh separations - there is only black. It would have been nice to control this within InDesign though

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12. SRiegel,

Jun 25, 2012 1:36 PM in reply to notannsteer

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If a placed file is RGB, InDesign can't do anything about that. The file would has to be made as only black in its original program. I run into this from time to time with files created in AutoCad. I have to convert them to greyscale in Illustrator.

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13. notannsteer,

Jun 25, 2012 1:43 PM in reply to SRiegel

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not so - pls see my previous answer to myself - I can do the conversion in acrobat 10 - actually - it is tools - print productio - convert colors - conversion profile - then from drop down list - way at teh bottom - tehre is gamma grey. I shoul d have been more clear - tha t I am using acrobat 10 to do the conversion.

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14. Rob Day,

Jun 25, 2012 3:21 PM in reply to notannsteer

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It would have been nice to control this within InDesign though

You can in CS6. CS6 lets you export a PDF to grayscale. You just have to watch out for unwanted value changes.

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how to convert to 1 color black from rgb black

Jun 25, 2012 11:49 AM

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