Adobe Community: Pdf colourspace in an InDesign file

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1. Bob Levine,

Jul 24, 2012 9:53 AM in reply to James_233

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Open it in Acrobat and check it there.

Bob

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2. Bob Levine,

Jul 24, 2012 9:54 AM in reply to James_233

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BTW, what exactly is wrong with having properly tagged RGB images?

Bob

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3. James_233,

Jul 24, 2012 10:00 AM in reply to Bob Levine

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Thanks Bob for replying. I tried converting the files in Acrobat with that general command "convert everything to CMYK" but it does this in the background and no feedback whatsoever.

I apologise for sounding so dumb, but how do I check whether a pdf in Acrobat is in RGB or CMYK? I have never been able to find the command for this.

With regard to "properly tagged RGB images" these are third party images, I had nothing to do with their creation, and incidentally I would not know how to tag images as RGB because when I create my pdfs I know what their purpose is - litho print (CMYK) or digital (does not matter) or for web (RGB) and thus I create them.

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4. James_233,

Jul 24, 2012 11:25 AM in reply to Bob Levine

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The other issue is why did InDesign's package report that "0 use RGB space" when some were in RGB space?

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5. Laubender,

Jul 24, 2012 11:31 AM in reply to James_233

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@James – if you are using Acrobat Pro 8 or 9, you'll find at least two palettes which come handy for prepress use:

Advanced / Print Production / Output Preview

If you like you can go to "Show": "RGB" and you will see RGB objects only…

Advanced / Print Production / Preflight

In the "Preflight" panel there are a lot of profiles for analyzing and fixing issues.

You could define your own or alter pre-defined ones.

If you are using Acrobat Pro X, you'll find the two panels at other places…

Note: a PDF could hold a lot of color spaces; it's not an "either / or", it could easily be an "and" (RGB and CMYK and Gray and Lab …).

Uwe

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6. Peter Spier,

Jul 24, 2012 11:36 AM in reply to James_233

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Is it possible some images were pasted instead of placed? I'm not sure prefilght would pick up the RGB in that case.

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7. Rob Day,

Jul 24, 2012 3:36 PM in reply to James_233

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why did InDesign's package report that "0 use RGB space" when some were in RGB space?

Because PDF files can contain objects with different color spaces there's no way of knowing what it's resolution, color space, or color profile is—if you select a PDF and look at the Info Panel actual and effective resolution, color space, and color profile are blank.

How can I check a 3rd party PDF to see that it is in CMYK or RGB and if in RGB, how can I change it to CMYK.

You can convert all of the RGB objects in the layout or inside of a placed PDF to any CMYK space by exporting the ID document to PDF. If you export via the default PDF/X-1a preset all color except spot color is converted to your document's CMYK space. If an RGB object has an assigned profile the conversion is from its assigned RGB space to document CMYK.

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8. James_233,

Jul 26, 2012 6:16 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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Hi Peter

None of the pix were embedded. However, all of the pix were legacy Illustrator files. I wonder if InDesign CS6 is not recognising RGB space from legacy Illustrator files. If so, there is a bug.

Can you test it out? However, you have answered before and you are a PC man. I am on a Mac.

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9. Rob Day,

Jul 26, 2012 6:52 AM in reply to James_233

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How can I check a 3rd party PDF to see that it is in CMYK or RGB and if in RGB, how can I change it to CMYK.

If for some reason you don't want to export your ID document to a CMYK pdf, you can convert the provided PDFs to CMYK in AcrobatPro via Tools>Print Production>Convert Colors.

RGB shouldn't be a prepress problem anymore—accurate color managed conversions to CMYK can be made via Export or Print from ID.

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10. Peter Spier,

Jul 26, 2012 7:00 AM in reply to James_233

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James_233 wrote:

Hi Peter
None of the pix were embedded. However, all of the pix were legacy Illustrator files. I wonder if InDesign CS6 is not recognising RGB space from legacy Illustrator files. If so, there is a bug.

Can you test it out? However, you have answered before and you are a PC man. I am on a Mac.

PC or Mac makes no difference, but you should go back and look at Rob's previous answer about PDF, becasue I think that's what you are seeing with preflight. Illustrator has been PDF for years.

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11. James_233,

Jul 26, 2012 7:09 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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HI Peter

I am not just talking about the pdfs from other sources, but about a logo which I had worked on and which was in an old version of Illustrator. I'd forgotten it was in RGB. I know that Illustrator has been pdf for years

Thanks

James

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12. Peter Spier,

Jul 26, 2012 7:24 AM in reply to James_233

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I think I'm lost now about what the problem is, exactly.

I think we've explained why preflight might not find RGB. What version of ID are you using, by the way? Your description "0 use RGB Color Space" sounds like the preflight fom the package command, not the live preflight available since CS4. Live Preflight can be set to flag RGB used in PDF, but the same file will not show an RGB warning in the package preflight.

The real question, though is what export settings you are using, and why you aren't converting to a CMYK space on export if the printer doesn't want to handle the conversion on his end.

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13. James_233,

Jul 26, 2012 8:17 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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Peter I have been doing this sort of work for years and I have never encountered this problem.

Yes, I was using the Package command, but I also take note of the Prefllght panel (basic) and it did not tell me I had RGB files.

And thank you for drawing my attention to the Preflight panel features. I have always used the Basic one because I thought it would pick up an RGB space, because isn't that something essential to check for printing? Anyway, I have created a new Preflight and it has picked up the RGBs and even Lab in some documents I created and I have never, ever used Lab in any document.

I have just noticed that in the links palette the color space shows CMYK for some files, but no RGB. They are blank, even though I have since changed them to CMYK. I attach a screen shot to show you what I mean.

So why is the Package command not picking up RGB when it used to do so?

Why isn't the Links panel displaying RGB in linked .ai files when other linked files (Photoshop) are displayed as being in CMYK space. Even when I have re-saved the .ai files as Illustrator CS6 and converted to them to CMYK they are not displaying as CMYK on the Links panel.

The export settings I am using are the built-in pre-press ones.

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14. Peter Spier,

Jul 26, 2012 8:58 AM in reply to James_233

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All of the links you're showing with no color space are either .ai or PDF. ID just doesn't report the color space for those because it can be mixed.

As far as whether the package command used to pick up the RGB, I couldn't say that it ever did. Can you test on an earlier version with the same PDF? I wonder if in the past you either didn't have PDFs with RGB in them, or if you did a conversion to CMYK on export and that's why you never saw this before. Sending a file with colors preserved is a relatively new workflow (generally we're talking about sending PDF/X-4 to a printer who specifies that they can handle it) and it would be far more common to have converted to CMYK at output. You haven't told us waht PDF settings you use now, or if they are the same as previously.

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15. Rob Day,

Jul 26, 2012 9:00 AM in reply to James_233

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I have just noticed that in the links palette the color space shows CMYK for some files, but no RGB. They are blank, even though I have since changed them to CMYK. I attach a screen shot to show you what I mean.

See post #7. ID's Info has never shown color space or profiles for .ai or .pdf

The export settings I am using are the built-in pre-press ones.

Use the PDF/X-1a preset if you don't want RGB objects in the PDF.

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16. Peter Spier,

Jul 26, 2012 9:12 AM in reply to Peter Spier

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Sorry, I seem to have missed the line about the export settings.

Not sure what you mean about the "prepress" ones since there are none specifically labelled Prepress. Both PDF/X-1a and "Press Quality" should be converting to a CMYK profile. "High Qulaity Print" preserves existing colors.

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Pdf colourspace in an InDesign file

Jul 24, 2012 9:34 AM

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