Ink Coverage Error? 299% ink flagged at 300%

[MichelleNephew]

• I have a PSD placed into an InDesign file
• The PSD was converted to my print profile - ISO coated v2 300 ECI - I also tried with no embedded profile, tried saving as a pdf, all to the same results.
• The darkest section of the image shows at 299% ink coverage in photoshop
• InDesign document is also set to ISO coated v2 300 ECI
• Transparency blend space is set to CMYK, not sure if that matters but everything is consistent.
• BUT the darkest sections show up red when Ink Coverage preview is turned on in InDesign

So I tried exporting it to a pdf.

• PDF output was ALSO set to ISO coated v2 300 ECI
• The darkest sections show up green BUT they are still listed at 299%! I assure you I was hovering over a green highlighted area when I took this screenshot.

So apparently the correct color numbers are getting through, but InDesign and Acrobat flag 299% inks at 300%? What gives?

• 

[MichelleNephew]

73+68+63+95 = 299%

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Same can occur in InDesign, they may be 1% off strange enough, but luckyly nothing to worry about 😉

[rob day]

I agree with Frans total ink doesn't need to be that accurate—it's not like you will have a drying problem if the total ink goes from 300 to 301.

The default PS, ID and Acrobat separation numbers are not that accurate, an 8-bit per channel image can obviously have a lot more that 100 gray levels per channel. In InDesign you can spec percentages in hundredths, and you'll get hundredths if you convert an RGB or Lab color to CMYK. In Photoshop you can calculate tenths by setting the info to 32-bit and multiplying the readout by 100.