Soft proofing with icc profile

[tobias_nicolai]

Hi all

I am designing a book with blurb, working in Photoshop and Indesign, both CC

I am soft proofing my images in photoshop according to the blurb icc profile. I CMYK the files and place the JPEG's into InDesign and start to layout.

Heres the problem:

Naturally the soft proofed version og the image will appear a tad darker, but when the layout is finalized in InDesign and exported as a PDF this series of B/W images is almost completely blacked out in the shadows and way more contrasty.

Anyone experienced this before, and maybe a solution.

Below is the soft proofed image with soft proofing viewable in photoshop:

Below is the soft proofed image in photoshop with the soft proof turned off. a little darker and less contouring in the shadows.

below here is the image from the exported PDF from InDesign. Which is nowhere near the second image that has been soft proofed. Way more black and no detail in the shadows anymore.

[Derek Cross]

Work in RGB color mode, if you've already converted to CMYK, go back to the original images and create again. The reason your images are dark is probably your screen is too bright. Best to calibrate your monitor.

[tobias_nicolai]

I am working in rgb before converting to CMYK. images need to be in cmyk for the printing of the book.

[Derek Cross]

Don't convert to CMYK yourself always work in RGB, if your printer hasn't given you a spec use the InDesign Acrobat PDF Presets. Use PDF/X-4 to convert to CMYK for commercial litho printing and for inkjet printing select High Quality Print which will allow the printing software to convert correctly to CMYK or even CMYK+ If it's say a 9 color printer.

[tobias_nicolai]

Blurb wants the user to convert the images to cmyk before placing them in InDesign and then working within their plugin in ID

Im not going to do the exact opposite of what blurb recommends me.

[rob day]

Blurb wants the user to convert the images to cmyk before placing them in InDesign and then working within their plugin in ID

Im not going to do the exact opposite of what blurb recommends me.

You can make the conversion to CMYK on export from InDesign and assuming the profiles and color settings are the same the conversion will be the same from either ID or Photoshop. There's no advantage in converting to CMYK in Photoshop unless you plan on making CMYK color corrections.

If you place RGB and convert to CMYK from InDesign there will be fewer moving parts in your workflow and the conversion process will be more efficient.

Before you make your document in InDesign, setup your Color Settings like this. Note that Blurb recommends Perceptual, but I prefer Relative because there will be little or no tonal change with neutral RGB images when you convert to CMYK. If you are working with an existing document make sure the Blurb profile is assigned to the document check Edit>Assign Profiles... It's the assigned profile that color manages the doc, not Color Settings' Working Spaces:

You can soft proof the page and images in InDesign by turning on Overprint Preview—Overprint shows a soft proof of the conversion to the document's assigned profile using Color Settings' Conversion Options.

Blurb asks you to use the PDF/X-3 preset, which flattens transparency and keeps color unchanged. If you want to follow their instructions explicitly do this (this is effectively the same as PDF/X-1a)

At some point im gonna need a JPEG to place in ID. Cant really work with 150 large 100mb+ PSD files within an InDesign file.

If you place the PSDs and keep them as Links, the preview is a JPEG proxy of the PSD, there's no need to save out JPEGs.

With JPEG you run the risk of double compressing the files—the initial compressin when you save the JPEG and then another compression when you export.

[cinziamarotta]

After converting in CMYK save in .psd (not jpg) and try again.

[tobias_nicolai]

At some point im gonna need a JPEG to place in ID. Cant really work with 150 large 100mb+ PSD files within an InDesign file.

My PSD's are saved in CMYK, and then saved as fullsize JPEG's via image processor, if that is what you mean

[Test Screen Name]

Why must you convert to JPEG? Why can't you work with big PSD? This is normal and recommended. Don't embed.

[tobias_nicolai]

Obviously im a novice in ID, otherwise i wouldn't be posting here. Im following the instructions that blurb quite specifically gives in the process.

[rob day]

Also, when you view the PDF in AcrobatPro DC open Output Preview and use the Blurb Output Intent as the Simulation

Here's what I get with the workflow I described. ID and placed RGB with Overprint on vs. CMYK export to AcrobatPro with Output Preview on:

[Derek Cross]

All good advice Rob – I hope the OP has also taken it about profiling his monitor.

[Derek Cross]

As I mentioned in my first post, if your printer had given you a profile use that: edit > convert to profile, selecting the Blurb ICC profile as the destination space. When you soft proof it's wise to select the option to simulate paper to see more accurately how the print will look when it's printed.

Don't forget to calibrate your monitor.

As Test Screen states keep your images in native PSD format, one additional benefit is that you can round-trip for fine-tuning which is often useful.

What are the dimensions and resolution of one of your typical images?

[rob day]

When you soft proof it's wise to select the option to simulate paper to see more accurately how the print will look when it's printed.

Derek, Blurb recommends leaving the paper and ink options unchecked and I agree with them on that. If the monitor and output profile are accurate there should be no need for that hedge, the CMYK profile should accurately capture the black ink and paper color simulation. If you have a bad monitor profile it might help with the soft proof, but it has no affect on the final conversion.