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craigriches66
Known Participant
May 27, 2016
Answered

Exporting Indesign file to RGB colour profile PDF

  • May 27, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 3330 views

Hi there,

Apologies for ignorance in advance.

I have been asked by my printer to provide them with a "raw" PDF with an RGB colour profile and a PDF/X-3:2002 preset.

"The recommended color profile is RGB. It is no use sending us a CMYK profile for color control purposes. When we process your (raw) PDF to a print-ready PDF, we will need to add margins and bleed based on the specifications of the facility that is closest to the recipient. This means we have to translate the color profile to CMYK again, losing the benefits of sending us CMYK in the first place."

However, my document is set up with "print" intent in InDesign and I am clueless about how to export an RGB PDF. Can anyone with patience help me out here instead of shooting me down as a clueless newbie?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Stephen Marsh

    please see my answer to your initial response for clarity


    More clarity would be good :]

    Do you have Acrobat Pro? Colour conversions from InDesign don’t provide any great control. I would prefer to work from the PDF file if at all possible.

    Can you ask them for further detail?

    * What ICC profile? sRGB would be a lowest common denominator, however if they assume Adobe RGB and ignore your sRGB profiles then your colour his screwed (same for providing Adobe RGB and they assume sRGB). It should not matter if their colour management is setup correctly, however I have seen too many PSP that ignore embedded profiles and assume, which is not good for RGB input.

    * What CMYK profile should be set as the output intent of the PDF/X-3?

    * Do they wish for the entire PDF to be RGB, including solid black text as say 0r0g0b rather than 0cmy100k? Or do they wish for only the raster image content to be RGB with the rest of the text and vectors in CMYK? You may need to provide a version each way just in case if they are not going to be specific.

    1 reply

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 29, 2016

    I am not filled with confidence from the quotes from your print service provider.

    Adding margins and bleed in itself does not require a colour space conversion – however it sounds like this is part of a wider site specific workflow where a CMYK conversion to the local “house” CMYK profile will take place.

    With the right software, people safely convert from different CMYK conditions all day long. With the wrong software, solid black or black only tinted content would be converted to CMYK and not remain K only.

    The colour mode/model may be RGB, however that is not a colour profile. A colour profile would be descriptive, such as sRGB or Adobe RGB etc. So can your “service provider” work with any RGB colour profile/s – or do they only support content in a specific assumed colour profile?

    PDF/X standards all require a CMYK output intent, even if the content is RGB. However, InDesign will change a forced RGB conversion to CMYK if one attempts to set a CMYK output intent. This may mean that the best place to work with colour is not in InDesign, but in Acrobat Pro or other PDF editing software.

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 29, 2016

    Further to my previous reply:

    * What exactly does your PSP require? A PDF which has CMYK text and other content, but all raster images in RGB? Or do they require a PDF with all content RGB, text, imges, vectors etc all in RGB, no CMYK or grayscale content whatsoever.

    * What exact RGB colour profile do they require (sRGB, Adobe RGB) – or can they work with any ICC tagged RGB without assuming or making a mess of colour when converting from RGB to CMYK?

    I would feel more comfortable making suggestions once these unknowns are answered. Of course, your PSP should be the one providing specific step by step instructions, you should not have to try to second guess their requirements by crowd sourcing advice on internet forums in lieu of them providing required information.

    C
    craigriches66Author
    Known Participant
    May 29, 2016

    please see my answer to your initial response for clarity

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