Colours appear different when I save as pdf

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 17, 2024
4 replies
4417 views

Hello, I made a design in Illustrator in cmyk mode, with pantone spot colours. But when I save it as pdf. the colours appear different. I viewed them both in files and in Acrobat and in Illustrator and in each software the colours seem different. Also the difference is noticeable when I view it on my phone vs pc vs iPad. How do I know what the colours will look like when printed (the design is for printing on cookware). I selected Press Quality and 'Do not Downsample' and 'Convert to Destination' and 'Include Destination Profiles'.

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Monika Gause

Community Expert

Your phone or iPad do not count. You cannot really color manage them.

How will this be printed? You need to have Pantone colors - so will it be printed using Pantone colors? In that case what is shown on your screen does not even matter that much. But it would be really important to have a Pantone swatches book, because that is what colors will be matched against.

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Ljubica28475040gzy4Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you! I will get this book, I am a beginner at this so that is why I don't have it yet.

creative explorer

Community Expert

@Ljubica28475040gzy4 pantone books are fairly expensive! If you go to the pantone website, click on the search tool, you get all the different swatch books. Ranging from $200+ US.

Commercial printers are supposed to be changing the books every year because they amount of use the go through. Many people who work in that field know to keep them in the cool and dark places, but, check to see if a commercial printer have older books stored. I used to tell my students to hit a print shop before they go buy one themselves as many throw theirs away each year. I lterally just threw one away as I no longer use pantone colours anymore!

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Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Is Overprint preview on in Illustrator as well as Acrobat?

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Ljubica28475040gzy4Author

Participating Frequently

It is.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

This is all on the iPad?

I cannot check that, maybe someone with an iPad can check this.

creative explorer

Community Expert

@Ljubica28475040gzy4 I use to work in pre-press, and a few things that we did was make sure the files are created as expected, and would create colour proofs (may it be a matchprint, color laminate or color overlay) for clients so they know what they will be getting (think of it as a one-off CMYK print job).

If you are using a commercial printer, double-check with them if they have colour profiles to use for your design. I know certain companies do. And so, we would have a list what goes with whom. I have never worked with clients who 'printed on cookware,' so do have a chat if they use color profiles and if they want it RGB or CMYK. Some commercial printers may accept RGB!

Check to see Illustrator and Acrobat have the same CMYK working space profile selected. This ensures consistent color interpretation within the software. (Edit > Color Settings in Illustrator). See illustrator.png and acrobat.png
Embed ICC Profile. In your PDF export settings, under "Marks and Bleeds," ensure "Include ICC Profiles" is checked. This embeds the CMYK profile into the PDF, allowing printers to interpret the colors correctly.
When looking at the PDF in Acrobat, use the "Output Preview" mode with the intended printing press profile selected. This simulates how the colors will appear (acrobatoutputPreview.png)

If you are using pantone books, these books should be stored in a cool, dark place. Exposure to light and sun can cause the Pantone swatches in the books to fade. This can lead to inaccurate color representation. In honesty, you shouldn't be worried about using Pantone spot colors with CMYK. The color discrepancies you're seeing when exporting to PDF are likely due to color settings. (same thing when you work with RGB and convert it to CMYK. Yes, the colors would appear dull after the conversion, but it will be fine). Always do a a matchprint, color laminate or color overlay just in case, if you don't feel confortable. Better than spending thousands versus a hundred dollar or less!

I think that's all I can remember from my pre-press days. I do remember telling clients what you view on your screen could look different what you print out; and that's because unless you color calibrate your printers and monitors, the colours may look different. Hence, why if you are in a computer lab, the computer beside you will look different from the one, one may be working on. For our colour laser printers, we would literally color calibrate it every hour making sure the colours are accurate.

Hope this helps?

m

L

Ljubica28475040gzy4Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you a lot for sharing this!

They want cmyk profile and pantone spot colours. I don't have pantone books yet but I must get them, it will probably make this easier.

I followed your advice but unfortunately the colour discrepancies are still there. But your answer was still helpful, I learned some things I didn't know, thank you!

I will share a screenshot of the colour difference, on the left is Acrobat and on the right is Illustrator. This is on my iPad, but on the computer it is the same only everything is a bit duller, so the difference is even more pronounced.