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Angelina31720456drj0
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July 22, 2024
Answered

Converting brochure from RGB to CMYK

  • July 22, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 1097 views

I am a photographer i am trying to print a brochure with examples of my work however when the printer sent the file over for a proof check I could see the colours were off. I provided the file to them in PDF format (the file was made in canva which naturally creates an RGB PDF and you can't covert). I understand the gamut is more limited with CMYK which is why my files are looking this way now.  They have advised me to convert the images to CMYK by comparing their version of the brochure to my original RGB images and altering each one as needed.

 

How do i go about doing this? Is my best bet to get into Illustrator and manually tweak each of the images and then add them back into the PDF?

 

Should I just find another printer who can help with this more? 

 

 

Many thanks 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Conrad_C

You might not have to work blind. Illustrator supports soft-proofing, which is simulating print colors on screen. In the example below, soft-proofing in Illustrator simulates how the colors in my Illustrator RGB document will look when printed on three different combinations of printer, ink, and paper: My Epson inkjet printer, the FOGRA39 CMYK standard, and the Snap 2007 CMYK standard for newsprint. (For the actual project, I needed to know how the colors look on my Epson inkjet printer on a specific matte paper, so that is the profile I used.)

 

In the example, I create a second view for the same document (Window > New Window) and put the two views as side by side tabs (Window > Arrange > Tile). I click the window tab on the right, and choose View > Proof Setup > Customize. In the Proof Setup dialog box, for Device to Simulate, I choose the ICC profile representing the target printing conditions, and that renders that view through that profile. So the left tab is the full RGB view, and the right tab is the print color simulation.

 

In this way, you can edit colors while seeing a simulation of their final appearance, greatly reducing your color editing guesswork. The simulation is more accurate if you’ve calibrated, or at least profiled, your display.

 

When I work on projects like this, I often don’t open a second view, and just leave the one view in soft-proof mode (View > Proof Colors). This way, I’m not distracted by the vividness of the RGB colors, which is not how they’ll ever print anyway. I only see the simulation of how the colors will actually print.

 

Soft-proofing lets you maintain a full color range RGB document, and easily adapt it to multiple types of output.

 

But to do it successfully, your printing company needs to send you an ICC profile of the printing conditions for the job, and then you install that so you can select it. Or if they’re doing it to a certain industry standard (such as FOGRA39), maybe a profile for that standard is already installed on your computer.

 

This is not new, it’s been a feature for around a quarter of a century. If you need more details you can read this 2002 article by Bruce Fraser; although it’s about Photoshop, the same controls are present in Illustrator as I showed (and in InDesign too).

https://creativepro.com/out-of-gamut-soft-proofing-in-photoshop-6-0/

 

4 replies

Mike_Gondek10189183
Community Expert
Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
Community Expert
July 23, 2024

You do not tweak the images in Illustrator but in Adobe Photoshop. You make them CMYK, color correct and save. You can then use Illustrator or InDesign to place them and lay out your brochure. Helps if you color calibrate your monitor first.

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Conrad_CCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
July 22, 2024

You might not have to work blind. Illustrator supports soft-proofing, which is simulating print colors on screen. In the example below, soft-proofing in Illustrator simulates how the colors in my Illustrator RGB document will look when printed on three different combinations of printer, ink, and paper: My Epson inkjet printer, the FOGRA39 CMYK standard, and the Snap 2007 CMYK standard for newsprint. (For the actual project, I needed to know how the colors look on my Epson inkjet printer on a specific matte paper, so that is the profile I used.)

 

In the example, I create a second view for the same document (Window > New Window) and put the two views as side by side tabs (Window > Arrange > Tile). I click the window tab on the right, and choose View > Proof Setup > Customize. In the Proof Setup dialog box, for Device to Simulate, I choose the ICC profile representing the target printing conditions, and that renders that view through that profile. So the left tab is the full RGB view, and the right tab is the print color simulation.

 

In this way, you can edit colors while seeing a simulation of their final appearance, greatly reducing your color editing guesswork. The simulation is more accurate if you’ve calibrated, or at least profiled, your display.

 

When I work on projects like this, I often don’t open a second view, and just leave the one view in soft-proof mode (View > Proof Colors). This way, I’m not distracted by the vividness of the RGB colors, which is not how they’ll ever print anyway. I only see the simulation of how the colors will actually print.

 

Soft-proofing lets you maintain a full color range RGB document, and easily adapt it to multiple types of output.

 

But to do it successfully, your printing company needs to send you an ICC profile of the printing conditions for the job, and then you install that so you can select it. Or if they’re doing it to a certain industry standard (such as FOGRA39), maybe a profile for that standard is already installed on your computer.

 

This is not new, it’s been a feature for around a quarter of a century. If you need more details you can read this 2002 article by Bruce Fraser; although it’s about Photoshop, the same controls are present in Illustrator as I showed (and in InDesign too).

https://creativepro.com/out-of-gamut-soft-proofing-in-photoshop-6-0/

 

Jacob Bugge
Community Expert
Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2024

Angelina,

 

"I am a photographer i am trying to print a brochure with examples of my work"

 

In addition to what mpchow said about the difference between RGB and CMYK (gamuts), you may consider (a printer offering) extended/expanded cmyk; you can look into it through a search like this:

 

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=extended+cmyk&t=ftsa&atb=v320-1&ia=web

 

creative explorer
Community Expert
creative explorerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 22, 2024

@Angelina31720456drj0 When you convert your vibrant RGB images into CMYK, they will always be duller. That's the way it is. It wouldn't matter if you change printers, they will give you the same result. Since, they know your a photographer, they likely don't want to ruffle your feathers, and likely want you to do the work. 

Since you made the brochure in Canva, the best method is to colour correct in either Lightroom or Photoshop. Normally I would re-link it back to the original document, but because you are using Canva, my gut feeling is telling ME the PDF export will still be RGB. You could ask the print shop to re-link the images with the supplied CMYK images (as they may have created the brochure in a different application, such as InDesign in CMYK profile too). Or you could outsource the job too! 

I would normally convert this in Photoshop, as Photoshop works predominately for images...while Illustrator is moreso on the illustration side of applications. Since you are a photographer, you may have used Lightroom, which is an easy program to work with if your a Photographer. There is a learning curve for Photoshop is more for the advanced users when they want to make complex edits, retouching capabilities, remove unwanted things...so I would think Lightroom would be more up your alley.




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