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Windsorhardware1
Windsorhardware1
Participant
June 25, 2020
Question

Issues with 100% Black output

  • June 25, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 4252 views

Hello,

 

I have searched and tried different things for hours now, but can't find a solution. 

 

I have created artwork for packaging (box) in Illustrator. All large black boxes are using a rich black, while the text is using 100% K. My Printing/Exporting is set to 'Output all blacks as rich black' to make all blacks appear as dark as possible on RGB devices, however, not change the colour value for print. I have never had issues with this, but when I am exporting to a pdf now, the text still shows as dark grey rather than black. 

 

Glad for any suggestions on what the issue could be here?

 

Many thanks!

 

Edit: This is also the case when exporting from Indesign, despite the setting being set to 'output all blacks as rich black'

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    1 reply

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 25, 2020

    Which settings do you select when saving the PDF?

    In which app do you open the PDF to check the black?

    Which color values does the black have n Acrobat?

     

    The "Output black" settings are an Illustrator internal thing. That is, they don't carry over to Acrobat or any other PDF viewer. Those handle black with their own settings.

    Windsorhardware1
    Windsorhardware1Author
    Participant
    June 26, 2020

    Hi Monika,

     

    thank you for your reply!

     

    I am using the Illustrator default setting which is set to "Colour Converion - No Converion" and "Profile Inclusion Policy - "Don't Include Profiles". In the past this has always worked fine so I am just confused at to why it has changed, makes me think I accidently changed some settings. I did change the "Output all Blacks as Rich Blacks" to "Output all Blacks Accurately" before this issue happened, because I was trying something, but I changed it back,  but it never went back to normal, I even reset all my preferences in Illustrator. 

     

    I open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. The colour value is 100% K in Acrobat, as set in Illustrator. 

     

    I see what you mean, can you help me with how I change the black appearance settings in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC?

     

    Many thanks, very much appreciated!

    Vanessa

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 26, 2020

    100 K black is not pitch black. It looks rather grey actually and that's what Acrobat shows.

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