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Question

CMYK Backgrounds show up washed out in jpg but fine in PDF (InDesign)

Forum|Forum|2 months ago
November 9, 2025
3 replies
251 views

I have made my backgrounds from Photoshop (CMYK colour profile) and imported the .psd file on indesign.

When I export my design from Indesign as a jpg it washes out the colour while when I export it in PDF it is fine. I have attached a screenshot of the banner design (on the left is from how it views on PDF and on the right, if I import it as an image into Figma (showing it for client reviews)

I mean my only concern is that I don't get the washed out colour when they print it out and I am assuming that since it looks fine on PDF, i hope it is fine when printed? And is it because I am showing a CMYK file in jpeg and imported into a web platform that it looks washed out?

I have tried to test it out a bunch of times:
exporting the actual background from Photoshop as a jpeg and importing it into Powerpoint, Figma to see how it looks like and it kept the rich dark colour

But when I do add the photoshop backgrounds on InDesign and export as jpeg - colour washes out.

****
Thank you! Hope someone has answers.

General Feedback

rob day

Community Expert

Hi @dekaaa , Is the final output going to be to a 4-color offset press running to the SWOP profile-- the profile showing in your JPEG export settings? If the output is not to an offset press why not stay in a profiled RGB space and let the conversion to the print space happen at output?

D

dekaaaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hello Rob,
You are right that it is not going to be printed in the 4-color offset printing press but I guess I just wanted the reassurance on working in CMYK profiles (to be consistent) so I can still see what it would looks like on print even if there is already an expectation that it would slightly change colours, which I was fine with, as long as it not washed out or not too dramatic of a change. I just didn't want to be surprised at the end product if I leave it off to chance with RGB conversion to CMYK and notice a big change on that. Seeing the jpeg versions threw me off a little bit since it was the first time that happened and I wasn't sure what caused it (which I think was the CMYK viewing on screen becuase when I exported to PNG it was fine), but thankfully sample print is good - it has changes to the colour, sure, but its not too big of a difference.

Thanks for the note though, I did have projects where it involved 4-color offset presses and it definitely was a learning experience, to which I am still trying to understand.

rob day

Community Expert

Is Figma a color managed application? I don't think PowerPoint is, so neither would be useful for soft proofing print output.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

It’s very possible your Photoshop file is using one CMYK profile and InDesign is set to another, which can cause colour shifts when placing and exporting. But since the colour looks right in the exported PDF, that suggests the CMYK values are being handled consistently on the print side, so that’s probably not the issue here.

The bigger factor is how the JPEG is being viewed. Even if you export the JPEG as CMYK, most apps that display images on screen (Figma, PowerPoint, browsers, Mac Preview etc) don’t properly support CMYK colour. They either ignore the profile or convert it to RGB on the fly, and the result is that washed out look you’re seeing.

Acrobat, on the other hand, is colour managed and can simulate CMYK correctly for screen viewing, which is why the PDF appears as expected.

So the colour for print is fine. The JPEG is only looking dull because the viewing app is probably not colour managing CMYK properly. If you need a screen version for client review, export a separate RGB JPEG (sRGB), but keep your print artwork and PDF as CMYK.

D

dekaaaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Yes, this was my initial understanding and I did send in a separate RGB file for viewing. Thanks for the info Eugene!

leo.r

Community Expert

What are your JPEG export settings in InDesign? JPEG compression (and resolution) can affect the image appearance.

> I mean my only concern is that I don't get the washed out colour when they print it out and I am assuming that since it looks fine on PDF, i hope it is fine when printed?

No, the exported PDF and JPEG are two totally different entities, and they may appear and print differently, depending on export settings and a myriad other factors.

D

dekaaaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Here are my export jpeg settings (InDesign) - attached below.

I also did a test print and it didn't appear washed out which was good, but as expected there were also slight changes to the colour and how it looks on screen (which I am not too exactly worried about -- but if there is an answer to make it as close as it is, then I can try it on my end)

leo.r

Community Expert

I wonder if using the Maximum compression quality will make a difference?

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