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BW_Ellis
BW_Ellis
Known Participant
August 31, 2011
Answered

Export to PDF causes blacks to go grey.

  • August 31, 2011
  • 11 replies
  • 53211 views

Hello,

I have been dealing with an issue involving the way InDesign exports to PDF.  In images and boxes drawn in InDesign the black value is being reduced to 95% while the text remains full black.  I thought it was a printer issue but I looked more carefully at the PDF and sure enough it's in the image I outputted to PDF format.  How would it be possible that the blacks in images and drawn boxes could loose the 100% black but not the text?  Do I have a bad install or just a setting misplaced?

I am running CS5.5 with all the latest updates on a brand new Mac Book Pro.

Thanks,

Brett

    Correct answer rob day

    Very simple solution!

    Right, most press CMYK profiles preview black + CMY differently than black only, which is what happens on an offset press. But a rich black mix would create a registration or trapping problem with small- to medium-sized text.

    11 replies

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    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Peter SpierCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 31, 2011

    This seems pretty odd on a Mac as it sounds like the sort of thing that can happen when printing to PDF rather than exporting (no longer easy since Snow Leopard), and it's even odder that it affects drawn objects, but not type. What settings are you using for export?

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