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ezpower
Participating Frequently
June 29, 2020
Answered

Eyedropper tool displaying RBG not CMYK Color

  • June 29, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 2008 views

Saved AI file as PDF and AI to test. File created in CMYK. When I place the file in InDesign, and use the Eyedropper tool, it displays the color of an element in RGB not CMYK. If I create a box in InDesign, and colorize it with CMYK values. The Eyedropper will display the corlor in CMYK. Any file I place and try to read the values using the Eyedropper tool shows the Color in RGB. Never had that before, untill the last two updates.

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Correct answer Frans v.d. Geest

When you place a AI or PDF, when you sample InDesign will give you a warning that says it all: colors are bases on the screen RGB representation wheter the source was RGB or CMYK Always have been the case. You can disable that warning and I guess you have. But never could you sample CMYK of placed Illustrator files, that you must remember wrong. You can copy from Illustrator and paste into InDesign instead of place, that way CMYK is maintained when sampling.

2 replies

rob day
Community Expert
Community Expert
June 29, 2020

Never had that before, untill the last two updates.

 

You can get an accurate color sample from an image file (CMYK or RGB). PDFs can have objects with different color modes in the same document, so the sample is from its RGB preview proxy.

Frans v.d. Geest
Community Expert
Frans v.d. GeestCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
June 29, 2020

When you place a AI or PDF, when you sample InDesign will give you a warning that says it all: colors are bases on the screen RGB representation wheter the source was RGB or CMYK Always have been the case. You can disable that warning and I guess you have. But never could you sample CMYK of placed Illustrator files, that you must remember wrong. You can copy from Illustrator and paste into InDesign instead of place, that way CMYK is maintained when sampling.

ezpower
ezpowerAuthor
Participating Frequently
June 29, 2020

My remembering how it was in the past could be a problem. Must get more Ginkoba. 😞