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Inspiring
April 7, 2026
Answered

Help with links & color profiles

  • April 7, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 16 views

 

Hi,

I am trying to troubleshoot a color profile issue. Here is the setup:

Photoshop contains JPG - channel blend applied to remove black

I believe the color profile of the JPG is RGB:

This is linked into an Illustrator file, which also contains a linked vector PDF

as well as some linework.

My Illustrator document mode is RGB. When I export the file using Illustrator Default, I get a PDF that looks correct:

But when I link into InDesign, the colors are wrong and there is a band at the top where one of the links is offset from the artboard.

 

My suspicion is something to do with the linked vector PDF, which shows no color space when linked in Illustrator:

I have been playing around with different settings and tutorials but I am not sure how to correct this. I would be very grateful for any help with this, I am new to color profiles. I assume that it is related to the way InDesign is handling the file because the output appears correct in PDF viewer as shown above.

Here are the color settings of my ID doc:

Thanks for any suggestions! I am linking the Vector PDF linked file for reference.

 

 

    Correct answer Charlie329572228uvx

    Wow, just made the connection that the band was blue-ish due to the color of the page on InDesign behind it. And the people had some transparency impacting their appearnce.

    I added a white rectangle behind all the layers in illustrator and fixed the problem.

    2 replies

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 7, 2026

    My suspicion is something to do with the linked vector PDF, which shows no color space when linked in Illustrator:

     

    Just for the future: PDF files don’t have a single color space as they can contain vector and raster objects of different color spaces.

    Charlie329572228uvxAuthorCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    April 7, 2026

    Wow, just made the connection that the band was blue-ish due to the color of the page on InDesign behind it. And the people had some transparency impacting their appearnce.

    I added a white rectangle behind all the layers in illustrator and fixed the problem.