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Lydia22134476zkfv
Participating Frequently
September 14, 2022
Answered

Printed colours appear washed out

  • September 14, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 2076 views

Hello, I've designed a hoarding display in InDesign which contains CGIs, shapes and multiple logos. The InDesign file is set to CMYK/ print and I've exported it as 'pdf for print' and 'Press Quality'. When the printer did a test print, the colours appeared very washed out/ faded in comparison to how it looks on screen and compared to how our brand colours usually print. I've checked the CMYK colour codes in Adobe Acrobat's 'Output Preview' and they are correct. The printer has also produced a test print of our company logo on its own from a different pdf which has printed perfectly. So the issue must be something to do with the InDesign file or how I've exported it. 

 

Can anyone suggest what the issue might be? 

 

Thanks

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer John Mensinger

When transparency is introduced to an InDesign page, the entire composition becomes subject to the prevailing "Transparency Blend Space," which is likely CMYK if the file started with the typical Print document preset. If there are spot colors (likely in logos) or RGB colors on the page, they get converted to process color.

2 replies

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 14, 2022

I've checked the CMYK colour codes in Adobe Acrobat's 'Output Preview' and they are correct. The printer has also produced a test print of our company logo on its own from a different pdf which has printed perfectly.

 

Hi @Lydia22134476zkfv , Do you have a copy of the PDF that printed perfectly? If so, are the Acrobat Separation values different from the problem PDF? It sounds like a profile problem—the default [Press Quality] preset converts all color to your document’s CMYK space, and doesn’t include the profile. When your printer exported their PDF, they may not have used the same destination profile.

 

Can you share both PDFs?

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Lydia22134476zkfvAuthor
Participating Frequently
September 15, 2022

Hi Rob, The Acrobat Separation Values were the same in both pdfs. After I removed the logo that contains transparency, the shapes/ graphics that were printing washed-out are now printing correctly. The only issue is that the CGIs aren't printing as vibrant as they should be - it's as if the saturation has been massively reduced. The CGIs are RGB jpgs, they are placed in the InDesign document and exported to pdf with the 'Press Quality' preset. As you say this preset converts all colour to my document's CMYK space and doesn't include the profile, could this be the reason the CGIs are printing less vibrantly? Would it be better to not let the colours convert to my documents CMYK space and to allow them to remain as RGB? If so, what export setting would you recomend for this? A section of the artwork is linked here: https://we.tl/t-HWNVuD3BKm  - the warmth/pinks and the sky in the CGI image are much less vibrant in the test prints than they appear in the pdf. Thanks

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 15, 2022

I've designed a hoarding display in InDesign.

 

What’s the printing process? I was assuming it was offset printing, but re-reading your post is seems to be for some kind of display—is it an Inkjet print.

 

Can you also provide the PDF the printer made that printed correctly?

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Lydia22134476zkfvAuthor
Participating Frequently
September 14, 2022

When looking at 'Flattener Preview' in InDesign, I noticed one of the partner logos is highlighted when it's set to 'Highlight Transparent Objects'. I removed that logo and the printer produced a test print which is now printing correctly. Can anyone suggest why a pdf logo placed in my InDesign project would cause the whole design to print washed out?

John Mensinger
Community Expert
John MensingerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
September 14, 2022

When transparency is introduced to an InDesign page, the entire composition becomes subject to the prevailing "Transparency Blend Space," which is likely CMYK if the file started with the typical Print document preset. If there are spot colors (likely in logos) or RGB colors on the page, they get converted to process color.

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    Lydia22134476zkfvAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    September 14, 2022

    Thank you for explaining! 

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