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LaubenderCommunity Expert
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April 10, 2017
Question

Working with RGB | CS6—CC2014.2 vs CC2015.4—CC2017.1 | substantial bug?

  • April 10, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 1867 views

Hi everybody,

it seems that something substantial has changed between InDesign CC 2014 and CC 2015 when it comes to using RGB images and RGB swatches with InDesign.
Rob Day discovered a difference in behavior between two versions of InDesign when switching the transparency blend space from CMYK to RGB.

But let's start with the base problem.

How would placed RGB images react if an effect is applied by InDesign's Effects panel?
If they contain reduced opacity done with PhotoShop's Layer opacity feature vs the same effect done with inDesign's Effects panel?


Let's take the easiest effect you can apply: Reduced opacity.

And let's compare what is showing with Separation Preview turned on when comparing two different settings that mainly influence color fidelity:
Transparency Blend Space set to Document CMYK or set to Document RGB.

InDesign CS6 ( also InDesign CC and CC 2014 😞

Transparency Blend Space set to Document CMYK

Different colors are showing when compared row 2 with row 3.

Transparency Blend Space set to Document RGB

Problem gone, because the Blend Space was switched to RGB:

InDesign CC 2015 ( also InDesign CC 2017 or CC 2017.1 😞

Transparency Blend Space set to Document CMYK

Same with CS6. Row 2 and row 3 are showing different colors:

Transparency Blend Space set to Document RGB

Compare that to the CS6 behavior. Quite different, isn't it?

The trick changing the Blend Space to RGB is not working anymore:

All files can be downloaded from my Dropbox account:

Dropbox - BlendSpace-CMYK-vs-RGB-Different-InDesign-Versions.zip

BlendSpace-CMYK-vs-RGB-Different-InDesign-Versions.zip

    BlendSpace-CMYK-PSD-Placed-CS6.indd

    BlendSpace-RGB-PSD-Placed-CS6.indd

    BlendSpace-CMYK-PSD-Placed-CC-2015.4.1.indd

    BlendSpace-RGB-PSD-Placed-CC-2015.4.1.indd

    Gradient-3-Layers-sRGB.psd

    ISO-Coated-v2-300-RelativeColorMetric.csf

I agree with Rob, that we see a substantial bug with InDesign CC 2015 and CC 2017 when it comes to Transparency Blend Space set to Document RGB.

FWIW: If you change from CMYK to RGB with the Blend Space text done with [Black] is shown as a mix of CMYK values and not as 100 K only. That is unavoidable with InDesign because InDesign is not supporting color separations with special Device-Link profiles. But this is not my point here.

Also see this thread where the problem came up recently:

In InDesign what settings give the most realistic preview of a CMYK document (no spots)

Regards,
Uwe

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 10, 2017

FWIW: If you change from CMYK to RGB with the Blend Space text done with [Black] is shown as a mix of CMYK values and not as 100 K only. That is unavoidable with InDesign because InDesign is not supporting color separations with special Device-Link profiles. But this is not my point here.

InDesign's Sep Preview does show the default black converting to 4-color when the blend space is RGB—the numbers match what you would get exporting to flattened document CMYK (PDF/X-1a). But if you export to PDF/X-4 the 100%K value is maintained (a huge plus for using X4). You would have to worry whether it will stay that way all the way to output, but if I flatten over in AcrobatPro the 100% black still holds.

I think the conventional wisdom is to use CMYK as the blend space for any print project, but many of the modes produce unpleasant results because of the extra black channel and it's also at odds with the newer conventional wisdom that all images should be left as RGB. Most knowledgeable users would never consider building layered, transparent Photoshop images in CMYK mode.

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity ExpertAuthor
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2017

    https://forums.adobe.com/people/rob+day  wrote

    … InDesign's Sep Preview does show the default black converting to 4-color when the blend space is RGB—the numbers match what you would get exporting to flattened document CMYK (PDF/X-1a). But if you export to PDF/X-4 the 100%K value is maintained (a huge plus for using X4). You would have to worry whether it will stay that way all the way to output, but if I flatten over in AcrobatPro the 100% black still holds.

    Hi Rob,

    I agree.

    What InDesign is missing is a better reading mechanism for colors.

    ( And I do not mean the Digital Color Meter app that comes with OSX. ;-) )

    Something that is showing CMYK, RGB or Lab values when you hover your cursor over an element on the page.
    Together with color space(s) and rendering intents. Just like Acrobat's Output Preview with its Object Inspector.

    Regards,
    Uwe

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity ExpertAuthor
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2017

    I think, I found a solution with InDesign CC 2015 and CC 2017:

    You'll nedd a solid white object in the background.

    In detail:

    Regards,
    uwe

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2017

    I was just about to post the same. I wonder if this is intentional? Seems like it could create real problems when opening some legacy files.

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity ExpertAuthor
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2017

    https://forums.adobe.com/people/rob+day  wrote

    … I wonder if this is intentional? Seems like it could create real problems when opening some legacy files.

    Hi Rob,

    what's not clear to me is, if people on Windows see the same behavior…

    Thanks,
    Uwe

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