Inspiring

Answered

Exporting jpeg in CMYK?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 7, 2023
4 replies
15453 views

All these years of using Photoshop and I don't ever recall having this problem before?

But when I go 'File / Export As / jpeg' it converts the image to RGB when exporting it.

I understand I can instead use 'Save As', but jpeg isn't listed unless I flatten the file first.

It just seems messy to have to flatten everything, then save it, and then undo the flattenning so that i dpn't accidentally overwrite the file.

Surely there is a better way?

Correct answer Kevin Stohlmeyer

Hi @user82573258 you can still use Save As to create a jpg. Go to Preferences/File Handling and check "Use Legacy Save As". The Export methods are for creating web-based images hence the conversion to RGB.

jane-e

Community Expert

@emolen wrote: “and now I have to update my preferences by checking Use Legacy Save As (which clearly disables another form of saving!) in order to expose the UI that allows me to do what I have been doing for 20 years ”

This change was foisted on us when Apple changed their API a number of versions ago. Adobe had to come up with a new solution so folks save those JPEGs that did not meet JPEG specifications while using Save As. It was the second time Adobe came up with a hack for JPEGs. I’ve now forgotten the details of the first time, so I’ll tag @D Fosse to chime in.

If you intend to continue this conversation, we have to ask you to follow the Community Guidelines and be respectful to the volunteers who donate their time to answer questions and to assist users. See the guidelines here:

https://community.adobe.com/announcements-96/adobe-community-guidelines-1546702

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Jane

D Fosse

Community Expert

Yeah, the history of that is something everybody seems to have forgotten. Directly saving an unsupported document to jpeg (layers, 16 bit etc) was introduced in Photoshop CS5 in 2010.

Before that, up to and including CS4, there was no way to save such a document to jpeg, none whatsoever. You had to flatten, convert to 8 bit and remove alpha channels first. Nobody seems to remember that, even people who boast that they’ve used Photoshop since the beginning.

And then Apple pulled the rug from under it. The APIs that allowed this were removed from MacOS. And so workarounds had to be found - first Save A Copy, then some time later Adobe came up with what they call “legacy Save As”, but isn’t really quite the same thing.

In fact, the biggest problem in this whole debacle is that Adobe tried to sell Save A Copy as a “feature”, instead of what it really was: an emergency rescue operation.

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

@user82573258 "

I understand I can instead use 'Save As', but jpeg isn't listed unless I flatten the file first.

It just seems messy to have to flatten everything, then save it, and then undo the flattening so that i dpn't accidentally overwrite the file.

Surely there is a better way?"

file > duplicate flatten, (convert to the required colourspace if needed), resize as appropriate sharpen - save as Jpeg.

Archive the layered original

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

RGB or sRGB is the standard color mode for JPG used on the web & screen.

A better question is why would you use JPG for CMYK?

CMYK is used by professional print services. And they usually want a high quality print preset in a PDF file.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

Kevin Stohlmeyer

Correct answer

Community Expert

Hi @user82573258 you can still use Save As to create a jpg. Go to Preferences/File Handling and check "Use Legacy Save As". The Export methods are for creating web-based images hence the conversion to RGB.

user82573258Author

Inspiring

I see! Thanks I'll try that.

The 'Legacy' label gives me the impression this feature will one day be removed altogether though?

Kevin Stohlmeyer

Community Expert

No, its just giving an option to keep doing it the way it was in the past.

The current reasoning is Save As should not be destructive (flattening) when saving unless the user wants it - so they made Save A Copy the default for "destructive" file types.

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