Ink limits in Photoshop & InDesign

Hello all (and thank you for your help) -

It is my understanding, from what I've read elsewhere and what you folks have said, that

1) if I convert an image to a specific CMYK profile, the resulting file is constrained within the ink limits built into that profile.
2) in contrast, if I edit an image after converting to a CMYK profile, the resulting file is not constrained within the ink limits built into that profile.

Is that right so far?

In this instance, using a Photoshop "Action", I converted previously edited RGB images to CMYK GRACoL2013_CRPC6.icc, and no further editing was done. However, when viewed with InDesign's Ink Limit preview, the resulting images appear not to be constrained within the profile's ink limits, and I don't understand this.

This job entails almost 200 images, and (for many reasons) I really don't want to have to try to manually tweak the ink limits of each image - and it seems like I shouldn't have to.

I wonder now if InDesign's Ink Limit preview is using the the limits of the working spaces (SRGB IE61966-2.1 & US Web Coated (SWOP) v2) or the assigned CMYK space GRACoL2013_CRPC6.icc  (there is no significant change if View/Proof Colors is checked or not), or should I just type a number?

IS GRACoL2013's ink limit 300% or 320% ?

Again, thank you all for your help.

@janie k 

Are the images RGB or CMYK?

For RGB images, depending on the profile, different rendering intents can result in different ink limits.

What is the profile and colour mode of the images?

The ink limit is built into all CMYK profiles.

That means if you convert to that profile, it won't go over. That's always safe.

However, if you work in that profile, nothing stops you from going over the ink limit, and then you just need to watch it.

Note that CMYK-to-CMYK conversions will turn K-only blacks into 4 color black, as well as risking unnecessary gamut clipping.

@janie k have you tried viewing in Photoshop with View>Gamut Warning active? Just because you have a color profile set doesn't mean you can't exceed ink limits.