Print Production > Output Preview showing inconsistent Black (Switching between 4C and Black

[JMS86]

Hi all, I am having an issue at present where I have exported a PDF through InDesign using Print PDF settings.

I have only used the Straight Black at 97% weight, but when checking the Output Preview using Adobe Acrobat it will show the first page Black as C0 M0 Y0 B97; However, when I check the second page it shows the same colour as C70 M65 Y62 K0.

I repeated the process and checked the second page first, which gave the reverse result of C0 M0 Y0 B97 black, and then when checking the first it reverted to C70 M65 Y62 K0.

Is this simply an Acrobat glitch? I'm using the current version of Adobe Acrobat, but just paranoid if I send the business cards off it will come back with a misprint.

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers

John

[Amal.]

Hi there

Hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. We understand why you’d want to double-check this before sending to print.

What you're seeing is a common issue with how Acrobat's Output Preview shows colors. 

If you used the same black swatch (like 100% Black or a grayscale value) across all pages in InDesign, then the color is probably the same. Acrobat might just be showing it differently for a moment.

Still, double-check that you're not using a rich black or a different color space on one of the pages by mistake in Adobe InDesign. Also, if you copied anything from another file, it could have brought in a different color without you noticing.

Try the suggestions listed below and see if that helps:

• Export using PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 presets, These are print-safe and help flatten color issues https://adobe.ly/3ZDd57a 
  
  

• In Acrobat, use Output Preview with “Simulate Overprint” checked – It gives you a more accurate view of how it’ll print https://adobe.ly/4kRbjIa and Test print a page or two if you can and check.