Print to Adobe PDF has faded black - Why do my colors look crappy?

Report · May 12, 2016

I used to print PDF files easily from the Adobe CS5 programs. But lately it feels as if a change happened, maybe during an update, that has affected my system colors. When I print or export to PDF from INDD or AI, the black is faded. I have better luck exporting to JPG but prefer to create PDF proofs. I believe the colors print well but the screen view is faded which is not helpful when sending proofs to clients.

I am also receiving color error messages upon opening documents. When opening an INDD file it says "The CMYK settings in this document are different than your current application settings. How do you want to proceed?" I have selected both options, "Leave the document as is" and "adjust the document to match current color settings," without print success. The odd thing is that everything seems set to CMYK and Profile shows as "U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2" which I believe is the default.

Can someone please help me. I would like to be able to print or export to PDF easily without spending hours trying to make my files look right.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Shelley

PC, Windows 7 Pro, SP1, CS5

Report · May 12, 2016

The print issue is not only with black. Other colors print faded too.