Color issues in Mountain Lion with Acrobat Pro

[twsphoto]

I'm not sure I'm in the right forum, but here it goes.

Since upgrading my OS to Mountain Lion, I've noticed  when viewing PDFs output from InDesign 5.5 that once in Acrobat Pro the colors look muted and inaccurate.  I never saw this in Snow Leopard, hence my posting.  Color in InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop CS5.5 seem just fine, it's only when a PDF is viewed in Acrobat that I see this muted color issue. 

What I'm concerned with is are these problems when viewing only, or is the PDF color range itself screwed up?  I do prepress work and am using an Eizo CG241 display, CS5.5 and Acrobat Pro 10.1.4.

Thanks!

[Was DYP]

Can't they simply look ay how this worked and still does in Acrobat 9 and figured out what they screwed up in 10 and 11.

Somehow they can't do it for PSCS6s bugs that PSCS5 does not have.

I guess that is just to much to ask of Adobe.

"Adobe does not make money fixing bugs. They make it releasing applications. Only if they have the resources available, will they fix bugs.  The cloud is your friend."

"And with the cloud subscription model they won't have to fix bugs or release updated applications to make money."

[twsphoto]

It's not that easy, we all wish it was.  So do Sandeep and Adobe's Acrobat team.

[Rick Meikle]

Well, the plot gets thicker. I reported that the fix worked for me, but I didn't go far enough in testing it. I can now report that PDF files saved as "High Quality" display correctly in Acrobat 11.0.03 until viewed in Output Preview, at which point they darken considerably. Exiting Output Preview (file remains open) restores correct display of colors. However, PDF files saved as "PDF/X-1a" are dispayed with the darker colors at all times, regardless of Output Preview. (I should add that I tested files originating in InDesign CS6 & CC, as well as Illustrator CS6 & CC. The same result was obtained in all cases, including files containing only RGB graphics or only CMYK graphics.) At this point, the problem appears to be a coding error, perhaps as a result of switching from Carbon to Cocoa. Hopefully, Adobe will provide Sandeep, et al, with the priority and resources needed to unravel it before too much longer.

[alexdauchez]

Hi. It seems than color rendering in Acrobat XI is better in 10.8.4, don't you think ?

[Was DYP]

Better is subjective.

Color rendering in Acrobat XI is not correct in 10.8.4.

[Was DYP]

If Adobe really cared this would have been fixed along time ago.

[thorx1308]

I can´t understand why this bug is in Acrobat 10 AND 11 ?!?

When i have a bug, and make a big upgrade to a new Version (11), i think i have to solve such big bug.

disappointing...

[mgs70]

Just an update regarding what I just experienced...

I recently noticed my PDF shifing color in Acrobat X 10.1.7... I was using the High Quality Print which specifies “No Color Conversion”. In the old days of making PDFs that meant “NO COLOR CONVERSION” period. Didn't have any issues like this prior to upgraing to Mountain Lion and CS6!

I updated to the trial version of XI... The PDF actually came up correct for a minute until I got some weird message about “trusted certificates” so of course I just clicked OK and then the PDF reverted back to the shifted color!

NOW... I just ran the updater to XI for 11.0.03. PDF turned out CORRECT! The same PDF still looks wrong when opened in X though.

So it looks like it working for some folks but the real question is will Adobe patch this same problem in X because I'm just not interested in spending another $200 to upgrade after just buying CS6.

[BrightBird]

I have been monitoring this thread and observing lots of frustration and I hope that this post helps some people save some time.

Alot of people have spent much time installing/uninstalling software and even OSs. Also, alot of people are assuming this is a Mac issue because of the topic title.

I would like to verify that it is NOT a Mac OSX issue. I repeat - this is NOT a Mac OSX issue. I am experiencing the same issue with Acrobat X on a Windows 7 machine and have been ever since I installed Acrobat X. I also run a calibrated NEC 30" monitor and have no color issues across any other applications.

I have had to resort to using .jpgs to showcase website interfaces to clients because of the color shift since Acrobat can no longer reproduce RGB color accurately from Photoshop even with an embedded profile. It's a very unprofessional workaround and I look forward to Adobe fixing this issue as soon as possible.

I hope that this information helps someone.

[colorguru@hoz]

Hello, I've been researching this for HOURS and finally came upon this thread. I just discovered this issue. I thought that version 11.0.03 would be a fix, according to what Sandeep posted above, but it is not working for me. I'm on Mountain Lion, with CS6, and I've tried X and XI, but my PDFs are off-color in both. They appear fine in version 9. I'm color calibrated and synced, with an Eizo ColorEdge CG241W. Sandeep, will a fix be coming soon? Working in version 9 defeats the purpose of software upgrades! Thanks...

[twsphoto]

To all posters on this thread:

I just had a nice conversation with Sandeep, and he assured me that he, the Acrobat Team, and all those at Adobe who are involved in color management are giving these problems we're all seeing top priority.  It is NOT a simple fix, but a fix will occur, it will just take time.  It also involves Mountain Lion, so they're working with Apple, too, to help find the problem and a solution for it.  "We take this situation very seriously, and are working hard to fix it.  Please be patient."

So there you have it, just thought you'd all like to know!

[Paul Sherfield]

Encouraging. But as this issue is not in Acrobat Pro 9 when using Mountain Lion, it would not seem to be a Apple issue. Good that they are helping of course. I am not an software engineer, but surely the code in v9 for this area can be compared with the code for v10 and 11 to see any differences?

[twsphoto]

It's not that easy by a long shot, though if anyone wishes it were, it would be Sandeep at this point!  I'm not a s/w engineer, either, but upon hearing his explanation it all made sense.  One problem involves a thousand more, and on and on.  I think I'm glad I'm not a s/w engineer!

One thing I do know, Adobe is NOT just trying to play games with us and this situation, nor are they using this to coerce us into buying something.  Ever hear a man plead for patience on the phone?  I did this morning.

[Paul Sherfield]

I'll carry on using v9 to view then 🙂

[aktivomat]

sorry, but i could't deny myself saying... i'm sure adobe will find a solution for this problem... after one year of the release of os x mountain lion... until os x mavericks will come out... in a few month 😉

[twsphoto]

As many forum threads seem to have, this one has its share of negative comments and thinly veiled mean-spirited entries.  Though frustration is understandable, negativity does no good toward solving this issue.  If those people posting negatively in this thread think they can solve this issue, I'm sure Adobe would welcome your superior coding expertise.  Better plan...let's leave the anger and understandable frustrations out of our comments and keep them tuned to the problem at hand to help Adobe solve it.  As I said yesterday, Sandeep assured me there are many engineers at Adobe involved in finding the solution.  I don't think he was lying.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

"We take this situation very seriously, and are working hard to fix it.  Please be patient."

So there you have it, just thought you'd all like to know!

Thanks, good to read that the Acrobat team is on this.

But the complaint about Adobe releasing Acrobat XI with the issue persisting seems justified indeed.

[gseum]

... in a few days, this thread will have birthday.

I can't believe, that Adobe won't be able to fix this problem in one year time - if the really want to fix it!

So for me it is a clear indication, that Adobe has no effort to give us a solution.

Really sad!

[twsphoto]

At this point, I tend to agree with the complaints about this issue.  I believe patience is a virtue, and have tried to stick with my defense of Adobe's Acrobat Team, but in this case it's gone a bit beyond virtue. Though I know solving issues such as this one takes way more than one would think, it does seem Adobe has had enough time fo figure it out.  Especially since XI has the same problem.

Hey, Sandeep, where are we at with the solution to this problem?  We paid for the software, we'd like it to work.  Now would be good.

[Paul Sherfield]

You, and most of us have been very patience. But a year, including a new version release is too long. This colour area is critical to many of may clients who use colour correct wide gamut screens for soft proofing. Many have had to go back to using v9 of Acrobat Pro!

I have flagged the issue with the UK NEC SpectraView team to see if they, as a large company, can help 'encourage' Adobe to fix this as it could impact their business.

[Was DYP]

What I am seeing with XI is that when Output Preview is not enabled the color on the screen in XI appears to be correct at least it seems to match the rasterized PDF in Photoshop.

And yes not fixing this has gone on way too long, and is a continuing indication of the downward engineering spiral at Adobe. One that is trying to be masked by the subscription mess, of which they can't even get that right.

[Mark Muse]

I am comparing an InDesign (CS6) layout to a PDFX file made from that layout through the InDesign export tools, viewed in Acrobat 11.0.03. There are both CMYK and RGB elements in the layout. North American Prepress 2 color environment, Mac OS 10.8.3.

11.0.03 did not correct the display issue.

[uwewaburg]

Update 11.0.4 released:

NO change on my profiled NEC Spectraview!

Colors are still subdued and somewhat greenish!

I don't get it - how can Adobe kick Acrobat Pro out of the approval chain for color critical data?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

how can Adobe kick Acrobat Pro out of the approval chain for color critical data?

Kind of a good question …

Edit: Though I have to assume that the claims that Macintosh is responsible (partly or fully) may be valid.

[Guest]

I don't get it - how can Adobe kick Acrobat Pro out of the approval chain for color critical data?

Because they got sluggish in the comfort zone of a monoply.