Should I check the "Embed Colour Profile" box when saving as jpg/PDF?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
August 13, 2019
12 replies
65282 views

I would be so grateful if somebody could tell me whether this box should or should not be checked. Is the answer the same whether I am saving as RGB or CMYK, should it always be checked, or never be checked? I can't find a clear answer on a google search!

At the moment, I do NOT check it if I am saving as CMYK as I then get a hazy film over the jpg's, like they are washed out. If I am saving as RGB then I DO check it.

I just would love to know the correct answer!

Thanks

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c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

I would be so grateful if somebody could tell me whether this box should or should not be checked. Is the answer the same whether I am saving as RGB or CMYK, should it always be checked, or never be checked?

Naturally it should be checked.

A certain combination or RGB or CMYK values does not actually describe a human color perception unless it is connected to a Color Space (usually described by an ICC Profile).

So without the profile one can say that one pixel is darker, more red, … than another pixel in the same image but not what it is actually supposed to look like.

Similar to the scale of a map: If one does not know the scale one may determine that the distance between point A and point B is bigger than between point A and point C but one would not know what the actual distance is.

WitchyWoman1998Author

Participant

Thank you I am going to be honest and say I don't really understand what you mean, I am completely self taught so have missed out on all the technical side of things and have learnt by trial and error. I guess its something that has been annoying me for a while so I am just trying to make sure the way I am saving is correct. The only reason I leave it unchecked, is because if I am saving as a CMYK file and I check the box, it seems to look very opaque/washed out, if I then uncheck it, it is clear and bright.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

What is the purpose of the files - how will they be used, exactly? With what software, if you know?

WitchyWoman1998Author

Participant

Thank you. For the RGB files they will be viewed onscreen, so I check it when I save as RGB and it saves fine. For CMYK it is sending to print, and I leave it unchecked then. It just seems to be the only way that works for me, and I have had no issues saving this way, I just would love to know for sure that I am saving them correctly.

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

For CMYK it is sending to print, and I leave it unchecked then. It just seems to be the only way that works for me, and I have had no issues saving this way, I just would love to know for sure that I am saving them correctly.

Do you know for sure that the print destination for the CMYK file is in fact US Web Coated SWOP—the final printing will be on a web offset press running to that profile?

In most cases there is no reason to make CMYK conversions in Photoshop, because the final conversion can be made when the InDesign(?) document layout is exported, or from the RIP when the final CMYK destination is known.

If US Web Coated SWOP is in fact the correct CMYK space, it doesn’t matter if you include the profile because there will be no further color managed conversions downstream. If your CMYK file gets placed in a layout with US Web Coated SWOP assigned, and the PDF export is to document CMYK, the CMYK values wont change whether the image has the profile embedded or not.

If US Web Coated SWOP is in fact the correct CMYK space, it doesn’t matter if you include the profile because there will be no further color managed conversions downstream.

I work in Europe and I have occasionally gotten CMYK files with »U.S. Web Coated …« from other sources in Europe – that usually seems more like a sign of somebody not paying a lot of attention to color management and not correcting the default Color Settings than of them expecting the files to be printed in North America.

But if those people were to not embed the profile …

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