Serious color value issues in Framemaker 2019 upgrade from FM 10

[big eyed beans]

So as the title says, we are having serious color issues in the output of our PDF user manuals.
Instead of there being a single consistent corporate identity color value in our paragraph headings we get one page normal, another page a darker green, and this toggles, not only across the document, but across different manuals for different divisions. Not only headings but also key lines in the sideheads which are vector graphics in the master page. I think the clincher is our old FM 10 templates which are still ok and color consistent, then when we import to new 2019 FM…the same thing happens. To me that means it’s a FM 2019 issue. I’ve looked at the Color Definitions and cannot see anything inconsistent. I’ve even tried importing color defs from good chapter to another and it does not work.
NOTE. This issue toggles across pages and chapters.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Martin

[Stefan Gentz]

Difficult to say what the reason might be. Can you provide a screenshot of two PDF pages with toggling color values?

Some things to check:

1. Choose Help > About FrameMaker. If the version is lower than 15.0.7.xxx, please choose Help > Updates and update FrameMaker to the latest patch. There were some fixes around colors in the first updates.
2. How do you create the PDFs? In FrameMaker (2019 release), there are multiple ways to do it. You can print to PS and then run it through Acrobat Distiller (like in older versions), or you can use the new PDF publishing engine. Within the new engine (File > Publish) you can select between a Distiller-based workflow and the native engine.
3. Do the paragraphs over the two pages "look" the same (color-wise) in FrameMaker?
4. Click in both paragraphs and compare:
   • Check the Paragraph Designer: Do they have the same style and the same color definition?
   • Check the Character Designer: Do they still have the same color definition? (While the Paragraph style might be the same, there might be a character format override assigning a different color.)

[big eyed beans]

Thanks Stefan,

So update didnt work. But the File/Publish route produced something interesting. Unchecking the "convert to RGB" checkbox bottom right (which suggests it outputs  CMYK) yeilds consistent color scheme that is the darker of the 2 colors. Not sure if the box is unchecked by default. Anyway the color output seems consistent and close to our CIS color so we wil probably go with that. 

So does that mean this File>Publish workflow route is a "Distiller based" workflow or the "new native engine"?

Appreciate your help,

BEB

[Stefan Gentz]

"So does that mean this File>Publish workflow route is a "Distiller based" workflow or the "new native engine"?"

It depends on if the "Use Acrobat Distiller for PDF generation" option is activated or not.

In the General tab of the Publish Settings > PDF (described in the online help here), there are (among others) the following settings:

1. Use Acrobat Distiller for PDF generation (Recommended with pdfmarks)
2. Convert text and graphic colors to RGB (exlucing images)

1. Use Acrobat Distiller for PDF Generation

Select this option to use Acrobat Distiller to generate a PDF instead of direct PDF generation. This is recommended when you are using pdfmarks in your documents.

Choose Format > Document > PDF Setup > Tags (Distiller) to manually specify the tagging structure for your PDF by configuring it in the PDF Setup dialog. See Use the Distiller route to create a tagged PDF for more details.

2. Convert Text and Graphic Colors to RGB

This option is selected by default. This option ensures that the colors that you have used to create text, shapes, and table borders are printed as is in the published PDF. The colors used in images (RGB or CYMK) are rendered as is.

Marks and bleeds are primarily meant for printing documents and a PDF with marks and bleed settings is published in CMYK. However, if you choose the Convert Text and Graphic Colors to RGB option, then even marks and bleeds are published in the RGB color space. Therefore, if you want to publish a PDF for printing (with marks and bleeds), then you must deselect this option.

[Bob_Niland]

This is FM colors, and not color of imported objects?
What is the color model (RGB, CYMK)?
Is the color instability observed just in FM, or in the output, or both?
If in the output, what is the form (PDF, HTML, eBook)?
If PDF, is any color management being applied in the workflow?

[big eyed beans]

Thanks for the reply...

So the color model is CMYK and the problem is only in the PDF output. We do not use any color management in our workflow. We recently upgraded to FM 2019 from FM 10. Our old templates worked fine.

Really appreciate your feedback.

Martin 

Ps. I was dabbling with Distiller settings and check the "Make PDF output RGB" which worked of sorts. It make all the color values the same but the darker color of the two values it now displays. Dont know if that is helpful. We mostly publish our user manauls in PDF format for online download. We maintain a format that could printed if they wish so A5 CMYK.

[Barb Binder]

Hi Blue Eyed Beans:

Were you using Pantone colors? They stop being supported at version 2019. I had to redefine the colors in my templates.

~Barb

[big eyed beans]

Hi Barb...

No we do not use Pantone color values. Would you be kind enouigh to tell me a little of your "redefine the color" process in oyur templates? We use a custom defined "H1" color value that corrosponts with our corp identity color values.

Appreciate your replay,

BEB

[Barb Binder]

I mean that I had to convert the Pantone colors to their CMYK equivalent—which can be done quickly using Photoshop or Illustrator—and then edited the definitions in View > Color > Definitions.

~Barb