Color profile for a design that is not known where it will be printed.

[oleas.]

Hello everyone.

I am planning to create various printable designs using Illustrator and sell them on an online site. I don't know if consumers will print these designs with their home printers or somewhere else. Also, consumers may be in very different places like USA, Europe. In this case, which profile should I create the design in (currently Coated FOGRA39) and should I select "high quality print" or "press quality" when exporting the design as a pdf? Or should I create another setting that is specially created as "include all profiles" or something else? I am confused. Should I check "embed icc profile" when exporting this design as a jpeg again?
On the other hand, is it unnecessary to send the design directly as a pdf along with the jpeg? I think it can be printed in the desired size this way, and yet, I am planning to send separate sizes in a single pdf, is this unnecessary? In terms of jpeg/pdf, I see that some designers put the jpegs in the pdf, if I understand correctly. What is the reason for putting JPEGs in PDF?

Your answers are very valuable. I thank you in advance for your time and I wish you good work and a good day.

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

If your target is consumers printers, I would suggest to work in RGB. Most printers will convert your CMYK file to RGB anyway and then convert to their specific ink/paper setting.

Because you don't know the printer, I would go for sRGB.

High quality print would be the best choice since most consumers do not have a printing press at home.

[oleas.]

Thank you very much for your explanatory answer. I understand. So, if the consumer prints at a print shop, will there be a difference in the print for a black and white design?

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Even for black and white it will be better to use RGB from the start when the destination is a consumer printer.

[oleas.]

Got it, thank you. Is it ok to keep the profile "coated FOGRA39" as it is?

[oleas.]

Also, in this case, is there a problem if I choose black R:0 G:0 B:0? I don't know the type of paper they will use, but I know that it is usually purchased to be hung in a frame.

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes. in an RGB Document that will be a full black.

[Ton Frederiks]

No, I would not use a printing press profile.

Preferrably create a new sRGB document (based on Art & Illustration) and copy your current content to this file.

Be careful with 100% CMYK Black, when converted it will become a dark grey instead of a full 0/0/0 RGB Black.

But it is easy to select a black object in your RGB File and use Select > Same > Fill and when selected click the RGB Black swatch. Repeat for the stroke.

[oleas.]

Since my mind was stuck on cmyk, I asked the same thing, sorry for repeating it. I am grateful for your explanations. I will be in RGB color mode and I will use sRGB (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) as a profile, and for this, I can convert the design by changing the file color mode to RGB as you last mentioned, and by using select>same>fill for both fill and stroke, is that correct? And, I understand that in the high quality print option, it is not a problem if the profile is not embed; I think it also does not matter whether "embed icc profile" is checked or not in jpeg.

[Ton Frederiks]

If the Illustrator document profile is sRGB than it should be no problem to either embed or not. sRGB is what most printers expect. It is best to create new documents based on an RGB profile, CMYK documents converted to RGB by selecting File > Document Color Mode > RGB will have RGB swatches that are converted CMYK swatches.

They still have CMYK names and the colors are not full RGB colors. A red will still be named CMYK Red and the RGB color will be something like R:226 G:6 B:19 instead of  RGB Red R:255 G:0 B:0.

So for your existing artwork it is better to start in RGB and for your existing CMYK it is better to copy into an new RGB file and correct the blacks.

[oleas.]

Got it, I need to open a new sRGB file. Thank you for your explanations and your time, it was very useful, I wish you good work.

[oleas.]

Sorry, I also wondered about this and wanted to know: what should we do in the same situation if the consumer prints it in a print shop? And how much difference in color can there be when the design is currently sRGB and printed in a print shop?

[oleas.]

Also, when I did select>same>fill, I was actually thinking of making the color R 0 G 0 B 0 (for black); would it be better if I opened a new rgb file anyway? And, when a design created in different sizes is converted to pdf, different sizes are naturally created in the pdf; since the file is already vector, are different sizes unnecessary or would they benefit the consumer?

[Ton Frederiks]

You cannot know how exactly it will look if they print it in a print shop or at home, they may use different paper, inks. The only thing you can do is give a standard sRGB document.

[oleas.]

Thank you. I appreciate all your responses and help!

[Ton Frederiks]

Thanks, glad to hear that was helpful.

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

It is always better to keep vector as vector which is the case when you use PDF.

If you need to use jpeg, always use an RGB jpeg since some applications don't know about the existence of a CMYK jpeg and will give unexpected colors.

[oleas.]

Thank you very much for your answer.