File saved as a CMYK shows as an RGB at printer

[michellew74081718]

Hi, I am creating a brochure in Illustrator. It shows in the Document Mode as a CMYK file.  It keeps coming back from the printer as a RGB. Anyone know why or how to fix? Thank you.

[Ton Frederiks]

What do you mean by "It keeps coming back from the printer as a RGB." ?

[michellew74081718]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. This is not being printed from my personal printer.  I uploaded my Illustrator file as a PDF to the company printing the brochure. (I have used them many times before although I usually provide the PDF files designed in PhotoShop not Illustrator.) The company sent me an email saying before it goes to production it needs to be converted to a CMYK file. It already shows as  CMYK in Document Mode.

[Larry G. Schneider]

What PDF preset did you use to generate the file you sent? A few presets will generate a RGB PDF.

[michellew74081718]

The pre-set is on: "[Illustrator default]"

[Larry G. Schneider]

Did the file start out as a CMYK or did you switch the Document Color Mode at some point? Can you try open a new CMYK document, select all from the original and Paste in Place in the new document. Try saving as a new PDF and see if that works. Sometimes when you change a Document Color Mode it doesn't work as you expect.

[michellew74081718]

Yes, it was designed it in CMYK mode and not converted.

[michellew74081718]

Should I try a different pre-set?

[silk-m]

Hi,

I don't understand the meaning of "coming back from the printer as a RGB", but general household printers are classified as RGB printers even if they use CMYK ink.

[Ton Frederiks]

If you save the file (save a copy) as PDF without Illustrator Editing Capabilities, and open that file in Illustrator, does it become RGB document mode?

[michellew74081718]

So I just tried it. It is CMYK, but it also gave me a message that the brochure is using CMYK and RGB elements and it will be converted to whichever color mode I select. I pulled some small icons off the web, so those would be the culprit. I thought they would be converted automatically to CMYK mode when put it the document. Maybe I need to convert first and replace them. 

[Ton Frederiks]

The default save as PDF does not convert linked images.

That may be the reason your printer sees RGB elements in the PDF.

You could use the Press quality preset, that will do the conversion.

[michellew74081718]

I think that is the issue. I will change my pre-set..... Thank you so much for all your help!

[My WebDesign]

Will this preset convert the linked rgb photos as well? And what's with the resolution? If my photo is huge in pixels, but in photoshop i see it's 72 ppi, is it enough to have the huge count in pixels?

[Ton Frederiks]

If you have an Illustrator CMYK document with linked RGB images, they will be converted to the Document CMYK when saving as PDF.

You can see the resolution in the Control panel or the Links panel if you have an image selected.

If a 72ppi image is scaled down in Illustrator, the resolution gets higher. It depends on the purpose what resolution is enough.

[Monika Gause]

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@Ton Frederiks  schrieb:

If you have an Illustrator CMYK document with linked RGB images, they will be converted to the Document CMYK when saving as PDF.

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That would depend on the color handling settings when saving the PDF. Even in a PDF/X there could be RGB images mixed with CMYK images.

[Ton Frederiks]

The Press quality preset was mentioned, that will do the conversion.