How to correctly save a file to CMYK and PMS formats?

[joaosp]

I finished my new logo and always I make a logo, I pick CMYK format, thinking on print and vector first. I created a color scheme using Adobe Color by setting up the HEX values. As you may know, Adobe Color displays each color you picked in a variety of formats, including RGB, CMYK and, as a new feature, its Pantone respective match.

My 1st doubt here is that when I apply the CMYK values Adobe Color shows, those colors look like a little different from the RGB. Is that normal? Can we "rely" on Adobe Color regarding color conversions? And, before someone saying to me, I don't have Pantone physical palettes, I'm still unemployed 😞

2nd point: the CMYK values Adobe Color shows to us is different from those which I see on Illustrator CMYK correspondent fields after putting that respective color's HEX or RGB code. Example: one of my colors is #CD0A5A. Adobe Color "says" that its CMYK value is 0, 95, 56, 20, however, if I insert #CD0A5A on Illustrator and take a look on the CMYK respective value, you'll see 15, 100, 48, 2. Also, after I add my color theme from Adobe Color to swatches on Illustrator, those colors are added with some variations on their values, e.g., the HEX #CD0A5A after I add onto Illustrator, it "becomes" #CD1D5C".

Could you help me with those points??

[Monika Gause]

Nobody knows which color management is set up in Adobe Color.

So whereever you live and whichever output method you use those values might or might not work.

Also: For a lot of RGB colors, you won't find a match in CMYK. Please learn about color management and printing.

Using Pantone colors without having the swatches book is like walking blindfolded. When doing the conversion you should at least set up color management on your computer correctly and then do the conversion on your own system with settings you know.

[John Mensinger]

I agree with Monika; you need to learn more about how color models and color management work. Your entire "2nd point" illustrates this—your expectation of convert-from-xxx-then-convert-back-should-be-the-same-xxx will never be true. Even when your color management settings (which is how color conversions are governed) are a known entity, conversions to/from the disparate systems HEX, RGB, CMYK, PMS, etc. are not based on direct relationships. Conversion is always a compromise of sorts, and additional conversions only add to the "mutation".

Perhaps this can help get you on the right track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7UxglZCD1M

[joaosp]

thanks for the video link!

[Ton Frederiks]

The website Adobe Color does not use any color management. It uses very simple calculations based on ideal theoretical CMYK inks to convert between RGB and CMYK.

It is best to use the colormanegement as provided in Illustrator Photoshop and InDesign.

[joaosp]

Great, so when I open a new document on Illustrator or Photoshop defined to manage colors in CMYK, when I insert a HEX code, Illustrator will pick a match in a more reliable way than Adobe Color. Is that what you said??

[joaosp]

Your answer was great, thank you so much to clarify a very simple question! It has been very hard to find here people who are really willing to give us what we're looking for. Thank you again 🙂

[joaosp]

Ok, I will search for "color management" on Google to see what comes. However, my question is about a more practical thing. When we download a brand guidelines manual, we will find there a default CMYK color code to be used by whoever wants to use that logo wherever they do. So, the person or people who created that manual DOES NOT KNOW MY MONITOR's COLOR CALIBRATION, and neither other people`s monitor.

My point regarding my question is: how would you pick a CMYK color to your, let's say your logo, to be used WORLDWIDE doesn`t matter anyone's monitor whether they know if it's calibrated correctly or not? I think I could be more clear this time.

[Monika Gause]

Please learn color management. It doesn't make sense discussing any of this without knowing how it works.

[joaosp]

But paying for a damn Adobe CC subscription makes sense right? Thank you for helping.

[Monika Gause]

This forum is 95% users, not Adobe employees. But even then: nobody can spare you the effort of learning how stuff works. The applications are just a tool. Color management exists in ALL modern desktop publishing applications, so doesn't matter which one you use, you will run into the same problem when you don't learn this stuff. This is a tiny first step: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/setting-color-management.html If you want to really get into it, you will have to dive much deeper..

[John Mensinger]

It's about color model conversion, and has nothing to do with monitor calibration

[Monika Gause]

Color model conversion works based on how color management is set up. You get different values when converting between the color models with different color management settings. The help document I linked is about devices, not just monitors.

[joaosp]

This is what I was looking for, an answer to another user on GraphicDesign Stack Exchange:

CMYK can produce less colors than RGB, which is why many "equivalent" colors can seem dull or washed out. Pantone can produce brighter colors since they use specially-mixed inks, however it is often more expensive to use spot (Pantone) colors for printed materials. In an ideal world you'd have a color that works well in all 3 systems, but that is not always possible.

So what to do? What I'd do is find a CMYK color you like (because CMYK is the hardest to get right), find the RGB/Pantone equivalents, going by eye (with a well calibrated monitor and pantone swatches).

So, why is so difficult to answer a simple question???

[Monika Gause]

Actually I told you in my first answer:

"For a lot of RGB colors, you won't find a match in CMYK".

But well ... It's so difficult to answer this, because it's not simple. Because you need to really understand the issue and not just have a recipe 1-2-3 list of things to do now.