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bonniefraser
Participant
May 21, 2020
Answered

PDF document much darker in color

  • May 21, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 10161 views

Hi, when I create designs in illustrator and then save as a PDF to send to email/phone etc it shows up drastically darker. How do I get the document to look the same regardless if it's in the document on my laptop or any other source.  I'm one month into using Illustrator so could be a very simple fix, I only save as PDF as I know how to recieve that file whereas I had difficulty when saving as ADI. 

for example, the picture of the dog attached- his head is shaded and has different colours, his eyes are a hazel, background is VERY light green, in the PDF the background is noticeably green, his eyes look almost red, and shading is almost impossible to see

    Correct answer ちくわＤＴＰ

    Hello

    Is the "Document Color Mode" of the "File" menu set to "CMYK" and the graphic creation color set to "RGB"?

    Try changing the document color mode to "RGB" and exporting the PDF to see if the colors change.

    If the color doesn't change this way, the problem with the screen display is solved. However, if you will finally use it for offset printing, it is better to create it with the color mode and graphic creation color aligned to "CMYK".

    4 replies

    Met1
    Met1
    Legend
    February 3, 2023

    First off, no matter what you are using to see this on - iPad, phone, monitor, etc. - it's basically light emitting RGB.

    So if you designed in CMYK that was incorrect.

    2nd, some of these devices are crap at displaying anything other than full color (not because they are better at that, but because the human eye brain interface is pretty good at faking it for you, not so much with spots)

    3rd, what app you are using to view this may also radically affect how it looks, some apps are crap, see 2.

    4th, pixels...

    ちくわＤＴＰ
    ちくわＤＴＰCorrect answer
    Participating Frequently
    May 22, 2020

    Hello

    Is the "Document Color Mode" of the "File" menu set to "CMYK" and the graphic creation color set to "RGB"?

    Try changing the document color mode to "RGB" and exporting the PDF to see if the colors change.

    If the color doesn't change this way, the problem with the screen display is solved. However, if you will finally use it for offset printing, it is better to create it with the color mode and graphic creation color aligned to "CMYK".

      M
      Maryia_h
      Participant
      February 3, 2023

      Thank you!It helps

      Monika Gause
      Community Expert
      Monika GauseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 21, 2020

      An ADI file? Did you convert that?

       

      In which color mode did you create the document?

      How is your color management set up? How are your export settings?

      In which app do you view the PDF on the iPhone?

      Mylenium
      Mylenium
      Legend
      May 21, 2020

      You need to educate yourself about what mobile devices can actually do. A 16bit PNG? That's pretty useless on a phone or tablet, being that without color profiles there is no way to correctly convert 16bit colors to 8bit colors without screwing them up. Likewise, you may wish to educate yourself about color management and how a mistweaked monitor or wrong color profile can result in a completely wrong color rendition vs. 99% of mobile devices not caring for color profiles at all and assuming plain sRGB with certain default values. In short: You need to fix your workflow to be able to produce predictable results.

       

      Mylenium

      B
      bonniefraserAuthor
      Participant
      May 21, 2020
      Hi, thanks for getting back to me. I definitely need to expand my knowledge entirely.

      Regardless if the PDF is opened or saved on a phone, tablet, or the same laptop the document was created on, it appears darker. Apologies if I made it seem like this issue was solely in regards to viewing on a phone.

      I’m unsure if this is because it is saved as a PDF or what the issue is. When saving as a PDF I made sure to select no colour conversion. Being completely new to graphics and designing virtually I figured at most opening the PDF on the exact same laptop the illustrator document was created on SHOULD be similar to the original document, but it is also darker.

      The next document I create I’m going to save as an ADI file to see if this corrects the colour issue but was hoping to perhaps get more insight.

      Thanks
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