Problem: CYMK Document saves to RGB PDF

[aprilk31527202]

Hello, I have an Illustrator document that is very obviously set to CYMK. I also converted it to the standard working CYMK ICC Profile (web swop 2). I am saving the document out as a high-resolution print with an X3 PDF standard. (I have some other documents that I am working with that have similar settings.) I went to double-check this collection of PDF documents in Bridge, and was surprised to find that although I was doing practically the same thing with each file, I have an assortment from CYMK, RGB, and "untagged" PDFs... Does anyone know why this is the case and how I can get my PDFs to show the CYMK color profile? Additionally, the printer specified that the documents are "best without an ICC profile", so if the PDFs remain untagged in that regard, I think that is alright. I see that I can "convert" to a specific ICC color on save out... but I thought this would be inherited anyway from the parent file... I am rather confused about the situation, and I am hoping that you can help me clear it up. Thank you very much in advance!

[Ton Frederiks]

It is not very clear what you are doing and how you check the PDFs in Bridge.

What do you do when you "I also converted it to the standard working CYMK ICC Profile (web swop 2)"?

A PDF can contain multiple RGB as wel as CMYK objects when they are linked in Illustrator.

A PDF/X-3:2002 does not do color conversion so all these linked RGB or CMYK files are saved in the pdf.

A PDF/X-3:2002 can have an Output Intent Profile, but does not convert to that profile.

[aprilk31527202]

Hi Ton, 

Okay, that is partially helpful to know. In Bridge, you can sort your documents by color profile. In the metadata, which contains other values (such as shutter and aperture for photographs), it clearly shows if it is RGB, CYMK, or untagged, and it also shows the ICC profile if there is one assigned - so far mine all show untagged, since I did not use the option of converting to a profile on save. 

Illustrator is different from Photoshop, for example, but similar in that the color space and the color profiles are not controlled by the same setting. I have my illustrator document set in CYMK - that is the color mode. I was under the impression that all save-outs would reflect this setting. In addition, I converted the document to the ICC profile mentioned; I thought this would also take care of the links in case I had missed something. 

"A PDF/X-3:2002 can have an Output Intent Profile, but does not convert to that profile." - This is interesting, but I am not sure what it means. Honestly, the ICC profile is not that important to me. I had similar documents print fine, and those PDFs show "untagged" for the profile. What is more concerning is that I have a CYMK document saving out to RGB, and I have no idea why. 

Obviously, I could choose to "convert" to the specific ICC profile on save out, but I kind of hoped to avoid this since I am good with leaving the profile untagged. I also read something weird about facing potential issues when converting CYMK to CYMK... not sure what the author was talking about. But I could assume it has to do with this setting on save out. 

Anyways, if you are able to help me further, I would be really grateful. Thanks! 

[aprilk31527202]

Okay, something appears to be wacky. I double-checked my links, now everything is definitely CYMK. My document is also definitely in CYMK. The preferred profile should be the Web Swop 2... everything CYMK. I save it out, still RGB... So I convert the file to the profile on save out (preserving numbers).... still RGB. What am I doing wrong here? 

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you check your document in Acrobat? It has very good print production preflight profiles.

You can check for potential printing problems.

[aprilk31527202]

Um yes, but Acrobat isn't really telling me anything useful. I don't think the files have obvious problems... I fail to see where I can see the information that I am looking for in Acrobat. There is an "information" button to the left, but this doesn't even say generally what the document is... Instead, it says if it fits to a standard and what the preferred target ICC profile is... A lot of my documents are showing up completely blank in this window, but I saved them out very similarly to the other documents that are showing information... which makes this confusing. I am failing to see where the differences are.

[Ton Frederiks]

I am not talking about the info button but about the preflight tool which has a check for potential printing problems:

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/analyzing-documents-preflight-tool-acrobat.html

[aprilk31527202]

I just tried using this preflight too to change things about my documents so that I could know for sure that it is CYMK + the standard ICC I wanted... and even when using this it does not update the INFO panel. I saved the document as X3, I converted to X1.... and this doesn't change in the info. So I am still confused. Likewise, the ICC should then change to the SWOP as specified, and it does not... So I am just not finding the preflight very comforting. Like I said, the documents don't have any obvious errors that I am aware of. I just want them to show up like I planned. - CYMK + Web Swop 2 ICC...  

[Ton Frederiks]

No need to convert anything in Acrobat, as long as your CMYK document is saved in Illustrator without any conversion, you should be OK.

The preflight in Acrobat can be used to list potential printing problems.

What info button and info panel are you talking about?