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Jason5FE7
Participating Frequently
August 19, 2020
Question

Working with CMYK Color Profiles

  • August 19, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 1780 views

Working at a Printing company we have all of our Ai documents saved as .eps in CMYK. Every file is set to "Don't Color Manage this Document" So we can make sure colors always print consistently. Recently, we are having problems with our files switching profiles even though they are all saved as "Don't Color Manage". When resaving documents that have the wrong profiles, some do not save with the new change. Why is this? Is there anyway to set Illustrator to permanently never convert or assign profiles and keep everything is unmanaged/untagged?

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3 replies

J
jdanek
Inspiring
August 20, 2020

Are there other prepres people in your print shop?  Perhaps their version has a different Color Setting than yours? You have "Ask When Opening" selected.  It could be a random setup ( although I doubt it ) that Illustrator is asking if you want the document not color managed as an option when you open it.  The way I understand it is, an EPS will use and honor your current Color Settings.  That data is saved in the Postcript source code that will be interpreted by the RIP.  The reason why your company is still using EPS is because their RIP works with those files ( eventhough they are aware of PDF, there may be complications where the RIP may or may not alter color date ).  Given that, some print shops hesitate to implement another file type into the matrix.  Some day, management may buy new equipment and PDF will look like a feasable option.  It could also be management simply is not knowledgeable enough to make the leap to PDF.  Whatever the case, their output device is dictating EPS without color management.  Why you are experiencing different scenarios is anyone's guess really.  You have the ability to assign a profile in the Ask When Opening dialog.  Just make the selection there.

J
Jason5FE7Author
Participating Frequently
August 20, 2020

No, It is only me working on the files. Although I do use a different computer when I WFH, I have run into the same problem whether I'm using my home PC or my work Mac. Thanks for the insight on EPS and RIP compatibility, it makes a lot of sense. I will try the Ask When Opening setting.

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 19, 2020

An eps does not support ICC profiles, what you see is probably the Illustrator part that is saved with the eps.

Do you really need eps? This has been outdated for years and replaced by PDF.

When you really don't want any color management, turn it off by selecting Emulate Illustrator 6 in the Color Settings.

    J
    Jason5FE7Author
    Participating Frequently
    August 19, 2020

    Interesting, I thought using .eps was strange too, but I think they continue to use it because they have been using it for a long time. I will definitely experiment with PDF files and see what the outcome is. Thanks for the "Emulate Illustrator 6" tip, I believe this will be a quick solution to this problem.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 20, 2020

    "Emulate Illutrator 6" won't turn off color management, because it can't be turned off. It will continue to work in the background, since something must produce what you see on your screen. Only you cannot control it anymore.

     

    I would suggest you learn how color management works and then set it up as needed. And then it won't save its profiles into your files. There are trainings available on LinkedIn Learning (not for free). 

     

    And another vote against using EPS. The file format hasn't been overhauled for 23 years.

      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 19, 2020

      Did you turn on the warnings for profile mismatches and missing profiles in your Color Settings?

      J
      Jason5FE7Author
      Participating Frequently
      August 19, 2020

      Yes, I have both of those settings turned on. No popups appear when opening the file to tell me there was a mismatch/missing profile. I am very confused because sometimes the files save with the "Do not Color Manage" selected and some change to Working Space SWOP...

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