C++ GetInksUsedOnSpread on an EPS with setcmykcolor

I think ultimately Brad's response is the correct one - once usecmykcolor is used in PostScript, all four inks are seen as used, even if they're set to 0.  So even via C++, there doesn't seem to way to truly identify all inks used.

There is a `kInksRIDXNotifierHandlerBoss` in the C++ SDK, but I don't think I'm going to pursue it, since I suspect it'll ultimately come to the same result. I have an application-specific path to pursue to get the result I need.

@James Gifford—NitroPress yes EPS is not widely used anymore, but PostScript is. For example, PDFs are based on PostScript, and you can reproduce this same issue described here with a PDF file. However, EPS files are in my experience the quickest and easiest way to debug PostScript issues. It's a lot easier to edit an EPS file in a text editor than it is a PDF file.

Hi Rob, @Lawrence Horwitz said:

"If you create a process swatch that has 100% yellow and 0 black, magenta, and cyan, and apply it to a page item, then execute that code, `spreadInks` only has yellow. But with the EPS, it gets all four colors."

SDK:

inkMgr->GetInksUsedOnSpread(spreadRef, 0);

So, obviously inkMgr is able to do something we cannot do by scripting.

As far as @Lawrence Horwitz  said this is working for page items, but obviously does not work with a linked and placed (or embedded) graphic like an EPS file. Sounds like a feature for native InDesign page items only.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

I'm surprised Rob didn't say this — as EPS is an almost wholly obsolete format, this seems like a problem that is best solved by avoiding the image format altogether. Do you have a specific reason for needing to place and then analyze EPS images, given the many more modern and flexible options?

Hi @Lawrence Horwitz , Not sure if this helps, but in scripting inks are a property of the application or document (pages and spreads don’t have an inks collection). A document always has a minimum of 4 inks (the process CMYK inks), so even with an empty document this script:

var di = app.activeDocument.inks
var s = 'Document Inks\r'
for (var i = 0; i < di.length; i++){
    s+= di[i].name + "\r"
};   
alert(s)

Returns this:

You can’t get at an EPS’s color usage inside of InDesign via scripting, but if you can with C++ maybe loop through the colors’ values and check for values greater than 0?