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emmac77756521
emmac77756521
Participant
May 15, 2019
Question

eyedropper chooses inaccurate colour

  • May 15, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 3347 views

Have noticed for a while now that the eyedropper in past years would generate a near perfect match for colour, whereas now it is giving me something similar but not accurate enough. Eg (correct colour at top, sampled colour at bottom):

I know it's similar but it's just not as close as it used to be, and it's noticeable on artwork. I have everything ticked in the eyedropper options. Any comments/suggestions?

Using Indesign CC version 14.01.1, and referring specifically to RGB space only.

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

JonathanArias
JonathanArias
Legend
May 15, 2019

i suggest you created swatches and load them into indesign.

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 15, 2019

Are you sampling from a placed object? If so, what’s the format? Color sampling is accurate with image files, but not PDF or AI files. With those formats the low res proxy is sampled not the actual objects inside of the PDF/AI file.

If you are sampling from an image file, its assigned color profile could make a difference. For example, if the image had AdobeRGB embedded and the InDesign document has sRGB assigned, the image‘s AdobeRGB values would be sampled, but those values would have a different appearance when used in the document’s sRGB space.

With AdobeRGB assigned to the document the sampled AdobeRGB value matches:

    emmac77756521
    emmac77756521Author
    Participant
    May 16, 2019

    @Rob, yes from a placed image in most instances. It varies from one day to the next where it's come from but it will have been provided to me as a flattened image so I don't have any control over what I'm getting. So would you suggest applying a colour profile to the image in Photoshop first to match my Indesign profile, and then placing it and sampling it?

    It's just that this has never been an issue in the past, but in the last 6 months has become one, so I was wondering if maybe a change had been made to the software.

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 16, 2019

    so I was wondering if maybe a change had been made to the software.

    No change, the eyedropper has always picked up the raw RGB or CMYK values without considering the affect of the assigned profiles.

    Mixing CMYK profiles can cause output problems and should be avoided, but mixing RGB profiles normally isn’t a problem. If you need to routinely sample image color, don't mix profiles.

    You can assign your InDesign document’s RGB profile without leaving InDesign via Object>Image Color Settings..., which keeps the image’s RGB values, but may change its color appearance. Or, you can open the image in Photoshop and use Convert to Profile... to make a conversion into your InDesign RGB space. That will change the RGB values while attempting to preserve the color appearance by assigning the new profile. If you think the original color appearance is important to maintain, take the time and convert.

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