How to create CMYK AI images

[Erica30601547mf2w]

When generating an AI image in InDesign it is RGB, but I need it to be CMYK for print.

[rob day]

Hi @Erica30601547mf2w , Illustrator has a single document color space, make sure the document’s File>Document Color Mode is set to CMYK Color.

[Erica30601547mf2w]

I am looking at the beta for InDesign, not Illustrator.

[rob day]

I don’t beta test, is there a new feature that lets you Export to AI, or are you exporting to a PDF or EPS?

[Erica30601547mf2w]

In InDesign Beta, instead of bringing in or placing images into your document, you can generate the image with AI.  The issue is the images are RGB, and I do not see a way to change them to CMYK.  This is an issue if you are packaging your document and you need the images to be CMYK.

[Peter Spier]

This isn't really a problem.

These days it is standard practice to leave RGB art in the native color space with an attached color profile (in this case I preume that would be the InDesign RGB document color space) and let the printer do the CMYK conversion to the correct profile for output at print time.

[rob day]

Sorry for the confusion I thought you meant the .ai format.

I agree with Peter there is no reason to Place CMYK images anymore because the conversion to CMYK can happen on a PDF Export, or at print output when the page is RIP’d. The conversion to CMYK on a PDF Export is fully color managed:

PDF/X-4

[jmendesign]

Maybe you can try to export to Photoshop and convert to CMYK and place again in InDesign.

[Erica30601547mf2w]

I would probably end up just generating it in another program, I just don't understand why they would have that capability in InDesign if it isn't useful for the program.

[Peter Spier]

Beta testing is an exploration to see if a new feature is workable. AI seems to be the new "gatta have" feature of all software, and you might or might not actually find it useful or workable in your own workflow.

[Stephanie21121892kwm9]

I complety agree, I was happy using this new feature to fill in images that didn't fit my layout. Once I went to make sure everything was CMYK I could not find a way to convert the AI images to CMYK. Huge disapointment being I need to get this to the printer TODAY!