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Inspiring
January 17, 2025
Answered

I need help exporting RGB colour CORRECTLY to jpg or png

  • January 17, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 3695 views

Ok so I before I start please don't tell me to use phtoshop for this thanks 🙂

 

So my issue is RGB's displaying correctly both in indesign and once exported to jpg or png. 

They work fine if I export to Interactive PDF in RGB mode, so I am curretly exporting to .pdf and saving as a jpg in Photoshop which is annoying and an extra step. 

 

See images the colour on the left is correct #4c11a1

Incorrect colour is #502e90

 

Interestingly when I open the colour swatch it tells me that the colour is 'out of Gamut' and if I click to correct it changes it to a very similar colour to #502e90, which is my theory of what it is doing. 

 

I've tried changing the RGB profile, currently sRGB IEC61966-2.1 and nothing seems to make a difference. 

 

Anyone know what the issue is and why the Interactive PDF is fine and how to fix the Export to jpg setting? 

Correct answer StephenJohnBryde


Holy Moly I fixed it !!!

This setting, 'Transparency blend Space' !!!!! What is that even for? Why would that be an option? Why can't indesign work without that redicutlous setting !! I changed it to RGB and it instantly changed, and the export worked too !!!!!

3 replies

Inspiring
March 11, 2025

Did you find a way around this? I'm having more or less exactly the same issue. Importing an RGB Illustrator file into InDesign, doing textual layout work, exporting as RGB image that is losing all of the original colour.

 

I realise obviously that InDesign is built around CMYK, but it appears that it won't do proper RGB image exports.

 

The only way I've found around it is to export the final InDesign file to a PDF in RGB, and then in Acrobat export that PDF into a jpeg. This appears to retain the correct colours.

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
March 25, 2025

I just did a quick test as well, creating a basic RGB doc in Illustrator, placing it, adding some RGB text, and exporting to JPEG.

 

No unexpected results (Win11, ID v20.2).

 

I suggest you have a color profile or other setting interfering somewhere. Also, your results might vary if you are not properly Placing the AI illustration (e.g. cut-pasting it or even drag-dropping it, which sometimes is not as reliable as Place).

 

 

(Also, not quite true that InDesign is a CMYK app... if anything, it's fairly color-model neutral, just doing what it's told for any given swatch, export or result.)

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
March 26, 2025

Holy Moly I fixed it !!!

This setting, 'Transparency blend Space' !!!!! What is that even for? Why would that be an option? Why can't indesign work without that redicutlous setting !! I changed it to RGB and it instantly changed, and the export worked too !!!!!


It controls how transparency is handled when a doc is flattened for printing. Advanced stuff and usually irrelevant unless you have transparent images or opacity settings.

 

But glad to have steered you the right way. 🙂

Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
January 17, 2025
quote

Ok so I before I start please don't tell me to use phtoshop for this thanks 🙂


By @StephenJohnBryde

 

Why not? What's the problem with Photoshop?

 

Inspiring
January 19, 2025

It just can't do what Indesign can do in terms of layout etc. So it's to hard to use for what I'm doing 🙂

Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
January 19, 2025
quote

It just can't do what Indesign can do in terms of layout etc. So it's to hard to use for what I'm doing 🙂


By @StephenJohnBryde

 

I thought you want to include Photoshop in the workflow - ID -> PS -> image. 

 

Eric Dumas
Community Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2025
Inspiring
January 19, 2025

Hey Eric,

 

Thanks 🙂

 

My goal is to correctly export a web banner with the background RGB colour#4c11a1. It's their brand colour and they want to use it.

 

I realize the colour will change when saving or jpg, but this is a large difference, I'm used to a few numbers different. Did you see my attachment? The correct colour is: rgb(76, 17, 161) and the incorrect is: rgb(80, 46, 144).

That's a huge difference especially in the Green value, 17 > 46 !!!

 

I'm not sure what this means sorry...

 

  • Also, make sure the exporting process does not use print simulation, that could try to 'mix the inks'

 

My question is why does it work for Interactive PDF? 

 

Thanks so much 🙂

Stephen