Importing .png logo into iDesign

[jeffreym4272002]

A client is importing a .png logo with tagline into InDesign. She says that the tagline appears lighter then when she imports the same logo as an eps. I've told her that she should not be using a .png version of the logo, but that is another story. Is it normal for InDesign to render the logo differently. You can see in the attached file that the tagline in the center is lighter.

[James Gifford—NitroPress · Accepted solution]

The problem is mostly in that .EPS is an obsolete format, no longer well handled by current apps (even Adobe).

PNG is not necessarily the wrong format, although I'd avoid it for any kind of print or document export. The ideal format would be .AI, if it's created in Illustrator, or .PSD, from Photoshop, or .PDF, if from any app that can export to a controlled output. (Or a PDF that can be cropped and tweaked in Acrobat Pro.) SVG is an option, but not the best one.

The best image format depends on the end format — print, PDF, EPUB, web, etc. Each format and each destination has better and worse match-ups. (Some much worse; I wouldn't send PNG or SVG to print, for example.)

But yes, it's common to have color and other variations among these export/exchange formats, especially EPS.

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[Scott Falkner]

We don't know where the EPS logo came from, whether it is vector or raster, whether it is CMYK or RGB, or whether is has a colour profile. But we do know the PNG is a raster, is RGB and doesn't have a profile, because that can describe all PNGs. Perhaps the colour change is from one or all of those possible differences in the files.

Open the EPS in Illustrator as see whether it is vector or raster and what its colour mode is. If this is meant for print make sure it is CMYK and the black text is just black, with no CMY in it. Save as an Illustrator file. 

[Laubender]

Hi @jeffreym4272002 ,

of course InDesign will render the different file types differently because the contents of the different files is not the same. If you have an EPS file go on with that or distill it to PDF with Acrobat Distiller. Or look inside the EPS file with a text editor and see if you find a hint on the creation application. If it is Illustrator, open the EPS in Illustrator and save as AI.

For a logo like the one in your screenshot PDF or AI or EPS would be the ideal file type when you are doing layouts for printing. If it's more Publish Online or FXL EPUB use an SVG version. The png is not necessary and is more a last resort file type I would not use if any of the other file types for the same logo are available.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Professional )