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Interactive PDF in CMYK inDesign

Community Beginner ,
May 09, 2022 May 09, 2022

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Does anyone know of how you would export an interactive PDF as CMYK? Using Indesign 2022. It always wants to change the colour profile to RGB when I export?

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How to , Import and export , Print

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Community Expert , May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

Hi ccarey1,

you can create what you want, but it requires some extra steps.

 

[1] Export to PDF Interactive ( where of course all colors are converted to RGB )

[2] Export another PDF to Print where all colors stay intact or are converted to CMYK.

 

[3] Open the PDF from [1] in Acrobat Pro.

[4] Go to category Organize Pages

[5] Use the button command Replace to replace all pages from that PDF with the ones from [2].

The interactive elements will be maintained.

Save the result PDF to a new name.

 

...

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Community Expert ,
May 09, 2022 May 09, 2022

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Sadly, the iPDF outport does not have an option to set colour profiles, it wil be (s)RGB always...

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Community Expert ,
May 09, 2022 May 09, 2022

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An interactive PDF is intended for use on screens, not for printing (other than printing to a desktop laser printer for personal use, not commercial printing). The "Interactive" part means the user must be able to click or do something with the PDF file, like fill in a form, access it for accessibility purposes, make comments, or sign a document.

 

Digital screens are only RGB.  CMYK is for printing devices, especially commercial printing presses.

 

As @Frans v.d. Geest said, you'll never find CMYK or other color profiles in interactive PDF.

 

If you need CMYK color, then use Export / PDF (Print) instead, but the PDF will not have any interactive features.

 

Designers who create layouts that are destined for both printing and online / screen viewing make 2 separate PDFs from their INDD layout: one for print, and a second for interactive. The print version will most likely have the CMYK color space and be sent to a print shop, while the interactive version will use RGB and be posted on a website or distributed electronically such as via email.

 

Although both PDFs will look identical, each is custom-made for its specific purpose, print or digital (and never both).

 

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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Community Expert ,
May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

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Hi ccarey1,

you can create what you want, but it requires some extra steps.

 

[1] Export to PDF Interactive ( where of course all colors are converted to RGB )

[2] Export another PDF to Print where all colors stay intact or are converted to CMYK.

 

[3] Open the PDF from [1] in Acrobat Pro.

[4] Go to category Organize Pages

[5] Use the button command Replace to replace all pages from that PDF with the ones from [2].

The interactive elements will be maintained.

Save the result PDF to a new name.

 

Regards,

Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

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Community Beginner ,
May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

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Thanks! That worked 👏

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Community Expert ,
May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

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Still... why should you want a CMYK colour space for an iPDF that is viewed in screens???

It will mean colour rendering problems...

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Community Beginner ,
May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

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I didn't my client did, despite my explanation. I am well aware that digital applications use RGB, and print uses CMYK. Don't worry.

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Community Expert ,
May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

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But the fields, when filled, will still be RGB. There is no way to make them CMYK.

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Community Expert ,
May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022

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Ah yes, clients... sigh. 😉

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New Here ,
Sep 13, 2023 Sep 13, 2023

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Thanks, Uwe Laubender!

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