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Participant
January 1, 2018
Answered

PREPARE A FILE FOR PRINTING A BOOK

  • January 1, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 690 views

Hello,

I am working on a book which has to be printed on a GardaMatt Ultra paper, 130 g (therefore a coated paper).

I need to assign a profile for printing which is ISOcoated_V2_eci.icc to the images in the file in order to make a print test.

Do I have to take every single image and assign (or convert??) to it the profile, save it in .tiff, relink it and then export the whole file or can I just export my current

indesign file converting the profile in the export menu?

Thank you and best regards

Marina

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer rob day

    but as they come from different sources I am afraid that they don't have a single common profile.

    Working with CMYK images that have been converted to different destination profiles is never ideal, and I'm guessing you are about to get conflicting advice here.

    CMYK-to-CMYK conversions can be problematic because CMYK spaces have different color gamuts—for example if the image started as sRGB, was converted to an uncoated CMYK space, then converted to ISOcoated_V2_eci by you, the color would still be inside the uncoated CMYK space's limited color gamut because conversions preserve color appearance—some of the original sRGB color that might have been printable on a coated sheet was lost on the first conversion.

    From InDesign you can choose to either force the CMYK-to-CMYK conversion at export or assign your ISOcoated_V2_eci profile and leave the image CMYK values unchanged—you don't have to handle that choice in Photoshop. Your document's Color Management Policy determines how the images will be handled (the policy is saved with the document when it is created).

    So this setting would assign your ISOcoated_V2_eci profile to all placed CMYK images and their color appearance might change in the layout:

    If the CMYK Policy was set to Preserve Embedded Profiles, images with embedded profiles that conflict with ISOcoated_V2_eci can get converted on export by choosing Document CMYK as the Destination in the Export>Output tab.

    You can also change the policy on a case by case basis by selecting an image and choosing Object>Image Color Settings.

    3 replies

    Jeff Witchel, ACI
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2018

    You will find lots of conflicting advice on forums about correct PDF color settings. My best advice is to "call your printer." They know exactly what they need and will most likely offer the best route on how to get there.

    rob day
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2018

    You will find lots of conflicting advice on forums about correct PDF color settings

    I started with the document's CMYK Color Management Policy, because it affects the export.

    The printer might recommend the default PDF/X-4 export preset, but a document created with Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles) containing CMYK images, would export with different results than one created with Preserve Embedded Profiles.

    Willi Adelberger
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2018

    Place only RGB images with an appropiate profile in InDeisng. Convert either upon PDF export to PDF/x-1a or export as PDF/x-4 without conversion.

    rob day
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 1, 2018

    Do I have to take every single image and assign (or convert??) to it the profile, save it in .tiff, relink it and then export the whole file or can I just export my current

    Have the images been already been converted to a different CMYK space in Photoshop or do you have the originals as RGB?

    Participant
    January 2, 2018

    Thank you for your answer!!

    I have mostly CMYK images, but as they come from different sources I am afraid that they don't have a single common profile. Do you believe that it is sufficient to convert the whole file to a destination profile when exporting from indesign to PDF? It would save me so much time (it's more or less 170 images).

    If I do that in the export command in indesign, should I do convert to profile (preserve numbers) or should I jsut convert?

    Thank you very much!

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    January 2, 2018

    but as they come from different sources I am afraid that they don't have a single common profile.

    Working with CMYK images that have been converted to different destination profiles is never ideal, and I'm guessing you are about to get conflicting advice here.

    CMYK-to-CMYK conversions can be problematic because CMYK spaces have different color gamuts—for example if the image started as sRGB, was converted to an uncoated CMYK space, then converted to ISOcoated_V2_eci by you, the color would still be inside the uncoated CMYK space's limited color gamut because conversions preserve color appearance—some of the original sRGB color that might have been printable on a coated sheet was lost on the first conversion.

    From InDesign you can choose to either force the CMYK-to-CMYK conversion at export or assign your ISOcoated_V2_eci profile and leave the image CMYK values unchanged—you don't have to handle that choice in Photoshop. Your document's Color Management Policy determines how the images will be handled (the policy is saved with the document when it is created).

    So this setting would assign your ISOcoated_V2_eci profile to all placed CMYK images and their color appearance might change in the layout:

    If the CMYK Policy was set to Preserve Embedded Profiles, images with embedded profiles that conflict with ISOcoated_V2_eci can get converted on export by choosing Document CMYK as the Destination in the Export>Output tab.

    You can also change the policy on a case by case basis by selecting an image and choosing Object>Image Color Settings.