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_Sarah_Casey_
Participant
January 15, 2008
Question

Exported PDF converts black to gray

  • January 15, 2008
  • 9 replies
  • 30495 views
Hello,

I am trying to export an InDesign CS3 document as a PDF, but all my blacks turn gray when previewed in Acrobat. I opened the PDF in Photoshop to sample the gray to make sure it wasn't a preview problem, but it is gray in Photoshop as well. I have tried using various PDF presets and various blacks (default black, CMYK build black, and Pantone black) with no positive results.

Any ideas would be welcome!

Thank you!
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    9 replies

    jmandarano@rebgv.org
    jmandarano@rebgv.org
    Participant
    February 18, 2015

    Sarah, I had the same issue and think I may have resolved it.

    When exporting from inDesign to PDF, click on the "output" tab when the export PDF screen pops up, and then change Color, Desitation: to ColorMatch RGB

    Then export to PDF. When I did this, my blacks all matched up! 

    Hope it works for you.

    Julie

    K
    kidinasweetshop
    Participant
    June 11, 2009

    I had the problem of grey text when creating PDFs from Quark Xpress 6.5. As someone else pointed out CMYK black isn't jet-black, that's achieved by mixing percentages of the other colours. And that was the clue for me. I don't use Indesign but in Quark, go to Edit in top menu and select Print Styles from the list. Then select New, then Output. Change Print Colours from Composite CMYK to Composite RGB. Bingo! Rich black. Hope this is some use for Quarkies.

    Tim

    Kenneth C. Benson
    Kenneth C. Benson
    Inspiring
    June 11, 2009

    As someone else pointed out CMYK black isn't jet-black, that's achieved by mixing percentages of the other colours.

    No. Real process black is 100% K. It's black ink, not mixed.

    The problem here is that the OP is not printing on an offset press. He's printing to a color laser printer that may or may not be mixing colors to achieve black.

    Ken

    Kenneth C. Benson
    Kenneth C. Benson
    Inspiring
    June 11, 2009

    This got me interested in the printer. I googled the Epson and came up with a review (http://reviews.cnet.com/multifunction-devices/epson-aculaser-cx11nf-multifunction/4505-3181_7-31476894.html) that mentions grayish blacks, specifically, "Some aspects of the Epson AcuLaser CX11NF's prints disappointed us, particularly the grayish look of its plain black text, which was blurry at small sizes."

    This doesn't explain the Brother printer, though, which is monochrome, and the two reviews I read were ecstatic about its print quality.

    Ken

    A
    Anonymous
    June 6, 2009

    In Acrobat:

    Advanced (in top menu bar) >  uncheck Proof Colors (pull down menu) > then if still gray, in same area roll over Proof Setup (menu will open to right) and check Simulate Ink Black

    I just happened to be playing around with some of the options others have mentioned in this string, and got lucky. So thanks everyone.

    BLACK - dark, rich, true black - is beautiful!

    rob day
    Community Expert
    rob dayCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 6, 2009

    0|0|0|100 Black in offset printing isn't absolute black—adding CMY to the mix (aka rich black) produces a blacker black. Most CMYK profiles take this into account when there's a conversion to RGB (for monitor display or printing to an RGB driven inkjet printer), the assumption being you want to proof for what will actually happen on press.

    ID has a preference for cases where you are not proofing for offset printing (the final destination is a monitor or inkjet printer). If that's the case, choose Output and Display All Blacks as Rich Black in the Appearance of Black preference.

    J
    Jeffrey Dean
    Known Participant
    June 10, 2009

    I have been very interested in this. I work chiefly with text (books, in fact), and printers have had no problems with the PDFs I have generated in InDesign and sent to them. The difficulty arises with the voucher proofs I print out on my laser printer to accompany the PDFs -- these have been coming out with grey text instead of black, and this is NOT a desirable attribute in this context. A successful workaround I have discovered is to set the text color to Registration instead of black.

    I have also found it helpful, when sending printers InDesign-generated PDFs incorporating black-and-white halftones, to use Acrobat's "Convert Colors..." function (Advanced menu, Print Production sub-menu) to "Convert Colors to Output Intent", Profile "Gray Gamma 1.8" (or 2.2, if the printer finds that preferable; I am working on a Mac, so my monitor uses Gamma 1.8).

    What I have not succeeded in discovering is what to do when an InDesign file incorporates a placed black-and-white line-art file. For instance, I am trying to produce musical scores intended for laser printing by end-users after downloading from the Web, not for proper printing by offset. TIFF files generated by Finale, Sibelius, or the like are incorporated in InDesign files to ensure superior typography of accompanying text (the text-handling sophistication of the music-notation software is rudimentary). When PDF is produced, the translation of black to grey means that musical staff lines, barlines, note stems, and the like print out on a laser printer as dotted rather than solid lines -- NOT a desirable result. I'd love to find out how to get black line art to print as black!

    I attach one of my scores as an example, in case that is helpful.

    _
    _eve_florin_
    Participant
    June 5, 2008
    hmmm... yeah, i need to be to work in color. thanks for the info though!
    _
    _SuperMacGuy_
    Known Participant
    June 4, 2008
    This solution may not work for you. I have seen this as well, text or other 100% black objects become 92% black (grey). My solution was to disable InDesign color management, and then exported the PDF. My blacks were now 100% black.
    If you are working in color or your image require color management, this technique probably won't be of much help.

    Chris
    _
    _eve_florin_
    Participant
    June 4, 2008
    thank you for the response, p. i would like it to print accurately. i've done some tests and the pdf prints accurately (100%k) on all printers but my home hp inkjet printer. on my printer, it prints 100%k from the native illustrator or indesign file but once i save it as a pdf, it looks gray on screen and prints gray to my inkjet. any clue how to fix this? is this a color profile issue with my printer? why would the pdf black appear so differently than the native file black on screen?

    some other info that might be helpful, i have both cs2 and cs3 loaded on my computer (macbook pro). i have experienced this issue before and changed some settings in bridge (sorry, i don't remember what these were) that seemed to remedy the issue until i downloaded a business card template file from www.overnightprints.com. the file seemed to be built in the cs or cs2 version of illustrator.

    thanks again for your help. it is much appreciated.
    _
    _P__Marlowe_
    Participating Frequently
    May 27, 2008
    >this is a problem for me

    Why is this a problem for you?
    What are you trying to do with your PDF that you do not want your black to print accurately?
    We need to know this to answer appropriately. A PDF that prints as dark as possible on your laser printer is (as good as) ununsable for offset printing.
    _
    _eve_florin_
    Participant
    May 27, 2008
    i have the same issue as sarah. i moused over the pdf document and despite it saying 100% black, it still prints gray. is there any more information on this topic? this is a problem for me with pdfs created from illustrator and indesign in cs3.
    A
    Anonymous
    January 15, 2008
    It may be because the single black ink at 100% is still not as dark as black plus additional inks (eg. all four CMYK inks at 100%, aka Registration). InDesign has a default preference (which can be turned off) to display 100% black as "rich black" on your monitor, but Acrobat and Photoshop don't do that, hence the difference.

    Have you tried making a pdf containing a Black-only swatch next to a Registration swatch? I just tried it and in the resulting PDF, I can see the difference quite clearly.

    Another thing to try when viewing your PDF in Acrobat is to use the "Output Preview"...when that's in use you can mouse over your document to see what the actual ink levels are. If your grey looking "black" swatch shows as 100% Black, then everything's fine...just try not to be bothered by the greyish appearance.
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