.joboptions: source profiles don't match

[Sam A.]

Hi all

I received a .joboptions file from the publisher (printer), and when I load it as Adobe PDF Preset I get the following warning:

1) The preset specifies source profiles that don't match the current color settings file. Profiles specified by the color settings file will be used.

Do I need to worry, and if so, what can I do to prevent problems once I send the PDF file to the publisher or printer?

[rob day]

You’ll get that warning if the document’s assigned RGB and CMYK profiles (Edit>Assign profiles) are something other than the CC default sRGB and US Web Coated SWOP profiles. I’m not sure what the purpose of the warning is because there are obviously good reasons not to assign those default profiles—you would always want to use the printer’s CMYK profile and there is little reason to use sRGB for print output.

[Sam A.]

Thank you, Rob. When I sent the publisher a test file they asked me to use a RGB rather than a CMYK profile, so your comment makes sense.

So now I've changed the settings this way:

However, I get the same warning as before. What would you suggest I do? (I'm completely ignorant when it comes to colour profiles.)

[rob day]

It would have to be the default sRGB which would be this:

But you can safely ignore the warning as long as you are including all RGB profiles with the PDF—PDF/X-4 includes all RGB profiles—and the printer is making proper RGB to CMYK conversions at output. The problem with sRGB is it clips a large part of the typical CMYK space, so if you are trying to get bright cyan/greens and pure yellows AdobeRGB would be a better choice.

[Sam A.]

I modified the Assign Profiles settings according to your screenshot, but even then the warning crept up again. Only when I changed the Standard to PDF/X-4:2010 did it disappear. So I'll produce the PDF this way and hope it will be OK. Thank you!

[rob day]

Is your printer’s .joboptions file specifying the US Web Coated SWOP profile? If it’s a different profile you would want to assign it to your document, and ignore the warning.

[Sam A.]

Not sure ... if I don't modify the settings from the printer's .joboption file (i.e., if I don't change "Standard: None"), nothing seems to be selected in the Output tab (if this is where I have to look):

[rob day]

So they are asking you to use RGB color, but the .joboptions is set to not include RGB color profiles?

That tells me they don’t understand how color management works—for RGB images and colors to be converted to CMYK correctly for output there has to be an assigned source profile (PDF/X-4). If the printer really wants RGB with no profile, then you probably should assign sRGB and make sure you see an accurate proof.

[Sam A.]

The PDF file I'm producing will be printed in black and white – there's lots of text and only a few images in it. I've inserted the image files (jpg) that I'd received into the ID files. Some of these jpg files were coloured.

To betray my ignorance: I turned these image files to black and white before inserting them into the ID file, but I'm not sure whether I saved them properly beforehand. Will it be enough to have the correct Export settings?