Participating Frequently

Question

Out of Gamut Warning- Help!

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
July 27, 2019
4 replies
5799 views

Hey everyone,

I use Photoshop and work in CMYK for design and printing, yet every time I export images out, it changes my whites to off white or grey, and when I even print them, the white comes out the same way, and doesn't utilize the white of the paper, thus making my white appear dingy. I select a pure white in the color picker, it prompts me that its out of gamut, but I am finding there is no what to turn it off, or override it, as it always selects a different "white option" each time, and it is driving me nuts. Clicking the warning option only changes the color to the dingy looking ones, and I have even gone as far as to try to work in another color space (RGB) and that even yields the same results. I need to know how to turn off this warning, or at least how to override it so I can get the pure white, and not have it alter every color that I do, otherwise I am going to have to look into other options, because its becoming to much of an issue. Thank you in advance!!!!!

This topic has been closed for replies.

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

Preparing colour images etc for CMYK print can be pretty hard because a lot of screen colour is out of the gamut of CMYK processes. If you have a good CMYK profile (that truly represents the press to be used) then what tyou'll have to do is select colours a that are not out of gamut. If you were to disable gamut warning all you'd get is inaccurate colour when the job finally prints.

Ignoring gamut warning is like taping over a car's oil warning light because you don't like the red glow. Better to put in some oil to make the light go off.

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net :: adobe forum volunteer
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
[please only use the blue reply button at the top of the page, this maintains the original thread title and chronological order of posts]

D

Dilpreet2270796420yg

Participant

Hi. I'm having a similar problem but with trying to select a bright turquoise shade but after I've selected the colour in the picker and press ok (the warning error appears next to the colour -out of gamut for prinitng. Do I need to check any of my settings?

D Fosse

Community Expert

If the document is CMYK, the color is most likely just out of gamut.

That has nothing to do with Photoshop, it's just the limitations of offset printing processes. The color can't be reproduced in CMYK; the inks aren't saturated enough at that density.

CMYK is always tied to a specific printing process - an offset press calibrated to a certain standard, using specific inks on specific paper stock. It's where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. There's no such thing as a generic and ideal "CMYK".

CMYK is strictly for commercial offset print! For everything else you should be in RGB. Even desktop inkjet printers expect RGB data.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

You should work in RGB color mode, not CMYK color mode. There are various color spaces, the simplest to use when you begin is sRGB (Standard RGB space). With most inkjet printers, their software converts the image into CMYK or even CMYK Plus.

Read up about Color Management, which includes calibrating your monitor and understanding profiles. You can find online tutorials about this and more with LinkedIn Learning (you can get 30-days free access). This is a good tutorial, it covers Photoshop as well as InDesign: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/indesign-color

A

AmbrosiaSDAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hey Derek, thank you, unfortunately the services that I print with ask for the images to be built and done in CMYK for their printers, so im timid to try to change the format and have it not work, or fail to upload to their systems.

mglush

Community Expert

Hi!

Let's see how we can help! Don't give up--there is an answer--and as you learn more about color in Photoshop it will start to make sense.

First, what version of Photoshop are you using? Are you working in CMYK exclusively? Have you assigned a color profile? And, have you calibrated your monitor? Have you tried turning of Gamut Warning under the View menu?

If you could post a screenshot of what your image looks like, it would also help!

Thanks,

Michelle

A

AmbrosiaSDAuthor

Participating Frequently

Here is what happens when I open a new document in RGB, and create a shape with the color, it grays it out completely, and is no where near the color that I need, and makes working in this space extra difficult!

rob day

Community Expert

Check your Color Settings Conversion Options Intent. Absolute Colorimetric would give you an out-of-gamut warning for 255|255|255 with most CMYK Working Spaces.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded