HELP with converting to CMYK

[Lesann415]

Hello, While I use Photoshop CC, I'm teaching a course in PSE on how to create book covers.  CreateSpace does require a PDF but doesn't require submissions to be in CMYK, but we know there is a color change b/t RGB and CMYK.  And I hate that my students can't see this for themselves or convert.  I was hoping to find an Adobe product that was free, like a PDF program that would also save as CMYK.  Is there one?  What can I offer to fix this for my students? 

[MichelBParis]

Lesann415  wrote

Hello, While I use Photoshop CC, I'm teaching a course in PSE on how to create book covers.  CreateSpace does require a PDF but doesn't require submissions to be in CMYK, but we know there is a color change b/t RGB and CMYK.  And I hate that my students can't see this for themselves or convert.  I was hoping to find an Adobe product that was free, like a PDF program that would also save as CMYK.  Is there one?  What can I offer to fix this for my students? 

You can't, and in my humble opinion you should not teach your students to degrade their pictures by converting themselves to CMYK.

Questions About CMYK: How's, What's and When's

My firm belief is that any RGB to CMYK conversion software, free or paying, can only be handled by the printers themselves, since only those technicians know the right settings which depend on their paper and inks. And I do consider that it's their responsibily to achieve the nearest possible CMYK output from their good RGB pictures.

If it's only to show your students the color changes on their displays (as a matter of fact, they should compare with the prints), maybe using an additional add-on like Elements+ which provides a softproof script would suffice.