saving as CMYK - DPChallenge Forums

07/25/2012 03:36:17 PM · #1

I know I should know this, but how do I save something in CMYK instead of RGB

Ok, I figured out how to do it, but it changes the colors dramatically. Any way to have it saved in CMYK without changing the color selections?

Message edited by author 2012-07-25 15:42:22.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/25/2012 03:40:59 PM · #2

First option under the IMAGE choice is MODE, you will find it there.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/25/2012 04:09:43 PM · #3

Originally posted by tanguera:

No. You can improve it, you can adjust it after conversion, but you are compressing a palatte/gamut of 16.7 million (potential) colors (24-bit RGB) into a printable palatte of about 7000 colors in CMYK. Many many colors in RGB are simple incapable of being reproduced in print.

07/25/2012 04:15:23 PM · #4

Ah, thanks General. I'll have to see what I can do as the change is so dramatic as to not be acceptable.

07/25/2012 04:15:46 PM · #5

Are you getting a color shift, or a bit of banding, or just losing a degree of gradation?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/25/2012 04:26:48 PM · #6

The original has text in almost neon colors, and in the CMYK version they're almost pastel.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/25/2012 04:32:46 PM · #7

"Neon" colors don't work in CMYK.

What are you trying to reproduce? If it's "graphical' enough you may be able to print it in 3 or 4 Pantone colors, where you can mix up special blends (including metallic inks), rather than the CMYK process colors.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/25/2012 05:27:09 PM · #8

Thanks, everyone. Got client approval on my modified CMYK file.

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

07/25/2012 05:31:53 PM · #9

Funny, I literally was thinking this morning, "who ever uses CMYK anymore?" My print guy prefers the profile in RGB.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/25/2012 05:58:30 PM · #10

I've not used it until now, so apparently, not that many people, Jason!

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

07/25/2012 07:28:00 PM · #11

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Funny, I literally was thinking this morning, "who ever uses CMYK anymore?" My print guy prefers the profile in RGB.

Anybody that's still doing 4-color process printing (conventional industrial color printing presses) is using CMYK inks.

R.

07/25/2012 08:38:01 PM · #12

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Funny, I literally was thinking this morning, "who ever uses CMYK anymore?" My print guy prefers the profile in RGB.

If you have a client who has a "style book" where there are specific pantone colors you need to use for backgrounds and text to send a consistent message, CMYK still is the best option, RGB has too much wiggle room.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/25/2012 09:17:35 PM · #13

Good to know. For when I have a client :-)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/25/2012 11:02:36 PM · #14

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Funny, I literally was thinking this morning, "who ever uses CMYK anymore?" My print guy prefers the profile in RGB.

If you have a client who has a "style book" where there are specific pantone colors you need to use for backgrounds and text to send a consistent message, CMYK still is the best option, RGB has too much wiggle room.

Pantone colors and CMYK are very different, and Pantone > CMYK conversion also presents problems. Pantone colors are created by mixing specific proportions of a set of base colors of inks, and then printing those as a solit color. CMYK colors are created by printing varying-sized tiny dots of the four inks next to each other to create the illusion of a composite color.

Many "digital presses" use their own, proprietary internal RGB > CMYK conversion algorithms, and operators would rather convert the customer's RGB files than have a customer who knows nothing about the CMYK gamut do it themselves.

Sometime you should drop into a print shop still using 4-C presses and ask if you can look at the various color sample books so you can compare the colors actually available. Remember that what you see on-screen when you "proof" the CMYK file is actually an RGB approximation of the CMYK colors, and that once you have ink on paper it will probably look at least a little different.

07/26/2012 01:41:26 AM · #15

I DO have to spend some time with printers and the various methods of printing an image I edit in RGB. I have a feeling this sort of issue will present itself with increasing frequency...