InDesign best export settings for color

[stevedarula]

When exporting color jobs from InDesign, in the Output section, what are the best settings to use to ensure we are printing the color the customer sent us. We are currently using Color Conversion: No color conversion and Profile Inclusion Policy: Include Tagged Source Profiles. Anyone else using something different and Why?

[Stephen Marsh]

Too many unknowns to give a good answer...

Do your customers input files and your output PDF files contain RGB or only CMYK data?

Are your customers input files colour managed, or do they come in untagged and inherit document RGB or CMYK profile tags?

Do you wish to print the customers file values/numbers simply as is - or do you wish to convert them so that they obtain a similar colour appearance as the original in the final output space?

I think that the forum will need to know a whole lot more about your workflow and situation to give a good answer.


Stephen Marsh

[Lukas Engqvist]

Stephen said the truth…*too many unknowns…*but I will attempt a generic outline.

Yes. Different. Firstly colour settings must be set to the output intent. RGB for untagged I set to rRGB irrespective of bridge or other Adobe applications. Images that are to be colour managed should prefereably be in RGB for maximum flexibility.

Next step is open the file, on question about RGB enable all profiles if there is a missmatch, (if there is a profiler use it if no profile you will now have sRGB).
When question about CMYK comes up, it depends on the job. If moving from one coated to another coated profile I prefer ignore profiles to avoid contamination and/or black colour conversions.

I actually use convert to output intent and preserve numbers irrespective of if I export to PDFx1a or PDFx4, this is safest way to work. The job is tagged and will proof with output intent, but will not have strange things happen in the rip if printed in different sites. TAC can be verified and don't need to think about if digial proofer has different black point configuration.

If the job is for newsprint or uncoated then it's trickier to know when to convert CMYK and when to preserve values. If illustrations are of a technical nature usually safe CMYK (preserving values) is better, but brand colours such as oranges and blues will need to have magenta adjusted, if the original artwork is intended for Coated. This is a routine that needs to be considered with the customer. An alternative is to use Acrobat for converting PDF's of artwork from coated to uncoated as Acrobat colour converter allows preserving blacks. (For this reason some jobs for uncoated may be treated as coated and colour managed with a device link at RIP)

There are exceptions to the rule, but this is the flow I find safe for most jobs, irrespective of workflow.