Cmyk > word rgb > cmyk ?

[nickyg]

Forum,

If i place an CMYK asset into Word, does Word convert to RGB then convert back again if i'm creating a CMYK PDF file ?

It would be great to know what Word does with CMYK assets.

Thanks,

Nick.

[TerryWyse]

It may just a coincidence, but there's been a thread running on the Apple Colorsync mailing list regarding MS Word color management. If you're not recieving emails from that list, you may want to visit the list archives here: colorsync-users Mailing List

I think the consensus was that placed RGB ignores tagged/embedded profiles and probably gets assigned sRGB while it appears that CMYK objects are getting converted to indexed color (a form of RGB basically).

I haven't been following it THAT closely so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Hope this helps,
Terry

[leonardr]

Originally Posted by nickyg

If i place an CMYK asset into Word, does Word convert to RGB then convert back again if i'm creating a CMYK PDF file ?.

What OS platform are you using Word on? Which version of Word?

What format is your asset?

all of these things play a HUGE difference in the answer to the question....

[leonardr]

Originally Posted by TerryWyse

CMYK objects are getting converted to indexed color (a form of RGB basically).

This is a very common misconception and needs to be corrected.

Indexed color simply means that the instead of using a "direct" value for each pixel in an image, the color's value is instead stored indirectly through an "color table". That's ALL IT MEANS.

The color table, however, can use ANY color model - Gray, RGB, CMYK, Lab, etc.

[lnivin]

Why does our RIP (Prinergy) sometimes fail if an image is Indexed?

When converted to CMYK it will then process.

[leonardr]

Originally Posted by lnivin

Why does our RIP (Prinergy) sometimes fail if an image is Indexed?

When converted to CMYK it will then process.

You'd need to contact the folks who make your RIP. It's probably just a bug. Are you running the current version of the RIP software?

[michaelejahn]

Originally Posted by lnivin

Why does our RIP (Prinergy) sometimes fail if an image is Indexed?

When converted to CMYK it will then process.

CMYK images that have less than 256 distinctly different color pixel values can be converted into indexed CMYK when they are placed into a document and that document is saved out to PDF/X.

So, there may be two reasons ;

1. The indexed color space file was not following the PDF/X specification, was poorly formed, and this fails at the RIP

2. The indexed color space file was perfectly formed and passes PDF/X preflight validation, but your rip fails because the RIP is not supporting PDF/X processing properly

1 can be verified by prefligting the PDF file. 2 might be your case, and you may need to contact the fine folks at Kodak and upgrade.

[nickyg]

Originally Posted by leonardr

What OS platform are you using Word on? Which version of Word?

What format is your asset?

all of these things play a HUGE difference in the answer to the question....

Hi Leonard,

Well, a combination of all:

For Mac OSX104.11 > 10.5.8
Word 2004

For PC Win XP
Word 2003 / 2007

Thanks,

[nickyg]

Originally Posted by TerryWyse

It may just a coincidence, but there's been a thread running on the Apple Colorsync mailing list regarding MS Word color management. If you're not recieving emails from that list, you may want to visit the list archives here: colorsync-users Mailing List

I think the consensus was that placed RGB ignores tagged/embedded profiles and probably gets assigned sRGB while it appears that CMYK objects are getting converted to indexed color (a form of RGB basically).

I haven't been following it THAT closely so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Hope this helps,
Terry

Thanks Terry,

Appreciate the reply, i'll go have a look.

**What you riding in the pic, the back end looks like a Guzzi ?
I was a die hard GSXR fan, now running a Blade...

N.