MS Publisher question

[Shawn]

I've seen this type of thing happen plenty of times. Printing to PDF generally goes through the Windows GDI print drivers which are RGB only, so you get reseparation into 4c black. Depending on the version of Pub and the PDF method used there should be a couple of workarounds. Usually the Adobe PDF export plug-in is the method I'd start with.

I'd check the settings for whatever the print driver the PDF creation utility is using (Adobe PDF) under Printers and Faxes and choose Properties and click on the Device Settings tab, make sure that the 'Convert gray text [or graphics] to Postscript Gray' options are checked. It doesn't always help, but it might. Also check that the PDF settings aren't converting all the colors to CMYK as the PDF is made. A better option is to let the joboptions tag the file like a PDF X4 and then convert in Acrobat using Acrobat or Pitstop color convert tools.

One more workaround that he might consider is to try setting the extra black colors as spot colors and then let the printer handle mapping the "rich black" spot color to a CMYK mix of 100, 60, 40, 40. Of course Publisher's handling of spot colors makes this a pain as well if the document wasn't designed as a spot color file from the beginning.

Good Luck
Shawn

[David Milisock]

I've seen this type of thing happen plenty of times. Printing to PDF generally goes through the Windows GDI print drivers which are RGB only, so you get reseparation into 4c black. Depending on the version of Pub and the PDF method used there should be a couple of workarounds. Usually the Adobe PDF export plug-in is the method I'd start with.

I'd check the settings for whatever the print driver the PDF creation utility is using (Adobe PDF) under Printers and Faxes and choose Properties and click on the Device Settings tab, make sure that the 'Convert gray text [or graphics] to Postscript Gray' options are checked. It doesn't always help, but it might. Also check that the PDF settings aren't converting all the colors to CMYK as the PDF is made. A better option is to let the joboptions tag the file like a PDF X4 and then convert in Acrobat using Acrobat or Pitstop color convert tools.

One more workaround that he might consider is to try setting the extra black colors as spot colors and then let the printer handle mapping the "rich black" spot color to a CMYK mix of 100, 60, 40, 40. Of course Publisher's handling of spot colors makes this a pain as well if the document wasn't designed as a spot color file from the beginning.

Good Luck
Shawn

The GDI in Windows is used only for NON-Postscript devices, in that case all file elements are rasertized and converted to sRGb however in the case of a postscript driver, whgich is required for Distiller all native colors are supported, RGB, CMYK and N color space.

My concern is to get the propper version of MS Pub so the dilogs instructions are correct for this person. Most likely what's happening as MS Pub is not color managed application some type of conversion is happening either when the PDF is created or when it's being opened at the service provider.