Can I create a curve adjustment in Acrobat Pro DC?

[Gregg]

Here's my situation:
When printing a paperback edition of a hardcover original, the paperback stock is more yellow than the hardcover jacket stock. Rather than individually color-correct each link, I would rather apply a curve to the paperback cover PDF to compensate for the stock. I can easily do this with Pitstop, but I am the only one on my team that has Pitstop. So, I'm wondering if this is possible with Acrobat, alone. I've poked around quite a bit and haven't found anything.

I appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions.

 

[arossetti]

No, this is not an option in Acrobat, someone might know if a trick through a fix-up or something but there isn't a simple curve adjustment. Can this happen at the RIP instead of in the file if everyone doesn't have access to pitstop?

 

[Gregg]

Thanks, arossetti. I work at the publisher, not the printer. My goal is to provide the printer with a PDF that is ready to go.

 

[jrhmobile]

You can go back to your source docs and apply your curves there - especially if you use Adobe's Creative Cloud or Suite app's since color settings are applied across all app's since CS5.5ISH and get the results you want. But truthfully, it's better if you leave that to your output house.

 

[Gregg]

But truthfully, it's better if you leave that to your output house.

I haven't found that to be the case. We print all over the globe, and what I find is that vendors simply output what you give them. There is no compensation for lam, or differences in stock.

 

[arossetti]

I haven't found that to be the case. We print all over the globe, and what I find is that vendors simply output what you give them. There is no compensation for lam, or differences in stock.

Do you clearly define what you are giving them and do you select your vendors while considering their color management workflow?

I would say that a print provider should only output what you give them, but it should be clear what you are providing.

You and your print provider should have an agreed upon reference print condition that that are capable of achieving consistently. You should design with the CRPC in mind and output a PDFX-4 to them with that CRPC as the intended profile. You should agree on rendering intent and black point compensation. You should also agree to what is an acceptable tolerance for the print in relation to the agreed upon CRPC. You should not be adjusting curves to compensate for the lack of a workflow.

 

[Gregg]

Please note, my last reply was not an attempt to bash print providers.

Here's an example of a situation we often run into (with both U.S. and Far East print providers):
Print provider X printed our hardcover jacketed edition. We hold the archive files for that edition, and those files are used to create the paperback edition (let's say a year after the hardcover edition was published). We send the paperback cover PDF to the same Print Provider X with a general instruction to "Match hardcover edition". Proofs come back (traditionally wet-proofs, but trending more digital proofs lately). Designer is unhappy with color, stating everything is too yellow. Discuss situation with Print Provider X and they state we'd need to adjust files and re-supply.

I requested paper samples so I could compare the white of the jacket and paperback stock. I feel that the paperback stock looks like a 5% Y tint has been added when compared to the jacket stock, which is why I am investigating the curve solution.

 

[_socket]

Quick and dirty would be to rasterize it to high resolution image in Photoshop and apply a curves.

 

[_socket]

I just discovered Enfocus's offerings can do this. I did a test and the curve was applied to both images and text objects alike.

 

[abc]

Yep, you can do the whole page, specific colorspaces, ignore certain separations, or only apply curves on specific objects.
It's been in PitStop/PitStop Server for a while.

 

[Gregg]

From my initial post: "I can easily do this with Pitstop"

 

[abc]

I like the 'easily' part.

Who do I send the cheque to?

 

[_socket]

Right, missed that. There is the cheaper alternative connect you.

 

[apeuse]

If you have a color profile based on that paper, you can use the Convert Color tool and apply that profile to just the images.

 

[michaelejahn]

You can do some crazy things using (and embedding ) a custom Output intent. When I worked for AGFA, you could always count on me for a YES vote on doing this before you make the PDF. But then we discovered that this makes a very 'device dependent' PDF ( as in, this PDF will only work within this workflow / system / device ) which, today, well, i think is dumb as a bag of hammers. But if that works, go for it. Me, as a customer - i prefer to ask my print service provider to apply any and all adjustments to me my requirements. Otherwise you need to provide a different PDF for each printer.