Fiery XF 6.5 and RGB pdf-s help needed

[picok]

I work in a small printing house. When we get a pdf that has rgb-s, we convert it to CMYK with Adobe Acrobat. We use the "Convert colors" tool and ISO Coated v2 profiles.
We are very pleased with the conversion result. We have now acquired a Fiery XF workflow to print some high resolution proof-s so that our operators can better adjust the colors on the printing presses.
We have several different workflows for simulations of different papers. So far we have manually converted the RGB pdf-s to CMYK and that was fine. But now our business has increased and we should automate the Fiery Xf itself converting RGB to CMYK. Do you have any instructions on how to set the input profile to convert RGB to CMYK regardless of whether the pdf has an ICC profile.
I apologize if my English is bad but it’s not my native language.
And, of course, the solution is not for the customer to always send us a CMYK pdf because most of them don’t know what CMYK is.
Btw, as an imposition workflow we use Agfa Apogee and their renders very well convert RGB to CMYK.
Greetings from Croatia!!

 

[Puch]

I would not automatize this way, because you will have different versions of the file proofed, then RIPped and printed. Fiery XF will convert the RGB using one flavor, then Apogee will convert the RGB using a different method. Albeit the two conversion routines might be very close to each other (or identical), there is also the question of flattening, which will again might be performed differently on the Apogee and the Fiery XF. So the short answer is: don't do it.

The best way would be to use the Apogee normalization, conversion and flatening process for all jobs, then output the resulting PDF on the Fiery. This way you will proof the same data as you will burn onto the plates.

If you still want to use Fiery XF for conversion and flattening, adjust the following:
- on the Color pane of the workflow: tick ON "use embedded profiles, if available". Select sRGB as source profile for RGB and Relative Colorimetric with BPC as rendering intent.
- on the File pane, at the PS/PDF settings: Enable in-RIP separations, tick ON "Simulate overprinting in composite jobs". The PDF Print Engine setting should reflect the Apogee default (which I guess is APPE 3, aka. Adobe PDF Print Engine). The Image EPS/PDF engine should be Adobe PostScript 3.

 

[picok]

I would not automatize this way, because you will have different versions of the file proofed, then RIPped and printed. Fiery XF will convert the RGB using one flavor, then Apogee will convert the RGB using a different method. Albeit the two conversion routines might be very close to each other (or identical), there is also the question of flattening, which will again might be performed differently on the Apogee and the Fiery XF. So the short answer is: don't do it.

The best way would be to use the Apogee normalization, conversion and flatening process for all jobs, then output the resulting PDF on the Fiery. This way you will proof the same data as you will burn onto the plates.

If you still want to use Fiery XF for conversion and flattening, adjust the following:
- on the Color pane of the workflow: tick ON "use embedded profiles, if available". Select sRGB as source profile for RGB and Relative Colorimetric with BPC as rendering intent.
- on the File pane, at the PS/PDF settings: Enable in-RIP separations, tick ON "Simulate overprinting in composite jobs". The PDF Print Engine setting should reflect the Apogee default (which I guess is APPE 3, aka. Adobe PDF Print Engine). The Image EPS/PDF engine should be Adobe PostScript 3.

I'll try to see what it looks like