How can I edit a PDF photo in "Separation: Black (process)" space?

FileJockey

Well-known member
I've noticed that some "gray" photos in PDFs are in a special "Separation: Black (process)" color. I think they mostly come from Quark PDFs, but I'm not sure. These images cannot be edited in Photoshop (using Acrobat's Touch up Object Tool) due to the dreaded "Unsupported Color Space." Normally a simple conversion using PitStop Pro can turn these Unsupported colors into editable Grays or CMYKs. With "Separation: Black (process)" images, however, the grays darken and contrast dramatically, essentially destroying the image for Photoshop editing purposes. I have tried many different Target ICC profiles and rendering intents with the conversion, but no joy.
I basically just have the tools described above (no Neo or PitStop Extreme here). How do you accomplish this?
 
Hi FileJockey,

I apologize for the shameless plug but you can use FixMyPrintFile to resolve this as well. Index color space images will also create problems for the Acrobat touch-up tool. I have several customers that have the same issue you're having. There's a free trial when you sign up.

Regards,
Greg
 
In Acrobat (9) go to Advanced>Document Processing>Export All Images. That'll output the image(s) in a format that you can take into Photoshop.

After you've edited the image you can replace the original image in the PDF.

By the way, for those who will ask, "Why are you using an outdated version of Acrobat?" Adobe did such a number on the UI for Acrobat 10 that I can't find anything in there. I like new software, but Gee Whiz! It's really no fun to have to re-learn the whole piece of software for no perceived benefit, and it's costly in time and productivity.
 
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What if you "Control" click on the image in Acrobat - go to Properties - and change the color space to something round-trippable from Acrobat to Photoshop?

MSD
 
Thanks. I now have 2 good ways to do it.

Thanks. I now have 2 good ways to do it.

Thanks. The Export all Images feature works pretty well. It converts from the "Separation: Black" space without darkening and contrasting the gray too much so I can further edit in Photoshop.
Changing the color space using Acrobat's Touch Up Properties feature also does a nice job.
 

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