Levels editing tool for PDFs

Laurens

Well-known member
I recently got asked if there is a tool that allows you to use Photoshop-alike curves to color correct PDFs. Some uses: give the general curve an S-shape to add a bit of punch to all the images, pull 5% out of the cyan channel or once again use the main channel to add a compensation curve for dot gain.

It seems so obvious that such a simple level editing tool should exist but I haven't seen one yet, not as a stand-alone app nor as an Acrobat plug-in. Does it exist?
 
None that I know of. I've researched the cost of it and have a set of spec's ready to productize it. Problem is not enough people want to pay for it. Everyone wants it cheap, free and "just like PhotoShop".
 
Eliptical can do image fixups in PDFs. (think it is server based though)
Also hear that heidelberg has a plugin of that kind. But have not tried it.

It is possible to cheat by converting to a profile then assigning another profile with a different gamma.

…with the touch up functionality though you can almost consider PhotoShop as plugin for Acrobat ;)
 
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Yes, Claro can but no in the sense that it is a plug-in where you can directly manipulate curves and levels. Outside of Acrobat's TouchUp Object tool, Elpical Claro Premedia Server the only other way I now know of is Callas pdfToolbox. pdfToolbox can apply a transfer curve. But it's a text based configuration, not a live edit. I suppose PitStop could apply a transfer curve too.

So one note about Claro. Claro Single is a command line interface to Elpical Claro and it does process images inside of a PDF. Claro Premedia Server is a server based product with a GUI using the same engine. However Premedia Server has a workflow where images can be displayed in PhotoShop for approval/rejection/modification.

Anyone else?
 
You can't even do that in Illustrator, can you? I've been toying with the Edit Colors function, but its not quite what we'd like - doesn't have the level of control.

For PDFs, Alwan ColorHub can apply curves, but not in a live edit kind of fashion. You build the desired curves, build a queue that utilizes them, and then drop the PDFs into the queue.
 
You can do the same curve application (no gui, no interaction) with Callas pdfToolbox plug-in or Server. If someone wants to cough up some cash we can build the plug-in for Acrobat.
 
not quite the same but under your tools menu in Acrobat you can select "edit object" click and the image and extract this as a temp file in photoshop, do your adjustments and closing the image will relink and update the PDF, this procedure depends on the postcript flattning level which may may it impossible to extract an image as a whole
 
Levels editing in Illustrator

Levels editing in Illustrator

You can't even do that in Illustrator, can you? I've been toying with the Edit Colors function, but its not quite what we'd like - doesn't have the level of control.

Natively, no. Illustrator's own color adjustment tools are very basic or involve the alternative Live Colors tool (which was later renamed to "Recolor Artwork" as it's isn't really live...) and both sets only work on vectors and not embedded images.

However, we produce a popular Illustrator color control plugin range, Phantasm CS. It's used by many brand owners and printers (including flexo) the world over and offers Photoshop-compatible native Curves, Levels, Hue/Sat, Duotones, etc. as both Filters and non-destructive live Effects. The high-end version, Phantasm CS Publisher, also offers the ability to apply advanced Swap Channels and change the Curves and Levels of bitmap alpha channels - allowing for contour control of drop shadows, glows and blurs.

Hope that's of help,

Nick
 

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