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editing in RGB or CMYK mode?
- Thread starter zoran
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RGB has a wider color gamut (range of colors). Usually, it's better to edit in RGB mode and convert to CMYK only in the last step before going in print.
But after that last conversion from RGB to CMYK, I think I notice a small color alteration.
That's normal: as said, the color gamut of CMYK is less extended if compared to the RGB. Some color hues are impossible to render in CMYK. For example, some levels of blue present in RGB are never reached in CMYK.
In case, if needed, you have to edit manually specific color hues in the final CMYK version to come close (only close, not identical) to the RGB counterpart.
In case, if needed, you have to edit manually specific color hues in the final CMYK version to come close (only close, not identical) to the RGB counterpart.
I question wether you need to deal with CMYK at all? Are you sending this out to a publishing house to be mass printed?(a magazine) Even if you were you would need a lot more info than just converting the file into the CMYK color space you would need the printer's (publishing house) current custom CMYK profile. And even then you would really want to know what you were doing. No offense but asking this question it would be best to talk with them about having them convert to CMYK. Normally they prefer to do the conversion anyways as they know their secret sauce.
But again I highly highly doubt you need this at all - most desktop printer's software are designed to work with RGB files. If you are putting the images on the internet the standard color space is sRGB and most will either color correct in Adobe RGB or ProRGB then convert to sRGB when they save their web version.
The overly simplified basics are: CMYK is for publishing houses that have color software custom to their ink delivery. Everyone else: an RGB colorspace is the appropriate setting to use.
But again I highly highly doubt you need this at all - most desktop printer's software are designed to work with RGB files. If you are putting the images on the internet the standard color space is sRGB and most will either color correct in Adobe RGB or ProRGB then convert to sRGB when they save their web version.
The overly simplified basics are: CMYK is for publishing houses that have color software custom to their ink delivery. Everyone else: an RGB colorspace is the appropriate setting to use.
CMYK should not be regarded as a singular thing and you don't want to do your editing in CMYK because of the loss of color gamut. If your work isn't going to be printed by a printing press, you don't need to be using CMYK whatsoever.
If you are going to output on a 4 color offset printer, let the printshop do the conversion. You should edit your image in RGB on a well calibrated monitor. The printshop will have the skills to do the conversion. What you can do though is soft proof in something like Photoshop or Capture One (or presumably plenty of other tools) so you can get a sense of the conversion and tweak accordingly. In Capture One I can apply a CMYK profile for my proofing recipes and see where there might be crushing of colors that I can deal with. In general, I'm printing photos on printers with 8-10 inks and wide gamuts (relatively) so thankfully I haven't had to deal with CMYK in a long time.
Also, has the printshop specifically asked you for a CMYK file?
Also, has the printshop specifically asked you for a CMYK file?
Yes but what kind of printing process? Most labs & printers for photo prints will want an RGB file. Only bringing this up in case there is confusion about sending files off to a lab thinking because it's a printing process they will want cmyk.
You probably clipped colors. Was it something really saturated with one of the RGB primaries? If so, you're going out of bounds and you generally can't get that, and if you really really need to for some reason, it will cost lots of money and require interaction with the printing house anyway.
Also, keep in mind these spaces aren't all the same. The CMYK spaces are idealized targets for a particular process.
Just to add here to the above sage advice. Monitor screens are made up of RGB pixels while process print is from four ink colours applied to paper. As a result, once you select CMYK on a computer you are viewing an approximation of what the printed article might look like. How accurate that approximation is depends on how well your display is calibrated, if you have the correct colour profile selected and whether you have selected proof colours set up to simulate the ink and paper being used.
The repro people at a printers will be properly set up to do the conversions so it’s usually best to leave it to them unless you are sending a full print job (eg. Indesign PDF files). In which case get all the colours right in RGB and then get the printers to send you the correct profiles for the conversion.
The repro people at a printers will be properly set up to do the conversions so it’s usually best to leave it to them unless you are sending a full print job (eg. Indesign PDF files). In which case get all the colours right in RGB and then get the printers to send you the correct profiles for the conversion.