Ugly Solution To An Ugly Problem

[Bollockser]

Working with Indesign, and perhaps other Adobe Suite apps, when you place an image into your design, sometimes it causes the colors of your vector objects to become dull and washed out looking, almost like it is forcing CMYK or something. I have tried messing with color profiles and whatnot but the only thing that I can do that prevents this from happening, is place the offending image into your design as an EPS file.

Anyone else ever have this problem? Your bright and pretty colors suddenly go drab when you place an image into your design? Complete BS I absolutely hate this, and it is maddening, but as I said, convert the offending image to EPS and it won't change the colors in your design to all drab washed out looking.

 

[v871305]

Does it export as dull colors too? or just display dull colors in INDD.

If its just in INDD, then you can set the Display Performance of the Object to High Quality - that should fix it.

 

[Bollockser]

No thats not the issue. But yes, if I were to export it would still be bollocksed. It's not a display performance issue, INDD is actually changing the colors when you drop an image into your vector layout. For what reason? This is maddening.

Let me re-explain.
You build an all-vector design with pretty colors.

Then, you place an image into your design. BOOM. Your vector colors all go to hell and they suddenly look washed out and dulled.

HATE THAT!

Anyway, the only workaround is to place the image as an EPS.

 

[chrfr]

Working with Indesign, and perhaps other Adobe Suite apps, when you place an image into your design, sometimes it causes the colors of your vector objects to become dull and washed out looking, almost like it is forcing CMYK or something.

If you created your artwork as RGB and bring it into a CMYK Indesign document, Indesign may convert it to CMYK depending on what your color settings are. Take a look at the setting for Transparency Blend Space in the Edit menu. This may also affect what you're doing.
If your artwork contains very saturated colors and is in RGB, it may well get dull looking if the file is out of gamut for CMYK.

 

[Bollockser]

Sadly color mode is not the issue either. I am building these designs in RGB. Placing images that are RGB. Doesn't matter if these images have an embedded color profile or not, it seems to be totally at random choosing to screw up the colors.

What purpose could this serve to anyone?

If you have your design in RGB or CYMK, then the IMAGE should have to adapt to the color space of the document you place it in, not destroy your entire document's colors when you place an image in.

Ive scoured the net about this problem for several years now and not found an answer.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Anyway, the only workaround is to place the image as an EPS.

Illustrator EPSs are 100% editable in AI, so I'm not sure where the problem with saving the original files as EPSs is…?

 

[Bollockser]

No, saving a bitmapped/raster graphic as EPS is the solution, not the problem.

 

[Jim Campbell]

No, saving a bitmapped/raster graphic as EPS is the solution, not the problem.

I'm sorry, I'm not understanding. You say you create a 100% vector graphic, which I assume you're doing in Illustrator, but that it doesn't display correctly in InDesign unless saved and then placed as an EPS. Since a .eps file is as editable as a .ai file, I'm not seeing why saving the files as EPSs is an issue…

 

[Bollockser]

No no no
I create vector artwork in Indesign and it looks the way I want it.

THEN

I place a bitmapped/raster image, jpeg, whatever.

THEN

The colors of my vector objects go to hell.

 

[Consultant]

No no no
I create vector artwork in Indesign and it looks the way I want it.

THEN

I place a bitmapped/raster image, jpeg, whatever.

THEN

The colors of my vector objects go to hell.

Check your Color settings / color management

I am guessing the problem is profile mismatch caused by bitmapped image having different color profile.

 

[Jim Campbell]

No no no
I create vector artwork in Indesign and it looks the way I want it.

THEN

I place a bitmapped/raster image, jpeg, whatever.

THEN

The colors of my vector objects go to hell.

Right. Sorry, now I understand. Doubly sorry, because I can't replicate that and can only —as others have suggested— presume that it's a mis-matched colour profile.

 

[dazzer21]

If you create your vector artwork in Illustrator, you have two options. Either save as an .ai or .eps file and place the artwork file, or copy and paste directly into InDesign from Illustrator. Do these two different processes give you different results?

 

[Jim Campbell]

If you create your vector artwork in Illustrator, you have two options.

He doesn't. He's talking about building a page out of vector elements in InDesign and then pulling in a bitmap image, which is causing the existing colours of objects in the InDesign document to shift.

 

[citizenzen]

He doesn't. He's talking about building a page out of vector elements in InDesign and then pulling in a bitmap image, which is causing the existing colours of objects in the InDesign document to shift.

I work with InDesign all day, every day.

Never seen that happen.

 

[Jim Campbell]

I work with InDesign all day, every day.

Never seen that happen.

Me either. Can't replicate it either. But the OP is pretty specific so I assume it's a thing. I'll confess I'm just guessing on the colour profile mismatch.