CMYK/Pantone printed guide suggestions

I recently did some business cards, and despite using a Spyder4 to calibrate my monitor, and using the "view proof" CMYK setting, the printed cards came back very differently than the monitor colors.
To avoid this in the future, I want a pre-printed color guide book or swatches with corresponding CMYK values. Even better, would be a printed book or swatch collection with CMYK and Pantone spot colors.
With print media declining, I see more 4-color process (CMYK) options than Pantone spot printers available.
Can anyone suggest a CMYK color guide book that I can literally hold swatches up to the monitor and compare the colors?

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CMYK Pantone

My online printing outsource made a postcard containing my image and it came out about 1-1/2 stops too dark. When I questioned this I was advised as follows:
"For best prediction of color output on a 4 color offset press, please compare your CMYK percentages with an industry-standard Pantone Process guide."
>>This seems strange since a color image will have numerous different percentages of cmyk. I must be missing something. My friend who has the Pantone guide wants me to specify a Pantone number for use in comparing the image. I don't see how this can work for the same reasons (different colors, different percentages).
>>The easiest solution I can think of is simply to brighten the image the next time I order postcards from this printer.
>>Any other advice appreciated.

Well if the overal look was too dark, then the profile associated with it was incorrect. Sheetfed will print darker that SWOP.

Converting Images to CMYK for Print Publication

When in my workflow should I be converting images to CMYK for print publication?
Currently, I shoot RAW photographs with my DSLR in Adobe RGB, import the images into Photoshop for manipulation and then convert the final, sized image to CMYK before placing it in my Indesign document. Before going to print, I convert my files to PDF using the [PDF/X-1a:2001] preset. I use a calibrated system with a profile set for my monitor.
Since many of my pictures have shades of green, I'm often disappointed with the conversion to CMYK because I lose saturation and brightness. Am I doing anything wrong? Is there a better way of preserving the quality of colour in my images when going to a commercial printer?

To see in InDesign what color shifts will occur, use View=>Proof Colors.
I would also recommend View=>Overprint Preview.
Yes there are color shifts when converting RGB to CMYK, but those are due to the fact that the gamut of CMYK is significantly less than AdobeRGB or even sRGB. The same color shifts going to CMYK will occur whether you convert the image in Photoshop or in InDesign during PDF export or at the RIP.
Keeping the color in ICC color managed RGB has the advantage that last minute changes can be made as to what CMYK printing conditions are used, i.e. all CMYK is not the same. Furthermore, if you convert RGB to CMYK early in the workflow, you lose the ability to maintain the color gamut for display of the PDF as well as for printing to high fidelity color devices, i.e., offset or digital (especially inkjet) devices that have extra colorants such as light cyan, light magenta, orange, and/or green to dramatically expand the gamut. Once you lose the gamut in your imagery via conversion to CMYK, you can't go back.
- Dov

I switched to Apple Mail in the last two months. When I attempt to print an email message, I get a blank piece of paper. When I attempt to use the print options suggested in "Mail Help", the program crashes and has to be reopened. Any ideas?

I switched to Apple Mail in the last two months. When I attempt to print an email message, I get a blank piece of paper. When I attempt to use the print options suggested in "Mail Help", the program crashes and has to be reopened. Any ideas?

Which version of Mail are you using as well as which Snow Leopard version you are using?

Printed Guide or Books for Sony Xperia Z Tablet

Looking for printed guide or books for the Sony Xperia Z Tablet, similar to what is available for Ipad & Kindle Fire 8.9 HD.
Thanks, Lgriffi

You can download the PDF and print it
http://userguide.sonymobile.com/referrer.php?region=global-en&product=xperia-tablet-z
Don't forget to give Kudos
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." Kurt Cobain (1967-1994)

Ability to print guides

It would be great if it was possible to print guides that are in the PSD rather than having to create lines manually.

c.pfaffenbichler wrote:
Do any of the other Creative Suite-programs offer that capability?
not CS products but CorelDraw can print guides when you turn "Printing" in Object manager"

Colour is not right in illustrator cmyk pantone cyan and aqua

I am trying to work with colours in illustrator. I have set my colour mode to CMYK. I am trying to create a light aqua colour and just keep getting "out of gamut" errors. I tried using the colour book for Pantone and even entering the number of a pantone colour I want and just does not look right on the screen
The file will be used to print so RGB is not an option
can some one help me set up colour settings so I can get the best match for a light aqua colour.

For the sake of understanding: Spot colors are supposed to be printed as one dedicated ink in the physical world. Unless you convert it to a process color in a controlled (=calibrated environment) the on-screen simulation is merely a placeholder whose representation may not be at all exact. Likewise, converting it to CMYK may not give the same color result due to how the separate components interact differently from a single color ink. That and then there may be specific halftoning and ink density requirements as well as the paper stock that change "mix" colors or at least their perception. The default generic profiles should do just fine, but feel free to instate a specific FOGRA 27/ 39/ custom/ whatever setting if you know who's gonna print it using what profiles. Regardless, you have to at least calibrate the monitor either by eyeballing it with a calibrated reference chart or a calibration device and then of course you have to use it for proof preview. Beyond that - light colors are sometimes created by reducing the ink density/ opacity and/or flattening them against white and letting the halftoning take care of the rest, but this really depends on specific workflows. At least on my crudely calibrated system here at home I have no issues to get a reasonable representation of the color, so something may be up on your system.
Mylenium

Illust CS5 Profiles Match but Pantones Print Differently

Ok. I have a problem with colors not matching between Illustrator CS5 documents. I am often emailed documents with pantone colors selected in them. Later, sometimes I need to create another document using those same pantone colors. The problem is, these two documents print the pantone colors differently. In fact, on my screen the file colors look different side-by-side. I figured it was a color settings or color profile issue, so I went in and checked both files. Everything was the same (Working CMYK: U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2, Settings North America General Purpose 2, CMYK Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles)) . When I paste pantone samples from one document into the other, they match what's in each other's documents, but the two documents themselves don't look the same and don't print the same.
What color setting could I be overlooking to cause this difference? I don't particularly care if they match on-screen, but it's the fact that they actually print different colors from the same pantone swatch that is the trouble. A blue pantone from one file will print purple from a different file.

When pasting from one doc to another, watch to see if the color shifts if so swatches palette flyout >> spot colors and set both docs to the same option. Though LAB is more accurate and the way they want you to go in CS6, you are in CS5 documents and prefer to stay with the classic option of "Use CMYK..."
If you copy from Doc A into Do cB, and they color shifts: print >> color management >> color handling on both docs.
Aslo make sure both docs are in document Color Mode >> CMYK

CMYK/Pantone differences between CS3 and CS6

I have a file that was created in CS3. Pantone 534 C was used and the CMYK value that was shown was 100, 80, 30, 5. When I open the file in CS6 and choose Pantone 534 C, the CMYK value is shown as 98, 85, 36, 27. Am I going to get the same tone of blue when I print the file from the CS6 version as I did when I printed the file from the CS3 version?
In essence, is the PMS tone that was in CS3 the same PMS tone that is in CS6? I'm assuming it is, but wanted to confirm. And can anyone explain why the CMYK values have changed between the two versions if I'm using the same PMS number?

J,
My problem is, which CMYK values should I use to most closely match the Pantone 534C color? Should I use the CMYK values in CS3 or CS6 (because they are different numbers)?
I believe someone from Pantone would vote for CS6 because they have changed the values to more closely match the solid colours.
But the proof of the pudding is the eating, so you should try both and see what you think.
Some solid Pantone inks are impossible to match closely with CMYK, and who says that the closer match (by the parameters chosen) is the better/prettier/nicer colour?

Pantone Dark Grey Suggestions

Hello,
I am trying to make business cards in Adobe Illustrator using the Pantone Color System. In my logo, the middle circle is a dark grey: C20 Y20 M20 K80. I can't find a suitable Pantone grey that is this dark. Pantone 425U is too light. Do you have any suggestions? Also, which Pantone Black is the darkest? Thanks.

David,
To think ink, and before seeing the back and still wondering what the paler grey was supposed to be, I was about to suggest a possible simple way of getting a hard hit on the black, namely overprinting with a reversal of the front colours, using two inks, namely Black 7 with 100% for the dark grey aperture (slightly increased to form a spread) and 50% for (the rest of) the background (the latter might suit you or not, still leaning towards the golden to an obviously different degree) and (the non golden) Black 6 on top as a Compound Path with the actual aperture and Type as holes (total background ink coverage 287).
Seeing the need for a 100% paler grey ink on the back (and the choice of the (neutral) Cool Gray 7) changes this, so you may use the Black 7 with (sufficient) spread into the Cool Gray 7 of the background round the aperture and still with Black 6 on top as a Compound Path with the actual aperture and Type as holes; you may find this too tricky, especially if you are far from the print shop, although the sheer darkness may cover any misregistration/exaggerated trapping (total background ink coverage 285).
Apart from the obvious advantages of your being able to walk into a nearby print shop, the choice of printer is a matter of trust/reputation concerning the whole work, not only inks, and applying to the specific printer rather than country.

CMYK to Printer

The monitors are calibrated using Pantone Calibration.
When I open the image file I see on both computers/ on both monitors
(two Hp graphic computers) the portrait photo. The skin tones are
normal in every respect. Everything viewable on the the monitors is
perfect. Ready for printing.
The company sends out the images to a professional print service. We
print out our images for catalogs and posters. The printed image that
is returned from the printers is way off. Nothing like what we have
viewing on our calibrated monitors. The flesh tones are either too
brownish in one example; in another example, flesh tint slightly
green. This is very unexpected.
How can I produce a final Photoshop image - so that what I am viewing
will print exactly as I see it. What I get back from the professional
print service is completely different than what is viewable in the
Adobe application.
To test the images in house I printed out on three different printers
the CMYK images. From three differnt printers the sets of images from
those printers were all different.
How can I achieve consistancy?

And? Do you use their print target profiles? Sounds like exactly that is not happening and you are working off some generic default profile. Especially flexo printing is hyper sensitive in that regard, as the machines do not leave much room for adjusting ink flow and densities on teh fly. Talk to your printer about their requirements, there is nothing we can do here for you!
Mylenium

How do I find the new colors in Pantone Formula guide in InDesign CC?

It seems like the Pantone library in InDesign is not updated. I can't find the newly added colors from the Formula guide I just bought. (pantone solid coated/uncoated)
For examle color 2248. Where do I find the new colors and how do I add them to my colorpanel?
I hope there is someone who can help me with this!

Check this discussion it may help
http://forums.adobe.com/message/5737194#5737194

Printer RECOMMENDATIONS/Suggestions

I would love one or all of your wireless printer recommendations.
I had an HP and it wasn't great. Now I have a Cannon PIXMA and the colors are pale and can't scan wirelessly and just doesn't interact well with the Mac.
What are your best suggestions for a wireless all-in-one printer?

I've had good luck with my Epson Artisan 810.

I have to save as CMYK for print, but the colours are out of whack..

hey all,
I am designing something for a CD cover that is going to be printed at a print shop, They say they want their images in CMYK and prefer it in a PDF or highest quality JPEG....
So I have been working in CMYK, everything looks fine in photoshop, but when I save out to a JPG the whole thing gets dark and colours get horribly over saturated.
here you can see the image on the left is what happens when I save out directly from my CMYK file in photoshop. there is a big loss in detail in the darker areas and colours are over saturated. the image on the right is what I get if I convert to mode>RGB and then save the JPG. .. . .this is what I want it to look like....
my problem is the print shop requests the image in CMYK, but I want them to print like it looks in the RGB version
any help would be greatfully appreciated! Thankyou!
also here are the actual .jpegs as saved from photoshop
the CMYK version:
and the RGB version:
edit: I don't know too much about colour profiles, and the print shop hasn't provided one on their site, so I picked the default one - Working CMYK, U.S WebCoated (SWOP v2)
edit: these are the file formats the printers say they take on their site:
PDF - 300 dpi - (preferred), Tiff, Highest resolution JPG, EPS
I don't really have any experience with the other formats but I presume I would get the same colour results

Thanks all for the replies.
Just to be clear the file is already in CMYK (U.S web coated SWOPv2), I understand now its probably smarter to work in RGB and then convert at the end but hadn't done so in this case.
If I change image mode to RGB (or vice versa) i notice a tiny shift in the colours on my monitor but nothing as dramatic as what im seeing in those CMYK Jpeg/TIFF's.
John Danek -
there are probably more than 20 layers in there, my colour settings should all be default because ive never even looked in there before, but here is a screenshot of the dialogue box
and the bit depth is 8-bits per channel
If I save it out as a CMYK .pdf then it looks fine, presumably because im opening it in Adobe acrobat reader so it can see the embedded profile. So I think this is the problem after all, thanks Chris Cox and gator soup for clearing that up!
I have emailed the printers and asked if they can read my embedded profiles correctly with their software (presumably they can) and asked for them to recommend an ICC colour profile but have yet to hear back from them.

ILLU CS3 CMYK Colors print wrong from placed layered psd, flattened ok. Why?

Hi all,
I searched the help, faq, kb and forum. No success, so I hope someone out there has some advice for me.
Environment:
Illustrator 13.0.2 (CS3), Photoshop 10.0.1 (CS3) on WinXP SP2, color management enabled (same settings in each CS3 app), printing on calibrated Xerox DC250 (PS-RIP), ISO Coated simulation profile.
The problem:
When placing a cmyk-psd with layers and embedded color-profile in AI 13 (cmyk-document) and printig, the colors do not look like they should. When I flatten the psd in Photoshop, place it again in AI, everything's fine. But why?
On screen, every psd looks the same.
When I place the same PSD with layers in AI 12.0.0 (CS2), there's no problem with the colors.
Is there a need to flatten PSDs in AI13?
Thanks a lot for your help!
Ralf

> I've always thought that EPS is a paths-only format. It seems it can also contain raster graphics?
Nope, if you put a raster image into something, it stays raster in the EPS.
Try to save the file as a PDF and see if that works better. That is the preferred format for newspaper ads, and many places still refer to it as an EPS.

CMYK/Pantone printed guide suggestions

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