Color Setting Issues: CS6

Question

Loading or syncing color setting files results in different cm policies among the CS apps.
Even when loading the canned CSF's.
Example:
Load one of the defaults (i.e. North American Prepress 2) into Photoshop and the cm policy for CMYK is "preserve embedded profile".
However, load the same default into InDesign and under the same policy is "preserve numbers (ignore linked profiles)". Same goes if you customize a CSF and either oad it manually or sync it in Bridge.
That's an important difference if your company is trying to practice color management.
Assuming I'm correct about this, and there's something broke, think Adobe can fix it?
one more thing...Seems CS6 now supports Grayscale, which is great, but why can't it retain the embedded profile in the file?
Again...Assuming I'm correct about this, and there's something broke, think Adobe can fix it?

Answer 1

Tom,
let me start quoting the help text:
InDesign Help
--- Start
Preserve Embedded Profiles
    Always preserves embedded color profiles when opening files. This is the recommended option for most workflows
because it provides consistent color management. One exception is if you’re concerned about preserving CMYK numbers,
in which case you should select Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles) instead.
Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles)
    This option is available in InDesign and Illustrator for CMYK. Preserves color numbers when opening files and
importing images, but still allows you to use color management to view colors accurately in Adobe applications.
Select this option if you want to use a safe CMYK workflow. In InDesign, you can override this policy on a per-object basis
by choosing Object > Image Color Settings.
Using a safe CMYK workflow
A safe CMYK workflow ensures that CMYK color numbers are preserved all the way to the final output device, as opposed
to being converted by your color management system. This workflow is beneficial if you want to incrementally adopt color
management practices. For example, you can use CMYK profiles to soft-proof and hard-proof documents without the
possibility of unintended color conversions occurring during final output.
Illustrator and InDesign support a safe CMYK workflow by default. As a result, when you open or import a CMYK image with
an embedded profile, the application ignores the profile and preserves the raw color numbers. If you want your application
to adjust color numbers based on an embedded profile, change the CMYK color policy to Preserve Embedded Profiles in the
Color Settings dialog box. You can easily restore the safe CMYK workflow by changing the CMYK color policy back to
Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles).
You can override safe CMYK settings when you print a document or save it to Adobe PDF. However, doing so may cause
colors to be reseparated. For example, pure CMYK black objects may be reseparated as rich black. For more information
on color management options for printing and saving PDFs, search in Help.
--- End
My opinion:
It seems, InDesign uses despite the synchronization via Bridge Preserve Numbers instead of Preserve Embedded Profile for safety.
Personally, I would use for one project just one CMYK space:
a) convert in Photoshop all images RGB-->CMYK using this profile and embed the profile in each image
b) make document in InDesign with Preserve Numbers
c) export as PDF without profiles, but with output-intent for this profile (PDF-X1a) 
InDesign (even CS6) ignores Gray profiles for viewing and doesn't embed them in PDFs, see (1).
IMO, the only accurate workflow is this one:
a) convert images to Grayscale using a "black ink profile" which is derived from the project CMYK space
b) place Grayscale in channel K of otherwise void CMYK file
c) export as PDF as above
(1) Discussion (including CS6):
http://forums.adobe.com/message/5483198
(2) Test (CS2):
http://docs-hoffmann.de/colpdf27022008.pdf
(3) Testpattern:
http://docs-hoffmann.de/riptest05072013.pdf
Best regards --Gernot Hoffmann