Converting colour profile of final print package before printing

How do I convert the colour profile of a Lightroom custom printing package from Adobe Prophoto to sRGB before printing? For that matter, how do I save the thing? I have no interest in saving the template, or the collection separately, since neither has any use without the other. And without saving them as one finished item, I have no way to convert the colour profile of that item. I can see clearly from the appearance of the print preview that the above mentioned colour profile conversion is required.

You cannot change the profile in Lr to <sRGB>.
If you want to print sRGB, select <Managed by Printer> for Color Profile under Color Management.
Then in your printer's dialog select <sRGB> instead of <Application managed> (or similar wording - depending on your printer).
BTW: the term is not "Adobe proPhoto" it's "proPhoto RGB".

Similar Messages

Colour profile for Epson printer

When printing from Elements 9, which ICC colour profile should I use with my Epson PX720WD printer?

Yes that should work as long as you keep all the settings consistent throughout the entire workflow. Also make sure you haven’t set “No Color Management” from the Editor menu:
Edit >> Color Settings

Convert to Profile colour shift

Can anyone help me deal with a problem that affects some AdobeRGB files when I convert them to SRGB? In a very small number of cases when I convert to profile (srgb IEC61966-2.1) there's a noticeable shift in certain vivid reds and greens; they become much duller and in some cases the colour actually changes. When this occurs it's usually apparent in colourful clothes such as Indian saris. I'm not referring to limitations in the srgb colour space. After I've worked on the Adobe files in Photoshop (CS6) in a wide gamut environment I view them with my monitor (Dell U2713H) set to emulate the srgb colour space, then make any Hue/Saturation adjustment before converting to profile and saving as JPG files with embedded profiles for uploading to the web. In most cases the converted file looks the same as the pre-converted file, but sometimes there's this marked colour change somewhere in the picture. For example, in one case a turquoise shawl became a dull blue; in another, a vivid green stripe on a dress became a pale greenish-yellow. In the former case when I checked the colour data I found that all red had been stripped from the shawl, making it impossible to do any further tweaking with channel mixer or colour balance tools to get the original colour back. The change is visible in Photoshop, so it's got nothing to do with my image viewer. As soon as I click on 'convert to profile' the colour goes.
Is there any way of dealing with this problem?

I agree with your comments about saturation and B/W. When I think of great photos by acknowledged master I tend to think of B/W photos. In a photography book I have the best photos are either B/W or colour photos where the colours are very muted with subtle gradations. I am constantly having to resist a tendency to overdo saturation layers in PS. Thanks very much for taking the trouble to put together those gamut graphs. Much appreciated.
D Fosse, I like your picture very much. The green looks just right. Out of interest I opened it in Photoshop in 3 different versions, firstly as it is, secondly converted to AdobeRGB and thirdly with the embedded profile discarded. In the last case the green appeared over-saturated and unrealistic.
I've attached the image I referred to earlier with the green-striped dress, again with an Adobe embedded profile and with an srgb profile. Neither has had any colour enhancement in PS, though I bumped up vibrance slightly in the RAW processing.. Viewed in an srgb environment the green is the only colour that shows a change; any change in the magenta is imperceptible.
There are still aspects of colour management and gamut that I haven't quite got my head around but I'm on a learning curve, and you've all been exceptionally helpful.
Adobe RGB
srgb

PNG colour profiles - and this format for print

I know it's taboo to talk about PNG for printing.
But I can't find and I've searched the forums - there was a post made about embedding colour profiles a while ago.
I know PNG is a RGB only format, but I'm 36.8% sure I read something about embedding either RGB or ... wait for it CMYK profiles into PNG files.
If anyone can shed any light on this - and how about PNG for print - I've been against it for a long time - but it is a lossless format, it can carry 64 bit data.
I know I know - but I thought I'd ask anyway - see what people think.

You can't save a PNG with a profile out of Photoshop, but it looks like you can embed one via the image events scripts that ship with OSX (/Library/Scripts/ColorSync/embed). Unfortunately ID ignores the embedded profile and uses the document's assigned profile instead. PNGs do respond to ID's RGB profile and the RGB profile will have an effect on the CMYK separation when it happens.
Here's ProPhoto and sRGB:
From your ID document you can also assign a profile, which conflicts with the doc's profile, by selecting the png and choosing Image Color Settings.... So, you could assign AdobeRGB as your doc's profile and assign sRGB to all your pngs.

I'm a bit confused. Since my original camera format was 720/60p, and I converted the footage to Pro Res422 in order to edit in Final Cut Pro 7, should I convert back to a higher quality format before sending the file to DVD Studio Pro?

I'm a bit confused. Since my original camera format was 720/60p, and I converted the footage to Pro Res422 in order to edit in Final Cut Pro 7, should I convert back to a higher quality format before sending the file to DVD Studio Pro? If so, which Compressor codec is best to use in order to preserve the original 720/60p? How do I maintain the highest quality?

No...ProRes is a high quality format. Finishing format. Many TV networks take that as a final deliverable.
BUT...DVDs aren't high definition...they are SD. You cannot make a 720p60 DVD with DVD Studio Pro. Any DVD you make will be SD...720x480. The only HD DVD format out there is BluRay, and for that you need a BluRay burner.
As for making a high quality DVD...using the BEST QUALITY settings in Compressor will work:
#42 - Quick and dirty way to author a DVD
Shane's Stock Answer #42 - David Roth Weiss' Secret Quick and Dirty Way to Author a DVD:
The absolute simplest way to make a DVD using FCP and DVDSP is as follows:
1. Export a QT movie, either a reference file or self contained using current settings.
2. Open DVDSP, select the "graphical" tab and you will see two little monitors, one blue, one green.
3. Select the left blue one and hit delete.
4. Now, select the green one, right click on it and select the top option "first play".
5. Now drag your QT from the browser and drop it on top of the green monitor.
6. Now, for a DVD from an HD source, look to the right side and select the "general tab" in the track editor, and see the Display Mode, and select "16:9 pan-scan."
7. Hit the little black and yellow burn icon at the top of the page and put a a DVD in when prompted. DVDSP will encode and burn your new DVD.
THATS ALL!!!
NOW...if you want a GOOD LOOKING DVD, instead of taking your REF movie into DVD SP, instead take it into Compressor and choose the BEST QUALITY ENCODE (2 pass VBR) that matches your show timing. Then take THAT result into DVD SP and follow the rest of the steps. Except you can choose "16:9 LETTERBOX" instead of PAN & SCAN if you want to see the entire image.

Automatically convert images to RGB Colour Profile when opened in Photoshop...

Hi there,
I have just moved over to Photoshop CS6 from Elements 10. One thing I can't work out how to do is to have PS automatically convert opened files to RGB, exactly like PSE does. Is this possible?
Many Thanks

Basically the only way to convert them is by manually changing the colour profile?
To my knowledge, yes.
I'm sure you can write a script that will do that automatically, but I don't script. You can post in the PS scripting forum. Bright and helpful people there. I'm sure someone there can set you up and walk you through how to install "a convert CMYK to working RGB upon open" script.
http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop/photoshop_scripting

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

Original .pdfs colours different (darker) in printed magazine - WHY?

I am running InDesign on a PC (Windows XP). I use it to edit and design a full colour short run magazine which is professionally printed. My problem is that the colours of the final printers proofs and finished magazine are coming through darker in tone, particularly the reds and blues, than the .pdfs I generate using InDesign. On my screen and on the HP printer I use to run off test pages, the .pdfs colours are fine. Somehow the printers' equipment and/or software is making them darker on the final printed magazine, unacceptably so this time.
We generate the magazine using InDesign and send the final .pdfs to the printers via an ftp server service (YouSendIt). The printers then create the final proofs for me to approve and sign off. Sometimes they send me these in the post as printed sheets (sherpas) to sign off. Recently I have been going online to their "Delano" server and approve the proofs on line. Last time round however they had a problem with it and sent me the printed proofs to sign off.
Most of the images we used originate as digital ones and are supplied to us as high res. Occasionally there is a scan. However as the printer uses cmyk images, and insists we convert any rgb images to cmyk before they will process our .pdfs. We do the picture conversion from rgb to cmyk using Photo-paint.
In the past I have had problems with the colour balance of the final proofs being darker than my original .pdfs. Changing colour balance at the pre-press stage is expensive and as it is just about acceptable if the final magazine does not contain too many photos with a lot of grass and sky, then I will let it run.
But it has happened again and is unacceptable. I was sent a very good quality professional photo for the cover (in high res digital format) taken outdoors on a sunny day with a lot of grass and it has inevitably printed too dark on the final cover. (sky is greyish not blue and grass is orange-ish not light green). Same problem throughout.
The printed proofs supplied by the printers this time were too dark, so I phoned up the Production Manager to tell him this before I signed them off. He said not to worry as they were not 100% accurate for colour anyway. To be on the safe side, I marked on all the proofs individually that the colour was too dark, and printed out and sent them a .pdf of the cover, showing the correct colour balance.
Still the printed magazine arrived too dark, just as it was on their proofs. I again complained to the Production Control Manager who put me onto their Technical Support guy, who is not very helpful (always looks at it being customers fault as his first position). He said first of all that it must be my scanning, and conversion from rgb to cmyk. I pointed out the cover photo was not scanned but an original high res digital image supplied by a press agency. So he then said my PC and printer must be at fault.
I have gone back and looked at the colours on previous issues and they are all on the dark side, for example bright blue skies come out greyish, but it only really notices if there is a lot of grass and sky in the pictures. Is the printers software or equipment attempting to compensate for needing extra colour in some way? Also they are primarily a MAC house and I use a PC. Could this affect the colour calibrations?
I need to talk to them again but want to do so from a position of knowing something about how a .pdf gets converted into a final proof and how the colours could get darker, given their tech support is unhelpful.
If it is relevant, this is their printing equipment: Twin Computer-to-Plate lines; Two Heidelberg 8 colour presses .
Any advice anyone can give on what might be causing the final magazine to be darker in tone than my InDesign .pdfs would be appreciated.

Wow – thanks for all your suggestions I am going to have to take a while to digest and try them out and report back.
I am in fact on very good terms with the Production Manager at the printers but I think he has rather been dropped in it, as it seems the unhelpful tech support guy has just left and not been replaced so the Production Control Manager is left trying to sort out advanced technical aspects of prepress for which he has not been trained.
I have to ask why the printers don't give you the information you need up front instead of claiming a .pdf from Indesign is all it takes.
In all this .pdf fine tuning stuff I am reminded of my earlier career in IT. I was involved in setting up an early wide area VOIP network (Voice over Internet Protocol - a sort of Skype to the uninitiated). To make this work we needed a digital switchboard which was configured to the latest European standard and software to match. Everyone assured me that the protocol concerned (let us call it 802.11) was brand new and had not yet had time to develop any variations……of course there were all sorts of problems not least that the line kept dropping and everytime it restarted we got charged a reconnection charge. I won’t bore you with how we got there in the end but needless to say, one man’s VOIP implementation of VOIP using 802.11 is not necessarily another’s.
I am reminded of this in all the issues surrounding exporting .pdfs to get the correct colour balance in the resulting publication. I swear to you this was never mentioned to me as being an issue at any time by anyone when we started down this route.
Meanwhile today I asked the printers’ salesman chasing my business to send their technical spec – pointing out I work on a PC running XP - and this is what I got
A sheet headed “Recommended settings for creating a PDF/X directly from Adobe InDesign CS3. This example was created on Mac OS x 10.5 using InDesign 5.0.1” This is followed by a series of screen prints with the following headings
Check your Transparency Flattener Preset is correctly configured (via the edit menu) this will be selected in the Advanced tab (step 6)
Select File – Export then in Format chose Adobe PDF and name the file, select folder to save it to and click Save
In General select single page to print set compatibility to Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3) and deselect all the list Options and include checkboxes
The Compression tab sets the options for how the PDF will handle resolutions for placed colour, grey scale and monochrome images
The Printers marks should be enabled as below.
Use the Destination and Output Intent profile name relevant to the publication. ISO Coated V2 300 is used here as an example only.
Ensure there are only process colour and no Spot colours. Converting colour to CMYK at the PDF creation stage can give unpredictable results
Select the transparency Flattener previously created. OPI should be disabled. Here is also where you can opt to create a JDF file
Make sure all the options in Security are disabled. Summary lists all the settings that can be applied it can be saved as a text file for reference
Note item 6 – it does not actually tell me what the printers recommended settings for my publication are
And Note also item 7 where it says that converting to colour to CMYK at the PDF creation stage can give unpredictable results

Colour profile mismatch

Does anyone know why images imported into Aperture with an embedded colour profile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) export to Adobe Photoshop as Adobe RGB 1998?
Ideally I need Aperture to keep the cameras embedded profile and not convert it.
Just wondering if anyone has come across this problem and has found a solution to it.
many thanks
Jason

Aperture uses a very wide color space, wider than
Adobe RGB.
This is what I suspected and hoped was the case. What is this very wide space? I can't find it documented anywhere. Two linear working spaces I know of that are wider than Adobe RGB are "ProPhoto RGB" and "Ekta Space PS5, J Holmes". Either of these are recommended (by Bruce Fraser) for 16 bit files in PS.
When exporting, the export file presets allow you to
set color space for your chosen target.
Yes, and, before Aperture, I had been using one of those very wide spaces noted above in PS until going down to 8 bits for printer or web output.
However, round-tripping to Photoshop is different
.... the file is going to come back to Aperture. So
Aperture sets the widest color space PS can deal with
.... AdobeRGB. This means Aperture loses the least
color detail. (BTW, it also roundtrips the file as
16-bit, so the file sizes are pretty substantial.)
As noted, Adobe RGB is NOT the widest color space PS can deal with. Why is it not possible to to choose the PS export space? Is this because Aperture actually uses Adobe RGB as its space? If true, that would be unfortunate (and contradict your initial statement).
One would like to have the same very wide space in both Aperture and PS since unnecessary color space conversions are undesireable. In order to accomplish this now, I am forced to export a version and then open it in PS and then reimport it, rather than using the Open With External Editor option.
Really, I would like to be able to select Aperture's working space as well as the PS export space, as we can now for general version exports.
Aperture needs to document this much more clearly.
Dual 2.7Ghz G5 ATI Radeon X800 XT 2.5 GB ram Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Wrong embedded colour profile causes huge jpg files when published to .Mac

D'oh! i posted the following on the iDisk discussion my mistake. Here it is all again for iWebbites:
I've spent most of the day trying to optimise my new iWeb site on .Mac but the published jpg files are far too big.
Despite sizing to 800x600 px and jpegging at about 5 or 6 in Photoshop which resulted in a file size of about 100kb on my local disk, when uploaded to .Mac via iWeb the they have turned into 800 kb files.
Lots of trouble-shooting, including ensuring that they weren't converted to png, that they have no borders, reflections or drop-shadows yet they still got bloated on the upload. Especially the photos in the photo-gallery page.
I've isolated the problem but don't know what to do next:
Turns out, iWeb ignores the sRGB embedded colour profile and replaces it with the monitor profile of the originating computer.
I discovered this after I opened the file in Photoshop directly via iDisk in Finder. Converting or assigning the file to sRGB and saving it back down to iDisk immediately restored it to its intended file size of 100kb and this time with the correct sRGB colour profile.
Going now to the domain.sites on my local disk and opening the package shows all the photos doubled up. A 360 x 264 .jpeg file with the monitor profile embedded and bloated out to 800kb plus the original 800x600 image with sRGB and .jpg as the file type but still only 100kb
So what the heck is happening in iWeb to do this and to use the wrong file type associations with the wrong file when uploaded?
There is very little on the forum about colour (color) profiles and no mention of the bloat in file size, just a reference to colour and tone issues with the wrong profile so I'm wondering if its related to the 1.1.2 update. (I haven't really tried using iWeb until the last week or so).
Fixing the problem by post processing the photos on my site every time I publish would be impossible with the amount of photos I have and my intention of updating the web galleries regularly.
As you can find out if you go to a photo page on my site:
< <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://web.mac.com/adrian_malloch/iWeb/AdrianMallochPhotography/ Kabaddi.html > some pages take horrendously long to load. Check out some of the other Subculture pages. I haven't tested them all but Safari Activity viewer shows that most of the slow speed is related to opening jpeg files.
Any help and informed suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

This is doing my head in.
My last two comments "posted" half way through writing, before I had a chance to edit completely.
Here's how it should have read :
Using sRGB as a monitor profile, in itself, doesn't make a lot of sense.
A monitor profile is custom made specifically for the monitor to compensate for its display characteristics.
A "good enough" monitor profile is to use the software calibration built into the Displays preferences. Go to System Preferences/Displays/Color/Calibrate and follow the prompts. Hint: squint as you try to judge the colour and tone differences. The idea is to make the detail so fuzzy you don't notice it.
It's not very accurate, especially with LCD screens, but it's better than nothing and certainly better than using a universal colour space like sRGB, etc.
The accurate option is to get hold of a hardware calibrator like the Spyder, or Gretag-McBeth iOne Display (which I use). It costs a bit but is vital for accurate repeatable colour.
The whole point is that when the profile is made up and is set as the default profile, then you will get a WYSIWYG screen.
So, the same images will look the same on different monitors providing they each have accurate monitor profiles made specifically for them.
If you use sRGB as your monitor profile then you cannot expect the image to look the same on any one else's machine, whether they use sRGB, a monitor profile or any other profile. Worse still, if you change an image to "look right" on your screen, chances are that the image will look horrible on another screen.
Hence, why I will only switch to sRGB monitor profile as a workaround for uploading in iWeb. Nothing else!!

Black and white colour profiles LR4 to CS6

Yesterday when I opened a black and white image from LR4 to Photoshop CS6 they opened as RGB-sRGB, today after doing an update to both photoshop and camera raw they now open up with an embedded profile mismatch of gray gamma with the option to change the working profile to dot gain 20%. I don't recall seeing these options before, looking in edit-colour settings I don't have any options to change to RGB.
I can of course change the settings to RGB in image-mode and also in edit-convert to profile but this would be a real pain to do this everytime I want to work with b/w.
Hope this all makes sense, I'm not an expert with all this colour profile stuff but have to submit all my files to camera club competitons in sRGB...
help needed please...
Thanks Stuart

i am having the exact same issue, except i noticed that if LR4 is set to send raw files to PS6 with a ProPhoto RGB color space then it will do so, whether the file has been made into B&W in LR or not. But when LR is set to send files to PS with AdobeRGB (1998) color space, it will send any raw files that were made B&W in LR with a gray gamma 2.2 profile instead. is this intentional or is it a bug?
i tend to use AdobeRGB (1998) for my color photos, because I find it converts colors much more easily when making prints or converting for web, whereas with ProPhoto, since it's showing you colors that can't be produced on a print or a web file, sometimes the colors will change drastically when printing or making web files. i'd like to keep it sending my files to PS with the AdobeRGB (1998) color space, but it seems really limiting to be editing my B&W photos in a gray color space

Why Doesn't Illustrator do "Convert to Profile?"

In Photoshop, I can do all my work in Adobe RGB and then use "convert to profile" to create the final output file depending on how it will be used (sRGB, CMYK Sheetfed Coated, CMYK SWOP Uncoated etc.)
But in Illustrator there is no "convert to profile" -- and "assign profile" doesn't do the same thing.
I use Illustrator to create graphics for both web and print projects... so how do I work in Adobe RGB (to take advantage of the wider gamut) but still output proper colour profile files -- without having to go and change the colour settings every time I go from a print project to a web project?
Leif

Well, File>Document Colour Mode only converts to the working CMYK or the working RGB colour space -- so it's not quite what I'm after...
But maybe I should just make my default RGB space to be sRGB. That would simplify my web graphics workflow, and I could still easily go to CMYK when I output for print. It seems like the convenience of working in sRGB outweighs the benefit of the wider gamut of Adobe RGB.
What do you guys think? Are there any practical, real-world downsides to using sRGB for all my RGB design work? (we're not talking about fine art photography)
What default working spaces do you guys use? How do you deal with going back and forth between web projects and print projects?

How do I get my .csf file setting to show up in the Convert to Profile or Proof as menu choices?

I received specific menu choices for Color Settings from a commercial printer I use. I went to Edit<Color Settings and saved them as a .csf file in User/Library/Applications Support/Adobe/Color/Settings. I named the .csf file after the printer. When I go back into Edit<Color Settings and open the Settings menu I am able to choose the settings I saved from the list of settings. Now I open an image in PhotoShop and go to Edit<Convert to Profile. In the dialog box I open the Profile menu, but the settings I saved in Edit<Color Setting are not one of the Profile choices. Am I confusing Setting and Profiles? How do I Convert an image file to the setting given me by the printer? I also wanted to proof as per the printer's settings. When I go to View<Proof setup<Custom I can choose Working CMYK Web Coated SWOP 2006 Grade 3 Paper, which is generally the profile this printer is using. But I can't choice my specific color settings saved under the printer's that I previously saved in Edit<Color Settings. In the Proof Setup dialog box when I press the load button I can navigate to the Settings folder where my .csf file is saved, but it is greyed-out so I can't choose it. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Please advise/help. Thank you.

"Am I confusing Setting and Profiles?"
Yes. A Color Settings File (CSF) will contain values for all the controls in the Color Settings dialog. One of these controls specifies the profile to be used for the CMYK Working Space. That profile will be used by default when you create a new CMYK document or convert an RGB (or some other colour space) document to CMYK.
The profile, not the CSF, will be at the top of the list of CMYK options in the Convert to Profile dialog, as "Working CMYK - <name of your CMYK profile>". However, you may want to skip that dialog and instead do Image > Mode > CMYK, which will simply raise a prompt asking you whether to proceed with the conversion to your CMYK Working Space profile.
In View > Proof Setup menu, item "Working CMYK" also will use the profile that's specified in Color Settings, then "Custom..." in the same menu will give access to options to simulate paper and black ink.

Do I need to set AI colour profiles for use in ID?

My previous set up:
Mac
CS2 (Illustrator, Photoshop, Bridge)
Quark XPress 7
My new set up:
PC (Win 7)
CS5 (Illustrator, Photoshop, Bridge, InDesign)
My problem:
I work for a company that prints newspapers, but my dept also does work for glossy sheetfed printers (magazines leaflets etc)
All my work is exclusively CMYK.
With my previous set up - I didn’t want to have to switch my colour profiles via Bridge as I was constantly juggling two types of jobs:
Our tabloid press - Profile - ISOnewspaper26v4 (CMYK)
Sheetfed Printers - Profile - ISO Coated V2 (Fogra 39) (CMYK)
So I set my CS2 Suite colour settings to ISO Coated V2 (Fogra 39) and set an action in Photoshop to convert jpegs / eps photos to ISOnewspaper26v4.
So my CS2 working space was set for Sheetfed glossy publications and if I wanted to set a picture to the correct profile for newsprint I just had to open the picture and hit the action that applied the ISOnewspaper26v4 profile.
Regarding Quark – I set up separate templates for each type of job:
One for Profile - ISO Coated V2 (Fogra 39) and one for - Profile - ISOnewspaper26v4.
Regarding Illustrator - I found that Quark 7 didn’t differentiate between Illustrator colour profiles, or if it did, it didn’t show up in ‘Usage’.
If I went to Quark Usage and went to ‘Profiles’ it only listed the Quark profile and any Photoshop profiles, not any Illustrator profiles.
So in Illustrator I just set colour profiles to ‘do not colour manage this document’. So that I only had to worry about changing profiles for Photoshop jpegs / eps’s.
So I had a good little system going that served me well and now my company decided to move us to PC’s and CS5; and I still have the same problem – juggling newsprint jobs and glossy magazine jobs and not wanting to have to synchronise my CS suite colour settings every time I switch between jobs...
So I was hoping to stick with my little system on PC / CS5.
So basically my question is, do I need to worry about Illustrator colour profiles if I am bringing Illustrator files into InDesign? (To clarify, my Illustrator files are always pure vector, so there is no chance of some rogue RGB jpeg sneaking through on a Illustrator file)
Im open to suggestions regarding my set up, but really would prefer not to have to keep switching my colour profiles.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First, I wasn't suggesting that your PDFs be exported to RGB, but it is a common workflow these days to keep photos in RGB until you convert them to the correct profile during the export process. This maximizes the potential for re-purposing your documents and allows you to use the same RGB photos for different output purposes without having to do separate CMYK conversions for each destination, so long as you don't need to do any tweaking after the conversion.
And to answer your question, if the .ai files have no embedded color profile they will ALWAYS be considered to use whatever the CMYK working space is in your ID file, so the numbers will be preserved. This means that there will be slight differences in color on output on different devices (the whole point of color management, after all, is to preserve the appearance of colors by altering the numbers for the output device).
Does the vector work you get from Thinstock come with an embedded profile? Is there any color that is critical for matching, such as a corporate color (which should be spot, but that's a different discussion), or do you use the same art in both the newspaper and magazine, and does the client expect a match (which we know isn't going to happen anyway)?
If there's no embedded profile when you start, there's no way to know what the color was supposed to look like, so color management is not possible, really. You can assign a profile, but you'd be guessing. Since the correct appearance at that point is unknown continuing with out color management shouldn't present a problem. The only case where you would need to manage the vector art would be if the color APPEARANCE is critical or you need it to match across different outputs, and in that case you would need to assign a profile and allow ID to preserve the profile on import and remap the numbers, which means you would likely get rich blacks someplace. Since it's unlikely that you can get a good match going from glossy to newsprint, I probably wouldn't even try -- you wouldn't want, for example, to tag the art as newsprint, and have it print subdued on the gloss if it would look better or more correct with the other profile. Color management would be much more useful if you were going from sheetfed to web on the same stock.

Can you use a photo lab's colour profile in Elements?

Using PSE 6, I want to use a printer profile from a digital photo processing lab, so as to get accurately printed images. (Additonally my monitor is calibrated by a Heuy Pro)
The profile is 'FUJI 570 Supreme Lustre' which I have downloaded from the lab and installed on my Windows Vista PC. Following PSE Help instructions, if I go to the print option then from the drop down Printer Profile list, I can see, choose and select the Fuji 570 profile.
The problem is that this process only seems aimed at then allowing me to click on cancel or print (there is no save option etc). PSE seems to assume that I am connected to the Fuji printer and want to print the image myself, which, of course, I don't but rather want to save this image with the correct profile for the lab's printer and paper-type, so as to send the file(s) for my colour managed image(s) to be printed.
Is there any way that you can save a PSE image file with a colour profile like this in it?
If yes, how is this done?
The lab provides instructions as to how to do this with Photoshop but they are unfamiliar with PSE. In the lab's instructions it refers to View/Proof Set up/custom and unchecking Preserve Colour Numbers, Paper White and Ink Black. Is any of this possible/necessary with PSE 6 (or any later version?)
I have tried to resolve this myself but come to a dead end. If anyone can advise me how to achieve what I want to do, that would be really great or if it can't be done using PSE, to know that would be a great help.
(I have used this lab before without the profiles and whilst the results were good in several respects, some colours, not surprisingly, were not very accuate with my calibrated monitor)
Thanks for reading and considering my posting on the forum.

Thanks for this further advice- much appreciated.
I don't think the Edit>>Colour Settings is going to work as this means that the monitor set up becomes the profile. In my case the Huey profile (which is confirmed as it shows in the print set up preference/settings boxes). Although the Huey profile is important for accurate editing, it will not fulfil the lab'sFuji printer/papers settings.
It looks like PSE does not have any way to save to file with the printer profile (unlike Photoshop). This is a real shame.
It's an interesting issue, as I can't believe that I am the only user ever wanting to use a lab's profile to get better colour management and to use a photographic lab rather than an attached printer.
Anyway, thanks again for engaging in this issue and for your thoughts and advice - much appreciated.
Should I find a way to resolve this, I will post it on the forum.

Converting colour profile of final print package before printing

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