Sending a photo heavy PDF for book printing on a web press. Convert photo in photoshop first or Acrobat 11?

Question

Hi,
     The printing company for our photo book on Loons, uses roll fed web presses.  They have asked for a pdf set to X-1a.
First soft proof was light and washed out.  Printer had us increase saturation and contrast.  Second proof
all our blue water photos come out more purple then blue. 
We currently  used srgb jpeg photos embedded in a ms word document.  We used acrobat 11 to create the pdf using the request X-1a
setting.
    Should we have converted the photos in photoshop to the requested setting first and then embedded them in word?
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Can you show us screen shots of your X-1 PDF Settings ( i.e., Color )?  The reason why I ask is my default Distiller PDF-X1a:2001 Settings use a working space of RGB = sRGB IEC61966-2.1; and CMYK = US Web Coated (SWOP) v2 with the "Color Management Policies: "Convert All Colors to CMYK" ( default ); Rendering Intent ( default is "Preserve" ).  Have you discussed these settings with the print service provider?  These settings, if they are identical in Acrobat 11, would appear to have the same RGB work space as your original sRGB based pics. I sense that Word, although not a color managed application, would work as an image carrier into Acrobat 11 where the image files may retain their profiles going into Acrobat 11 and remain intact going out of Acrobat 11 via a PDF-X1a.  In which case, the print service provider then RIP and Prints the file for a hardcopy proof. In your case, the previous digital printer did a good job reproducing the photos as you supplied them, Word or no Word.  The question now becomes what changed with this new service provider?  Their prepress people must of accepted your documents and pushed them through their workflow.  So, what changed? I know of no way to "swap" images using Acrobat.  In your case, it may be a matter of saving a second set of files or the entire book document as a copy and replacing the pics in that file, then create a second PDF-X1a file.  And, as a third option, use InDesign ( however, no point in using it until you've determined where the problem with quality lies ).  If I assume the printer told you that the sRGB files were sufficient and, if you used the X-1 PDF Settings when Saving As > PDF, that would be their preferred workflow and the image files rendered dull and unsaturated ( as they did in your case ), and the printer recommended you increase the saturation and HUE of the images ( which he did ) and the entire workflow worked for a digital printer in the past ( which it did ), then something changed with this new print service provider.  You have to find out from them what it could be.  It could be something with their direct-to-plate equipment.  I believe it merits further research and development with the new service provider.  There is a solution.  You just have to find it.
"Once the pdf is created could I swap out the photos
for ones that had been converted from RGB to CMYK in photoshop with  Rendering Intent and Black Point Compensation etc. filled. "...
Wait a minute.  You did a RGB-to-CMYK conversion in Photoshop?  Why?  I thought you embedded the RGB files in Word?  Then, Acrobat did the conversion using the X-1 settings mentioned above.
  "How hard would it be to dump my word document into InDesign with  the newly created RGB or CMYK photos would it work better?  Is the learning curve too much of a hassle for one off?"...
Yes it would.  But, your procedures worked for the digital printer.  Why not now with the new printer?  That's my question.  Since Acrobat's X-1 settings have a work space of sRGB ( assumed ), then your sRGB files should render appropriately and they do not.  You have to find out what works for this new print service provider and, whatever Photoshop Color Setting RGB workspace you use, use it in Acrobat 11.  Discuss the entire document and Photoshop setups with the new print service provider.