livecode changes image colors without being asked to do it

Keith Martin thatkeith at mac.com
Thu Aug 31 07:36:34 EDT 2017


On 30 Aug 2017, at 15:31, Robert Brenstein via use-livecode wrote:

> The stack is used to produce a PDF file and the printing shop 
> requested CMYK

A slight aside – please forgive me.

I teach publishing and have worked in the print industry (among others) 
since the 1980s. It's now the norm for printers to accept PDFs with 
embedded RGB images and do the colour conversion to CMYK in the final 
RIP stage as it's printed. This means that the actual conversion is done 
with settings that are most appropriate to the actual print method and 
device, not a generic 'make it CMYK' process. I've seen print projects 
go expensively wrong because of inappropriate CMYK conversion settings.

This is often known as an RGB workflow – although 'Hybrid workflow' is 
more accurate, as it's just imported images that are left in their 
native colour model; colour swatches should still be specified using the 
colour model of the intended output process.

Having said this, the bottom line is always "ask your printer and follow 
their advice," not least because if something goes wrong with the colour 
repro they can't blame you. ;)

k

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Keith Martin
Senior Lecturer, LCC (University of the Arts London)
President, http://IVRPA.org
http://PanoramaPhotographer.com
http://thatkeith.com
+44 (0)7909541365

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