Color issues when file sent to commercial printer

[PhilOrmsby]

I have had a couple of instances where I have used Acrobat Distiller to
create a PDF file from a Publisher file. The PDF looked just fine when I
made a test print on my system at home. However, on both occasions with 2
different printers, the colors seem to shift - my vibrant reds come out a
brick red color and my grays come out a kind of gray-green.

Is this a Publisher issue (neither printer accepts Publisher files) or is it
more likely to be an Acrobat issue? I have limited technical knowledge so
baby steps please!

Thanks

Phil

 

[Matt Beals]

Ah yes... A very familiar problem. This is a combination of problems.
Primarily it is a color problem, indirectly related to Publisher, in terms
of converting from one color space to another.

For the color conversion you're dealing most often with RGB from Publisher
and printing as CMYK. Each printer handles that in a different way. Each
printer driver deals with it in a different way too. There are three basic
color models (spaces). There is L.A.B. (entire spectrum of light), RGB
(think TV's and monitors) and CMYK (printing presses and printers). You also
are dealing with different kinds of ink that behave in different ways. You
have dye based and pigment based which have their own color properties. Each
one of these combinations has their own physical limitations of what colors
they can accurately reproduce. Remember those Russian nesting dolls? Imagine
you have three dolls, the outermost doll is LAB, middle is RGB and inner is
CMYK. The middle doll (RGB) is about two thirds the size of the outer doll
(LAB). The inner doll (CMYK) is about two thirds the size of the of the
middle doll (RGB). When a color from one of the bigger spaces can't fit
inside one of the smaller spaces the driver/printer has to decide how to
best "fit" the color. Usually it's not a big deal and turns out acceptably
well. Other instances where you are dealing with the vibrant colors you end
up with "gamut compression" where you just "jam it in there" somehow. Some
printers/drivers do it better than others. This is where color management
and ICC profiles get involved. To make that change more "appealing" for lack
of a better term. This is where your bright red becomes brick red and your
grays can have a red, blue, green, yellow, brown, etc. tint. Whites can go
yellow or blue, etc. It becomes a real mess real quick. As if that were not
enough the color of the printed page changes as the ink dries. So right
after it is printed it looks fabulous and vibrant. But an hour later it's a
bit duller and a day or two later it's even more faded.

So remember, each monitor has its own color characteristics which are
singularly unique. The same thing for each ink/paper combination and each
printer/output device.

What you are experiencing is exactly what printers fight with every day
trying to match the print out on your inkjet on their presses for their
customers. They do what they can within the limits that physics (light and
the physical printing process) impose on them. So next time a job doesn't
print with the color the way you expect keep this over simplified
explanation in mind.

Matt Beals
Consultant
Enfocus Certified Trainer
Markzware Recognized Trainer
(206) 618-2537 - Cell
(720) 367-3869 - eFax
mailto:[email protected]

Come visit me at:

http://www.mattbeals.com
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http://blog.mattbeals.com

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[Matt Beals]

What you need is the ICC profile that describes the printers color gamut.
Once you have that and an application that knows how to use it you can
accurately map colors from one color space to another given the limitations
imposed by each device. Chances are none of the devices have an ICC profile
that is used. Your best course of action is to talk with your printer and
see what can be done. Any time you send color out of Publisher you are far
better served to send out composite RGB rather than letting Publisher make
CMYK. Which is does an absolutely horrific job of. I mean it *really* bad.
You print proider can make the CMYK conversion for you. But unless you start
working with tools (programs) that deal with ICC based color management it's
all kind of crap shoot.

If the print provider does happen to have an ICC profile we'll have to find
a way for you to take advantage of it. Most likely that will involve using
Acrobat Professional.

Matt

 

[jen@elmat]

I am a commerical printer - so I hope this helps. The advice about CMYK vs.
RGB is good in that the output is completely different even when your using
the same file. Your biggest problem is that you printer is never going to
print the files in the colors that a press will reproduce. It's not the same
type of media or ink so it will never look like the print you print at home.

The methods that used to be used were things such as match prints (prints
from film made for reproduction of the file), of Iris prints which are color
accurate prints.

What I do for my customers when submitting files (though not every printer
will have this capability) is rip a print of the file through the same
imagesetter that processes the film that makes the plates.

In that way you are able to see a print of what the finished job will look
like even before film is processed.

I hope this helps - let me know!

Jen@Elmat Quality Printing, Cedarhurst, NY