color problems

O
Posted By
obrien1984
Jul 29, 2011
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1543
Replies
3
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Closed
Hello,

I’m not a graphic designer, nor do I have a deep knowledge of color space, color profiles, or image rendering. However, I need to try to help out a coworker who is running into some problems.

This coworker came to me the other day asking why the color of a logo in a tiff was slightly different than the color of that same logo in a PDF file. She is running Windows XP, but the files were created with Photoshop and Acrobat on a Mac.

Additionally, she says that images saved in Photoshop on a Mac typically look horrible on her PC — the color is "off". She does not have Photoshop, and is opening images for proofing with the native Windows preview application. This problem occurs on every Windows XP computer we have in the office.

Ideally, this person should be able to open images and documents without there being a drastic shift in color. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but, for example, the color in the original image and one saved in Photoshop should be pretty close when viewed side by side on the same computer. I’m wondering if there is something that the designers need to do when prepping files to make sure colors display accurately on a PC?

Can anyone help point me in the right direction here?

Thanks.
Joseph

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Andrew Croft
Jul 29, 2011
In article
,
Joseph O’Brien wrote:

Hello,

I’m not a graphic designer, nor do I have a deep knowledge of color space, color profiles, or image rendering. However, I need to try to help out a coworker who is running into some problems.

This coworker came to me the other day asking why the color of a logo in a tiff was slightly different than the color of that same logo in a PDF file. She is running Windows XP, but the files were created with Photoshop and Acrobat on a Mac.

Additionally, she says that images saved in Photoshop on a Mac typically look horrible on her PC — the color is "off". She does not have Photoshop, and is opening images for proofing with the native Windows preview application. This problem occurs on every Windows XP computer we have in the office.

Ideally, this person should be able to open images and documents without there being a drastic shift in color. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but, for example, the color in the original image and one saved in Photoshop should be pretty close when viewed side by side on the same computer. I’m wondering if there is something that the designers need to do when prepping files to make sure colors display accurately on a PC?

Can anyone help point me in the right direction here?

Thanks.
Joseph

Hi Joseph,

The issue may have to do with using apps that aren’t equipped to display colour consistently – the Preview app she is using.

If the logo design in PhotoShop is in CMYK mode, no Preview app is going to display the colour accurately because they, like Office apps, only display colour in RGB mode. Sp there is a shift in the colour immediately.

With a PDF there are options to generate proof-only PDFs which are RGB content only as well as print-ready PDFs which force the colours to CMYK mode if they aren’t already in CMYK mode. So placing a CMYK image in a PDF that is then saved in proof format means it will shift, and having an RGB imagei in a PDF that is saved in print-ready CMYK mode – shift again.

Also, depending on how the colour options were set up in PhotoShop, the file itself may include a colour setting that affects the display of colour and can be different from one device to another as the colour profile attempts to adjust the colour for each device. The only way to control this to some degree is to ensure you are using devices that are meant for the job, and again Preview isn’t one of them.

And, even after all of this, if you’re looking at a CMYK image on an RGB screen – and they’re *all* RGB – you simply cannot view the colour accurately at all without spending thousands on calibrated monitors. But we’re so used to pleasing colour production these days few people have them any more, just colour specialist shops and printing companies.

Hope this helps a bit… without actually seeing the files it’s hard to troubleshoot further.

Thanks.

Andrew
D
danicocariu
Nov 16, 2012
I need some hex colour codes. Can anyone help me? Please! http://smokebrushesforphotoshopcs5.blogspot.com
P
PapillonHeroes
Apr 9, 2013
If the logo design in PhotoShop is in CMYK mode, no Preview app is going to display the colour accurately because they, like Office apps, only display colour in RGB mode. Sp there is a shift in the colour immediately.

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