PDF exports no longer respect document color space

[big smile]

My Affinity Publisher documents contain color images, but the color space is Gray, so the PDFs should export as B&W.

This was working fine in 1.8.2 However, since upgrading to 1.8.3 all my PDFs now contain color images, even though the document color space is Gray.

This happens even if I select Gray as an export option in the PDF export menu. 

[Jon P]

Hi @big smile,

Do you have the option "Convert image colour spaces" ticked when exporting?

[thomaso]

To force a placed RGB image within a greyscale document to export as grey in Affinity I need to additionally activate the image color space conversion (which is not ticked in the default for-print preset).

Even export as PDF/X-4 doesn't export the RGB image as greyscale-only if this option is un-ticked – though it has the greyscale profile as "OutputIntent". In a PDF viewer which ignores the output intent (like Apples Preview.app) such a X-4 grayscale PDF shows the RGB image with colors.

If the documents color space is set to greyscale then the button "K Only" doesn't appear/isn't available for selected color images – but they visually appear in the document as greyscale. That makes me think that Affinity handles this document in the grey color space only and doesn't even allow any color. I get confirmed because it shows any shape which got colored via color panel as greyscale, in both the document and in exported PDF. But obviously it isn't for images – their color still gets exported even though it is invisible in the .afpub view, which is unexpected and confusing.

[big smile]

2 hours ago, Jon P said:

Hi @big smile,

Do you have the option "Convert image colour spaces" ticked when exporting?

That fixed it, so it wasn't a bug: Sorry for the false alarm. The option has always been on by default in the past, so I am not sure what happened!

[Jon P]

Quote

so I am not sure what happened!

We made some changes in this area in 1.8.3, and I believe it auto converted before (in this scenario)

[big smile]

On 4/6/2020 at 2:55 PM, Jon P said:

We made some changes in this area in 1.8.3, and I believe it auto converted before (in this scenario)

So do this mean going forwards, the option won't be selected by default? 

[Jon P]

I'll look at raising changing it to be enabled by default if it is causing confusion, will see how much we hear about it.

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Jon P said:

I'll look at raising changing it to be enabled by default if it is causing confusion, will see how much we hear about it.

A different/additional solution could be to enable a further option: To write/save the Output Intent for any PDF version, not only PDF/X.

To avoid unexpected color conversion at least for PDF/X the conversion checkbox should not be ticked by default. For PDF/X all images may maintain their individual color spaces (profiles) which will be 'ignored' by those apps which indeed do respect the Output Intent of a PDF/X. (macOS Preview does not). Using the Output Intent instead of color conversion during export has the advantage that a conversion happens only 1x, regardless what profile the printer hard-/software will be using.

Top, right: Acrobat X Pro and its preflight, showing that the RGB profile still exists but the Output Intent gets preferred. ||  Bottom left: macOS Preview.app ignoring the Output Intent:

[big smile]

2 hours ago, Jon P said:

I'll look at raising changing it to be enabled by default if it is causing confusion, will see how much we hear about it.

Most people don’t create documents with colour images that they intend to export as B&W PDFs, so I think the feedback will be minimal.

But for those that do this, having it not on by default is confusing, especially because the option is buried away in the PDF options.

You'd expect an exported PDF to match the colours spaces one sees in the live Publisher document. Not having match up seems confusing, especially if it did match up in previous versions. 

[thomaso]

3 hours ago, big smile said:

But for those that do this, having it not on by default is confusing, especially because the option is buried away in the PDF options.

Actually I would expect an export result according to the documents color space. It is confusing that I don't see colors during layout when working in a greyscale .afpub but on export only and therefore unexpected. So, maybe it's useful and possible for greyscale documents to have the conversion activated by default.

[big smile]

16 hours ago, thomaso said:

Actually I would expect an export result according to the documents color space. It is confusing that I don't see colors during layout when working in a greyscale .afpub but on export only and therefore unexpected. So, maybe it's useful and possible for greyscale documents to have the conversion activated by default.

As I understand it, before the default was to match the documents color space. So if you have a grayscale document, all your color images in Afpub would be grayscale and you would get a greyscale PDF. That to me seems the most natural. 

Having the export not match the live Afpub document seems confusing. 

 

[Andy Russell]

I am agreeing with thomaso. This completely threw me and I spent (wasted) a couple of hours wondering what was happening. I came to the conclusion that this was a change brought in by the latest upgrade. To see the document in greyscale on the screen and then see the PDF in colour is really confusing. For the record, I have to produce two versions of my document, one in full colour for a web version, and one with greyscale for hard copy printing, because I can't afford the colour print. Thanks to this forum I found the solution (to tick convert colour image spaces) even though the documentation says the PDF export picks up the colour palette from the document

[big smile]

On 5/19/2020 at 6:05 PM, Andy Russell said:

I am agreeing with thomaso. This completely threw me and I spent (wasted) a couple of hours wondering what was happening. I came to the conclusion that this was a change brought in by the latest upgrade. 

Yes, it's the latest upgrade.

Before 1.8.3, if your document color space was set to greyscale,  then the output PDF would also be greyscale.

Now if you document color space is set to greyscale, you will get a color PDF, unless you hunt for the option that is buried away in the PDF export menu. 

It also caused me to waste several hours, and at one point I was just going to recreate all my images in greyscale.