One Publisher document, multiple printers/outlets

[caruso john]

I'm a newish Affinity Publisher user and am doing a photo book. I think I know which printer I will go with, and I have their ICC color profile. 

But, I would also like to do some tests with at least one other printer, possibly two. 

And then there will be an ebook. 

So...I'm wondering what is the best way to create and work with this document. From other questions I've posted here, it seems like the best way to start and create the Affinity Publisher document would be to choose CMKY and use the ICC profile provided by the printer from the start but...what if, as is the case, I am not sure about who will ultimately do the printer. If, for example, I start the document with CMYK/8 and the ICC profile provided by one printer, and then I export with a different color profile (either CMYK or even RGB for the ebook), does this screw everything up? 

I know that in the export settings (when the time comes) I can choose a generic ICC profile, or the ICC profile that the printer provides, or even RGB, but won't I be doing a CMYK to CMYK conversion (or even, really, an RGB (original photos) to CMYK (ICC from printer #1 used when creating the document) to CMYK (printer #2) to RGB (ebook)!!!  Sounds quite perilous.  

So...what does one do when one does not know the ultimate ICC profile of the printer, when one wants both an ebook and printed book, and when one needs maximum flexibility in a month or two or three when the document is completed? 

Thanks. 

[lacerto]

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[caruso john]

Thanks again Legarto. It is going to take some time for me to digest all of that. Basically I am considering two printing companies, one requires that I provide a CMYK pdf, the other doesn't seem to care (the cheaper printer). The one that requires the CMYK also provided their ICC profile. So, I think the way I will proceed is to just use an RGB workspace, sRGB profile, and that will get me to the "right" document for the cheaper printer and the ebook. Then, upon export, I will choose the options x-1a (to ensure 100% CMYK) and the printer's ICC profile of the other company. (although...I know the printed book will be a stop or so darker, usually, since it is using reflected light, so maybe I should stop thinking that I can use one document for both a printed version and an ebook version). 

Then, for the text, since I am only creating at CMYK document upon export, how do I deal with the text blackness? I guess I don't need to (I can't manually force k100 in CMYK as I am exporting). 

So, all that said, every time I understand one thing three more questions arise. Since I will be placing only jpegs into this document, I should choose RGB/8, right? No need for RGB/16 I would assume. 

I'm about 37% confident that I am going to be able to get through this. 

Thanks. 

 

p.s. I think I need to get over the idea that I can start from one document and then in two minutes create three pdfs...one for printer 1, one for printer 2, and one ebook. I just need to avoid having to do a month's worth of layout work three times.  

[lacerto]

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[caruso john]

OK, I fiddled around with that and it seems totally doable, especially using styles. But to be clear, this process works with my plan of starting with an RGB document, right? When the layout is complete, I just need to convert the text to CMYK and set the values to C0, M0, Y0, K100 for the selected text. Then export as CMYK using the ICC profile from the printer. Right? 

Thanks! 

[lacerto]

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[caruso john]

Can't thank you enough Lagarto. I think you covered all my ever-changing bases.