Publisher: exported PDF not completely cmyk

[Benjito]

Hello,

yesterday I exported a PDF file for the printer. Now the printer says, there are elements in the file which are not in cmyk. That is strange, because in the export options I choose "convert to cmyk". Is is possible in Publisher to get a list of all elements in a document that are not cmyk? 

Thanks

[Pauls]

not in publisher - can you provide the PDF and source afpub file. we mat be able to work it out.

We'd also need a screenshot of the exact export settings used

You can uplaod files securely here

[Benjito]

Hi Pauls,

attached I uploaded afpub und PDF. I hope that helps. I also uploaded a screenshot from the export menue (sorry, it is in German).

As you can see the afpub is more than 700MB for such a small project. I already discussed this in a separate thread. But so far no one has a solution. 

Jahresbericht_2021_final.pdf Jahresbericht_2021.afpub

[lacerto]

In most PDF export presets placed RGB images are not converted to CMYK but retained in source color space. There is an option under the "More" settings called "Convert Image color spaces" that controls whether images will be converted. PDF/X-1a:2003 would automatically convert all elements to CMYK. The most failsafe CMYK export method available in Affinity apps would probably be "PDF (press ready)" using PDF 1.7 version, with the modification of forcing conversion of image color spaces, and not embedding the ICC profile (as everything would then already be in target CMYK color space). That would be the most compatible method if you have any PDFs placed for "passthrough" in the document.

Note that because color conversions can (and normally do) happen at export time, checking the color modes in Publisher before exporting would not normally be useful (even if you could use the Resource Manager to check the color spaces of placed images). You could of course open the exported PDF in Publisher to have look on color space of individual objects, but typically you'd need something Adobe Acrobat Pro to have a reliable overview of PDF color spaces. 

[Benjito]

1 minute ago, Lagarto said:

You could of course open the exported PDF in Publisher to have look on color space of individual objects, but typically you'd need something Adobe Acrobat Pro to have a reliable overview of PDF color spaces. 

Thanks for this information. I only have the free version of Adobe Reader DC. Because I'm not a professional user, I don't want to invest in the pro version. 

[lacerto]

You have RGB color on pages 7, 19, and 25. 

EDIT: As all the affected elements are ads from a third party, and ones on pages 7 and 25 are in CMYK color space, but for some reason do not display the "Passthrough" option on the context toolbar when these objects are selected, I would try to import all these ads again and see that you get the "Passthrough" control visible on the toolbar, and ensure that the status is "Passthrough" rather than "Interpret". It may be that these linked PDFs were not available at export time and have therefore lost their passthrough state. The ad on page 19 is in RGB mode, I am not sure why its color mode has not been changed to CMYK. It should have been with the settings you show above.

EDIT2: I checked, and Affinity apps do not convert color space of placed RGB PDFs if they have been placed to be passed through. If you change the Passthrough state of this ad (page 19) as "Interpret", it would be converted, but as the ad would be interpreted it might get rasterized. Exporting just this one page using PDF/X-1a:2003 preset would force CMYK conversion, as well, but might also result in page getting rasterized. If possible, you could ask the advertizer to deliver a CMYK version of the ad.

[Benjito]

1 hour ago, Lagarto said:

EDIT2: I checked, and Affinity apps do not convert color space of placed RGB PDFs if they have been placed to be passed through. If you change the Passthrough state of this ad (page 19) as "Interpret", it would be converted, but as the ad would be interpreted it might get rasterized. Exporting just this one page using PDF/X-1a:2003 preset would force CMYK conversion, as well, but might also result in page getting rasterized. If possible, you could ask the advertizer to deliver a CMYK version of the ad.

Thanks. From the beginning of my project I had trouble with the ads. Checkbox already said, that the pdf version is not compatible with the export file (already discussed here). And yes the PDFs are passed through. When I chance to interpret, all the fonts will be destroyed (because they are not embedded). 

The most advertizers are small local shops. They don't have a professional agency, creating the ads. Except the one on page 25. So the whole project is very amateurish.

But the printer sent me already a proof and chanced the color profile automatically to cmyk. Here it doesn't look bad.

Korrekturabzug.pdf

[lacerto]

1 hour ago, Benjito said:

But the printer sent me already a proof and chanced the color profile automatically to cmyk. Here it doesn't look bad

Great that they could help you -- the ads were fine in the proof, and page 19, which is rasterized (and was earlier in RGB), was probably rasterized already in the first place. I am not sure what initially caused the wrong color mode in the other two ads as they appeared to be in CMYK mode in the Publisher document that you attached. "Passthrough" is in many ways problematic in Affinity apps as there are "compatibility" rules (not existing in other page layout apps that I use), which -- when not met -- result in rasterization of placed graphics; on the other hand, interpretation causes, as you mentioned, replacement of non-installed embedded fonts with more or less random installed fonts, and possibly also other kinds of inadvertent changes -- and typically in advertisements, over which you have no control and required resources to be able to fix problems.