publisher 2 cmyk conversion

[ms.fuentecilla]

I am having problems setting up illustrated books using RGB photographs and exporting to PDF as CMYK. Some images get flattened for reasons not known to me (ignorance). Is there a sequence for this conversion that avoids this? I would prefer not to have to convert the images before importing into Publisher. Of course I am aware that CMYK can't fully represent the colour spectrum of sRGB but I would have thought the conversion in Publisher might have been more sympathetic.

When I export to CMYK as a PDF, does the original publisher file convert to CMYK?

Sorry, that might be ambiguous. I don't mean that images get layers flattened but the tonality and colour gamut.

[MikeTO]

Hi, I'm not an expert on colour but perhaps somebody else could reply if you provide this information.

What is the colour profile of the image?

What is the colour profile of the document?

What is the colour profile for export, if it's not using the document profile?

Thanks

[thomaso]

On 1/27/2023 at 11:49 AM, ms.fuentecilla said:

Some images get flattened for reasons not known to me (ignorance). Is there a sequence for this conversion that avoids this?

What "flattened" do you mean? (and what "ignorance"?)

• For the PDF file format "flatten" means to avoid (convert) transparency. Transparency can be caused by reduced opacity but also by certain blend modes for instance.

• Within Affinity "flatten" can mean "rasterize" which will be required for certain tasks but not for simply placed "RGB photographs".

[MikeTO]

35 minutes ago, thomaso said:

What "flattened" do you mean?

I think the OP just means the colours look flat.

[Lee D]

@ms.fuentecilla If you're exporting out to PDF to have professionally printed it's worth asking your printer how they would like the PDF setup. You can also export to a CMYK PDF file but any images within are kept in their original profile, again depends on the requirments.

[ms.fuentecilla]

Thank you Lee D. The PDF issue got sorted in a way in that all the images in the Publisher file were enhanced. My printers will accept sRGB or CMYK but their conversion from sRGB to CMYK is not so good so it is better I do it and they print a proof page. As long as enhancing in Publisher doesn't affect the originals this is alright but I am a bit worried that it might impact the originals.

The enhancements were done in Publisher mode not switching into Photo.

If documents are exported in CMYK PDF and then reimported into Publisher as such is it possible to edit them? I haven't yet tried to do that.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, ms.fuentecilla said:

If documents are exported in CMYK PDF and then reimported into Publisher as such is it possible to edit them?

It is possible, in many cases, but it is usually better to start with the original .afpub file. PDF loses many things, as it is not intended for data interchange but simply for presentation. For example, you will not have any text styles in the PDF if you open it in Publisher.