What RGB to CMYK options are there?

[Affinity100]

If you already created an illustration in RGB format in Affinity Designer for iPad, but now need that illustration to be in CMYK format for a printer, what options are there to switch the file from RGB to CMYK, and how do you do it?

Are there any differences or pros/cons between how you switch the file from RGB to CMYK?  (before exporting vs. while exporting vs. after exporting)

 

[LionelD]

Your question is part of a topic called “Color Management”, and it’s a big deal in the photographic and video worlds where color fidelity really matters.  I don’t know what the standard practice for graphics is.

Photo printers, e.g., the Canon Pixma Pro series use inks that are based on CMYK, but expect input in an RGB color space.  These printers handle the RGB to CMYK conversion internally, and can’t handle an image that is already in a CMYK space.

So, assuming you are sending work to a (commercial) printer that really expects CMYK, you can convert your image in Designer using the Convert Document process.  On my iPad it is in the hamburger menu in the top left of the screen.  See https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/# for more information.  You may need to ask your print company what the appropriate CMYK color space is.

Regards

Lionel

Edited March 4, 2023 by LionelD
Correct error.

[Alfred]

51 minutes ago, LionelD said:

See https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/# for more information.

More specifically, try here:

https://affinity.help/designer2ipad/English.lproj/pages/Clr/ClrProfiles.html

[Affinity100]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:06 PM, LionelD said:

Your question is part of a topic called “Color Management”, and it’s a big deal in the photographic and video worlds where color fidelity really matters.  I don’t know what the standard practice for graphics is.

Photo printers, e.g., the Canon Pixma Pro series use inks that are based on CMYK, but expect input in an RGB color space.  These printers handle the RGB to CMYK conversion internally, and can’t handle an image that is already in a CMYK space.

So, assuming you are sending work to a (commercial) printer that really expects CMYK, you can convert your image in Designer using the Convert Document process.  On my iPad it is in the hamburger menu in the top left of the screen.  See https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/# for more information.  You may need to ask your print company what the appropriate CMYK color space is.

Regards

Lionel

I appreciate the time you took to explain everything, thanks so much!  

[Affinity100]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:55 PM, Alfred said:

More specifically, try here:

https://affinity.help/designer2ipad/English.lproj/pages/Clr/ClrProfiles.html

Thanks a lot!

[LionelD]

@Affinity100  Thanks for your kind words.

Because of my photography background I always use the ProPhoto workspace in new Designer documents.  My master files live in that color space, and I convert to output color space/s at the last possible moment.  Many photographers use this approach, or one that’s very similar.

ProPhoto is a very large color space, and output color spaces are usually much smaller - i.e., ProPhoto has colors that the output color spaces do not.  That’s an issue I deal with at the time I convert to the target color space.

Keeping all my master files in the same, very large color space simplifies things for me - I don’t have to worry about color spaces until I create the output files.

Regards

Lionel

[NotMyFault]

5 hours ago, LionelD said:

@Affinity100  Thanks for your kind words.

Because of my photography background I always use the ProPhoto workspace in new Designer documents.  My master files live in that color space, and I convert to output color space/s at the last possible moment.  Many photographers use this approach, or one that’s very similar.

ProPhoto is a very large color space, and output color spaces are usually much smaller - i.e., ProPhoto has colors that the output color spaces do not.  That’s an issue I deal with at the time I convert to the target color space.

Keeping all my master files in the same, very large color space simplifies things for me - I don’t have to worry about color spaces until I create the output files.

Regards

Lionel

this is very true for digital photographs.
 

There is only one catch: if working in wide-gamunt color spaces, you should use RGB/16 while editing, too. Otherwise, in RGB/8, you run the risk of getting banding artifacts, as the number of steps per color channel gets effectively reduced below 255 for those colors who fall into the sRGB range. So for illustration where you might intentionally use a limit set of base colors and create gradients, RGB/8 and sRGB can be the better option.

So it really depends on intentions.

[LionelD]

Yes, I should have mentioned 16Bit, and thanks for your insight about illustrations.

Regards

Lionel