Color profile changes on B&W and converted B&W images

[moovme]

Hi,

I'm not sure how to explain this but I'll do my best. I'm making a black and white photo montage (in Publisher) using both color images converted to B&W and native B&W images from stock sites. What I am noticing is that on the color images that I have converted to B&W I can put a colored border onto them no problem on my main canvas (with color profile). But with the native B&W images I place onto the canvas (using the picture frame tool), the border I put on is always in greyscale and not in color. I am assuming this is because each individual image has its own embedded color profile, and when brought into the main canvas file (color), the global color profile does not / cannot override the embedded greyscale color profile of the individual native B&W images. That is to say each image is governed by its individual embedded color profile that cannot be overridden when brought into another file?

Do I need to go back and change the color profile of the native B&W images to color prior to bringing them onto the main canvas (color) so I can put a colored border on them? Or is there s a simpler way of getting this to work without having to re-import every single image with an embedded color profile and not a greyscale profile?

[walt.farrell]

If you are Placing (or Copying and Pasting) your images into the montage, then they will be Image layers and either Embedded or Linked documents, with their own characteristics such as color format and profile. So, if you then edit the embedded/linked documents and it opens in a separate editing tab, and you add the border there, then you would be limited to a grayscale border for images that are black & white.

On the other hand, if you put your images into Picture Frames, then you could add your border directly as a stroke around the Picture Frame. For example, as in the sample .afpub file I created in Publisher 2.5.7 and attached below.

Of course, this does require Publisher to get access to Picture Frame objects, but if you have Publisher you could create an Asset containing a Picture Frame, and use that directly in Photo.

Or, without Publisher, you could draw a Rectangle of the appropriate size, with an appropriate Stroke in any color you want, and align that over one of the black & white images, then Group the Rectangle and image so they will move and resize together after that.

 

border-picture-frame.afpub

[moovme]

I changed the color profile of the all the B&W images prior to bringing them into the main canvas (by placing them into picture frames in Publisher) before writing my original post. Sadly all the images would only allow for a greyscale border. Oddly this even happened on some of my converted color images as well. I went back to the original individual image files and noticed the way Publisher had automatically attached the Black and White adjustment layer. I grabbed the adjustment layer icon on dragged it back onto the image icon itself so it got stacked underneath as opposed as to the right hand side of the main image icon. This, for whatever reason made all the difference, and I could then go in and put a color border onto all the images on the main montage canvas. 

I can't tell if this is a bug or not, or if I am simply doing something wrong..

 

[walt.farrell]

16 hours ago, moovme said:

I can't tell if this is a bug or not, or if I am simply doing something wrong..

I suspect you're doing something wrong, but your latest description confuses me somewhat so I can't be sure. It would be useful to see screenshots of what you've described, or (better) a sample document (.afpub) and the sample image files, if you want to investigate this further. But it's good you've found a solution for now.