PDFs, Crop Marks, and images

[RobinMcL]

Hello,

I am experiencing strange behaviour with images exported as a PDF.  I also need to have crop marks and registration marks.

The biggest problem is with images when I export as a PDF.  Some of the images, but NOT all, come out very faded.  Some are jpgs, some tiffs, all use the same ICC profile and the same color space.  It is much better if I use the PDF (for print) preset.  However, when I use that I can't get crop marks and this is essential for my purpose.

• Firstly, I don't understand why some of the images come out fine and others don't.  Can anyone explain?
• Secondly, is there a way that I can get the equivalent of what happens with the "for print" preset but with crop marks?

Thanks,

Robin

[RobinMcL]

Additional input.  My comment about the preset PDF (for print) was incorrect.  I had tried it on part of the document and it did fine.  However, I have now tried it on the entire document and, while one part was fine, another part (one that had been fine before) was now very faded.

Sorry for the confusion.

I cannot bypass the PDF stage as I need to send a pdf file to an editor.  So getting a pdf that looks like what I see in Publisher, is important.

Sincerely,

Robin

[Dave Harris]

You should be able to enable crop marks for any PDF preset by using the More button in the Export PDF panel. I suggest trying that with PDF/X-1a. With other presets, we try to preserve the colour space of images (because the printer can do a better job of converting them). It may be that the faded images have been rasterised and so converted to CMYK, and the others are still in RGB. In which case, the faded ones may not actually be wrong for printing.

[RobinMcL]

This is amazing input Dave.  Thanks.  I noticed that, if I select Crop Marks, then the preset goes away.  But this is only the beginning.  It is a small book I am making myself and have been worrying about which colour space to use etc.  Which ICC profile etc.  I will (come the time) be using fairly high quality inkjet photo paper and have the ICC profiles for these papers with the printer I will be using (Canon PRO-100).  But there are so many links in the chain: camera colour spaces, what happens within Affinity Photo, then Publisher, then when I convert to PDF for printing, then the final printing.  Is there any publication that can help me keep all this colour management straight?  And  what about the dpi (or ppi)?  I was planning to print a few test images at different dpi (on the paper I plan to use) and then see if I can tell any difference.

Thanks,

Robin

[waxewzt]

Hi Robin,

traditionally with any output for print, one would always convert or create images to be in the CMYK colour space. 

If you are getting things printed on a CMYK press it may help you visualise the finished printed images by converting to CMYK before import into designer or publisher. Do this for all images to get a consistent appearance. Ask your printer what colour profile they want you to use. It will vary from region to region.

RGB to CMYK conversion usually looses some colours due to the limitations of the colour gamut. If a particular colour is essential then they can be requested as spot colours (these are manufacturer mixed colour that is guaranteed to match the requested colour). This is more expensive to print. 

Finished printed colour will also be affected by the paper stock you choose, its colour, its absorbency, etc. your printer may be able to do a sample on the edge off another job using the same paper.