Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Recommended Posts

The Affinity applications have previously had problems exporting CMYK files as PDF, where blacks would not just be shades of K but would be mixtures of CMY.

Publisher beta .227 added support for K only blacks in CMYK files, and "K Only" on the Context Menubar probably indicates that only black will be used for that image. From the Release Notes for .227:
 

Quote

Export
PDF Export now exports greyscale images as K-only
Added feature to recolour any image as K-only, and spot recoloured K-only images now export to PDF correctly

 

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're welcome, Tom.

Mind you, that's a bit of a guess, and there are still some aspects that I don't understand.

For example, if I click on the picture (not the frame) in the Layers panel, I see "K Only" on the Move Tool's Context menu. If I click the Fill well, and switch to CMYK Sliders, I can move the C/M/Y sliders and it affects the picture. If the picture is using K Only, I don't know why adjusting the Fill using those sliders has an effect, or what that effect really is. The Context menu still says K Only when I'm done, even though the Fill well may show a color.

 

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you apply a colour to a bitmap image, it recolours the bitmap. If K-Only is off, then we use an HSL algorithm to recolour that preserves black. It has always worked for RGB8 documents but wasn't implemented for other colour models. It now works for every colour model, including CMYK.

If K-Only is on, then we use a different algorithm to recolour which produces tints of the colour you apply. This doesn't look as good visually, but if the colour is a Spot, it can be exported to PDF on a single colour plate. This is important for some people. If you toggle K-Only on and off, you should see the difference: without K-Only, 100% black parts of the image remain 100% black, and with it they become 100% tint of the colour you applied.

You can also recolour to a gradient. The visual effect with/without K-Only is what you'd expect given the above, but currently it will convert to process colours during PDF export.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
On 1/30/2019 at 10:25 AM, Dave Harris said:

[...] if the colour is a Spot, it can be exported to PDF on a single colour plate. This is important for some people. If you toggle K-Only on and off, you should see the difference: without K-Only, 100% black parts of the image remain 100% black, and with it they become 100% tint of the colour you applied.

Sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but I just wanted to say that it's great Designer can recolour bitmap and greyscale raster images with spot colours. This was one of the things I had in mind to check before moving away from Adobe as I sometimes produce stationery with spot colours. My first attempt was using a colour overlay filter, but then I found the K only button.

I used to use Serif software back in my teenage days, and it looks like I'm about to come back as Designer seems just fine so far, and better in Illustrator with regard to text styles. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.