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Convert CMYK image to RGB when copying from another Designer project


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I designed an ad for a client in Designer in CMYK color format for print and the client wants to use the same basic ad at a different size and in RGB for web. Redoing the size is no problem, but once the images and text are copied from the CMYK project into the new project, is there a way to convert them to RGB on the page or do I have to open each image in Photoshop and re-save as RGB and basically rebuild the whole thing?

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Couldn't you open the old project in Designer, and use File > Document Setup... then select the Color tab in the dialog, choose RGB, and click OK?

-- 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

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See the help about ...

Quote

To convert the color space of file to be opened to the current working space:

  • Prior to opening the file, from Affinity Designer>Preferences (Color option), check the Convert opened files to working space option.

Options exist to warn that a file's working space will be converted, or that an unprofiled file will be assigned the current working space's profile.

Move Tool To change your document's color profile at any time:

  1. From the File menu, select Document Setup.
  2. From the dialog:
    • Select the Color tab.
    • From the Color Profile pop-up menu, select a profile.
    • Select Assign or Convert.
      Assign adopts the new profile but leaves the values of the colors/pixels as is. Convert converts each color from the old profile to the new one—color/pixel values may change as a result.
    • Click OK.
  1.  
Quote

Move Tool To change your document's color model at any time:

  1. From the File menu, select Document Setup.
  2. From the Color Format pop-up menu, select any of the available models as described above.

    Designer converts each color from the old format to the new one—color/pixel values may change as a result.

 

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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I had already tried using the Doc Setup/Color Format/Convert to RGB, as well as checking the Convert opened files to working space option, and I've been doing layout long enough to see that the images are still CMYK, and verified by clicking on an image and seeing the CMYK file name still in the upper left corner. It was obvious that when I clicked Convert, nothing happened. So it wasn't converted to RGB. Also, with a CMYK project open, when I click on RGB/8, both the Assign and Convert options are greyed out. I must be missing something here. I've already created the RGB project by opening each image in Photoshop and re-saving each as RGB and using the Replace Image option in Designer since I'm on a time crunch. I was just hoping there was a quicker way directly from Designer.

For those who have responded, have you actually done this and been able to convert CMYK to RGB?

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When you say images you mean photos not things you've drawn inside right? If images/photos do those have an embedded color profile then when placed inside? - I'm not sure if photos will be really converted too here then, meaning that their embedded color profile will be exchanged or stripped then to match the working color space (?).

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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28 minutes ago, Ballyshannon said:

to see that the images are still CMYK, and verified by clicking on an image and seeing the CMYK file name still in the upper left corner

So it sounds like you're talking about embedded (placed) images not pixel layers. Pixel layers would be converted, and would not have file names in the Context menu.

You could switch to the Export Persona, then select the image layers in the Layers panel, then click Create Slices. Then set the export options to export as RGB, then click Export Slices.

-- 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

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Yes, I mean images and photos that I saved in CMYK color format for the CMYK project. A couple images have embedded profiles, but others don't. No matter, all still look like CMYK color after trying to convert. When an embedded file is listed in the upper left corner when clicking on the image/photo, it says "(Embedded document)".

Embarrassingly, I have to clarify that when I said each file still says "CMYK" in the file name in the upper left corner when selecting, that's because it's how I named the file. My bad. :(So no matter what happens in the conversion, that file will always say "CMYK" since it's included in the file name. However, when selecting an image, I can't find any display/readout in Designer to quickly indicate if an image is CMYK or RGB. If there's a way, please let me know!

Thank you @walt.farrell but without jumping through hoops of crating slices, exporting, etc, it's actually quicker for me to simply open each file in Photoshop, re-save and use the Replace option. Thankfully, having to convert a CMYK project to RGB for a client isn't a common occurrence.

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24 minutes ago, Ballyshannon said:

However, when selecting an image, I can't find any display/readout in Designer to quickly indicate if an image is CMYK or RGB. If there's a way, please let me know!

AFAIK there sadly isn't any indicator for that in Designer and thus it's always hard to tell or prove.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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28 minutes ago, Ballyshannon said:

When an embedded file is listed in the upper left corner when clicking on the image/photo, it says "(Embedded document)".

If it says (Embedded document) then it should be a file of type SVG, EPS, PSD, PDF, AFPHOTO, or AFDESIGN. Not a TIFF, JPG, or PNG.

If I'm right about that, then if you double-click the image Designer should open a new tab for you to edit it. In that new tab, File > Document Setup... (or the Document Setup... button in the Context menu when you have the Move Tool selected) will let you see the current color setting, and change it. So, if it says CMYK/8 you could change it to RGB/8, and click OK. When you close the tab the file will be saved back into your Designer document, with the color format changed.

-- 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

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12 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

...If I'm right about that, then if you double-click the image Designer should open a new tab for you to edit it...

Nah not on the Mac here, it just centers and zooms the image and tells pixel dimensions & dpi but no information about it's actual assigned color space or the like.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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6 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Nah not on the Mac here, it just centers and zooms the image and tells pixel dimensions & dpi but no information about it's actual assigned color space or the like.

For something labeled as an (Embedded Document) in the Layers panel? The behavior you describe is what I would expect for something labeled as (Image).

Placed JPG, TIFF, and PNG files are (Image) layers. Placed EPS, SVG, PSD, PDF, AFPHOTO, and AFDESIGN files are (Embedded Document) layers.

-- 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

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Didn't the OP said images/photos (aka bitmaps)? Those show as images for me, though he says then ... "(Embedded document)". - Well myabe he can tell more concrete what file format he places inside, though I doubt it will make much difference for determining the real used color space for those there then.

1 hour ago, Ballyshannon said:

Yes, I mean images and photos that I saved in CMYK color format for the CMYK project. A couple images have embedded profiles, but others don't. No matter, all still look like CMYK color after trying to convert. When an embedded file is listed in the upper left corner when clicking on the image/photo, it says "(Embedded document)".

BTW when placing an .afphoto file inside (embedded) that doesn't make any difference here in behavior (center+zoom) when double clicked, further that just displays it's file name at best followed by (embedded doc) in Designer!

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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19 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

BTW when placing an .afphoto file inside (embedded) that doesn't make any difference here in behavior (center+zoom) when double clicked, further that just displays it's file name at best followed by (embedded doc) in Designer!

That's quite surprising to me, as Designer on Windows is perfectly happly editing embedded AFPHOTO files and I thought that handling of embedded documents was standard across the Affinity applications on both (or possibly all 3) platforms.

Edit: Make sure you have the Move Tool selected. If that doesn't help, do you have an "Edit Document" button in the Context menu that might work? And if not, what does the "Embedding documents" section of your Designer Help say?

-- 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

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What should that tell I don‘t already know, I also doubt it will tell much different things for Win systems here. However on Macs it’s the way I described above and thus no extra tab is made here and there is then also no color space info after the shown file name for placed files. — That‘s why I said there isn‘t such an info like in Photos Studio info panel.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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The images I used in the project are all JPG or transparent background PSD. Upon further inspection, I see that each object listed as "Embedded document" is a transparent background PSD. The other objects are JPG images. (see below). So, Walt is correct.

Add to future Designer updates wish list: Readout to visually determine file and color type when selecting images.

Designer Layers panel.jpg

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8 hours ago, v_kyr said:

However on Macs it’s the way I described above and thus no extra tab is made here ...

As described in the Mac Embedding documents help topic, it should open in a new tab (or a new window if in Separated Window mode on a Mac), just as @walt.farrell & @>|< said it should. When so opened, the tab or window title should be "<embedded>" & in that window its color format can be changed in the usual way (via File > Document Setup > Color tab).

However, it will still use the color format of the document it is embedded into (since a document can have only one color format), so about the only thing I can think of that might be marginally useful for is to change an embedded document from color to greyscale.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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9 hours ago, >|< said:

Double-clicking (in the document view, not the Layers panel) an Embedded Document does open it in a new tab on my Mac. Alternatively, the context toolbar of Move Tool has an Edit Document button that does the same.

Used the move tool on Layer panel here for a try out, though I tried with placed images thus probably. - However there seems not to be any way to inspect and show up the actual color space for placed in images as far as I can see.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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11 hours ago, >|< said:

Double-clicking (in the document view, not the Layers panel) an Embedded Document does open it in a new tab on my Mac. Alternatively, the context toolbar of Move Tool has an Edit Document button that does the same.

Does the same on my Windows system, and not useful. Certain fx can be added, but that can be done directly on the working page without opening in a new tab. Also, as @v_kyr mentioned, opening in a new tab still doesn't provide image color space or file type. The only info I see is dpi and that it's a pixel layer.

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2 hours ago, Ballyshannon said:

Also, as @v_kyr mentioned, opening in a new tab still doesn't provide image color space or file type. The only info I see is dpi and that it's a pixel layer.

You can use the Document Setup to see that, like @>|< mentioned, but as I posted above it still will have the same color space as the document it is embedded into because a document can have only one color space.

IOW, when you convert or assign a color format to the embedded document's parent, it is applied to everything in it.

Edited by R C-R
fixed omission of "one" in the bolded text

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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The OP said it seems not to do that visually for him for his embedded image stuff, so the main Q was more or less how to prove for the placed in contents that it is really converted and adapted too to the right color space!

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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2 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

The OP said it seems not to do that visually for him for his embedded image stuff, so the main Q was more or less how to prove for the placed in contents that it is converted and adapted too to the right color space!

As I said,  a document can have only one color space, so any color differences in embedded documents in the parent document must be due to that.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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