RGB and grayscale in color panel and exporting in CMYK

[pdh]

I have a document with both black and white and color photographs. I export in CMYK and when printing with KDP, the black and whites sometimes print in a book with a sepia/light brown color to them. Other times, the book will print correctly without the sepia/brown. When I look at the color panels for these, I see they are in RGB and the color photos are in RGB. Will it help prevent this sepia/brown if I put all these black and white photos into grayscale? Will that prevent them from being sepia/brown or does the exporting in CMYK prevent that anyway?

Also, the color photos print correctly, but should these all be in CMYK in the color panel, or does the exporting in CMYK take care of this anyway?

Or is this sepia/brown an issue with KDP printers? When I showed them the difference between the sepia/brown document and the correctly printed document they say that this is within their "allowable variances for printing" and isn't a large enough difference to be considered a fault.

Thanks,

Pete

[Callum]

Hi Pdh,

I think CMYK should solve this issue but its hard to say if it doesn't could you provide the file so I can try this at my end?

Thanks

C

[pdh]

Callum,

Not sure what you mean. I already have the document in CMYK when exporting and am having the problem I mention.

Are you saying that in the color panel for each image I should set it as CMYK rather than RGB (as it is now) or Greyscale?  Wouldn't it be better to set the black and white photos as Greyscale and the color photos as CMYK? Right now they are all set as RGB.

I can provide the file but it is too large to upload here.

[pdh]

I guess I don't entirely understand the color panel settings vs exporting with specific color profiles. What happens if they contradict each other, as in this case? Black and white photos are set as RGB in their individual color panel and then are exported as CMYK...

[pdh]

Oh, so the color space panel on the right sets the color mode for the entire document not just the page you are working on...so I assume you were saying, Callum, that I should set the color panel mode on the right at CMYK and it will then match the export setting of CMYK and hopefully this will keep the black and white images from "straying" into having some brown/sepia. Do I have that right?

[pdh]

Any help?

I guess I don't entirely understand the color panel settings vs exporting with specific color profiles. What happens if they contradict each other, as in this case? Black and white photos are set as RGB in their individual color panel and then are exported as CMYK...