Operation Manual

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322

USING ACROBAT X STANDARD

Color management

Last updated 10/11/2011

• Select colors from a color library. Adobe applications come with several standard color libraries, which you can load

using the Swatches panel menu.

• Use Lab values (the default) to display predefined spot colors (such as colors from the TOYO, PANTONE, DIC,

and HKS libraries) and convert these colors to process colors. Using Lab values provides the greatest accuracy and

guarantees the consistent display of colors across Creative Suite applications.

Note: Color-managing spot colors provides a close approximation of a spot color on your proofing device and monitor.

However, it is difficult to exactly reproduce a spot color on a monitor or proofing device because many spot color inks exist

outside the gamuts of many of those devices.

Color-managing imported images

Using a safe CMYK workflow

A safe CMYK workflow ensures that CMYK color numbers are preserved all the way to the final output device, as

opposed to being converted by your color management system. This workflow is beneficial if you want to

incrementally adopt color management practices. For example, you can use CMYK profiles to soft-proof and hard-

proof documents without the possibility of unintended color conversions occurring during final output.

You can override safe CMYK settings when you print a document or save it to Adobe PDF. However, doing so may

cause colors to be reseparated. For example, pure CMYK black objects may be reseparated as rich black. For more

information on color management options for printing and saving PDFs, search in Help.

Preparing imported graphics for color management

Use the following general guidelines to prepare graphics for being color-managed in Adobe applications:

• Embed an ICC-compliant profile when you save the file. The file formats that support embedded profiles are JPEG,

PDF, PSD (Photoshop), AI (Illustrator), INDD (InDesign), Photoshop EPS, Large Document Format, and TIFF.

• If you plan to reuse a color graphic for multiple final output devices or media, such as for print, video, and the web,

prepare the graphic using RGB or Lab colors whenever possible. If you must save in a color model other than RGB

or Lab, keep a copy of the original graphic. RGB and Lab color models represent larger color gamuts than most

output devices can reproduce, retaining as much color information as possible before being translated to a smaller

output color gamut.