TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Introduction
3
Chapter 1: Getting Started
5
Chapter 2: CMYK Commercial Print
Workflow
12 Chapter 3: Mixed RGB and CMYK Print
Workflow
22 Chapter 4: RGB Photo Print Workflow
27 Chapter 5: Internet Publishing RBG
Workflow
33 Chapter 6: Advanced Topics
39 Glossary
Introduction
Welcome to “Color Workflows for Adobe® Creative Suite 2.” This guide is intended for professionals in the visual communications industry who need a reliable approach to achieving accurate and consistent color. Whether you are a new or experienced user of Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator®, Adobe InDesign®, Adobe GoLive®, or Adobe
Acrobat® Professional, this guide provides the knowledge you need to effectively use new Adobe Creative Suite 2 features in your color workflow and achieve accurate and consistent color.
It is often difficult to achieve accurate and consistent color because the two color models most often used to specify color appearance—RGB and CMYK—are device-specific or device-dependent. A monitor, scanner, and printer each produce a different color given the same set of RGB or CMYK numbers because the color depends on the characteristics of each device. For example, the color produced by a monitor depends on the color of its red, green, and blue filters or phosphors. The color produced by a printer depends on the type of paper, how it absorbs ink, and the colors of the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. The end result is that a scanned image doesn’t look like the original, and the final copy printed on the printing press doesn’t look like the image you saw on your monitor. These differences can lead to hours of lost productivity and revenue because of numerous color corrections and trial and error prints.
When devices—such as a monitor, scanner and printer—receive the same color values, each device produces a different color.
How does color management technology in Adobe Creative Suite 2 help?
The color management technology in Adobe Creative Suite 2 lets you achieve more accurate and consistent color reproduction by performing two essential tasks:
➤
Identifies a specific color appearance for RGB or CMYK numbers in a document
➤
Maintains the color appearance by changing the color numbers needed by the target device to produce the specified color appearance
Color management technology relies on profiles and a color management system (CMS).
Profiles give the CMS the information needed to maintain the color appearance when a file is sent to a device. For example, if the color represented by the numbers R235, G56, and B70 on a scanner is tomato red but looks closer to brick red on a monitor, the CMS translates the RGB numbers to those needed by the monitor to preserve the tomato red appearance. In this way, color management helps you reproduce consistent color— independent of the unique color characteristics of a particular device.
Adobe Creative Suite 2 components include easy-to-use color management features and tools to help you achieve consistent color without becoming a color management expert.
You will have the tools to view colors consistently across applications and devices, ensuring more accurate color throughout your workflow—from edit to proof to final print.
New color features in Adobe Creative Suite 2
The following new features are designed to make your color management experience easier.
FE ATUR E
Updated Color Setting Files
Adobe Bridge
Preserving CMYK color numbers Safe CMYK mode preserves CMYK color numbers in your workflow using a new Color Management Policy called
“Preserve Numbers (Ignore Linked Profiles)”.
Improved spot color handling Spot colors preview and proof consistently from Adobe
Illustrator CS2, Adobe InDesign CS2, and Adobe Photoshop
CS2. You also get better control over conversions from spot colors to process colors.
Common color selection
Improved black viewing and printing
A common .ASE swatch book format lets you share colors across Adobe Creative Suite 2 components.
You can choose how to view and print blacks in
Illustrator CS2 and InDesign CS2, as well as view and print them more accurately.
Task-based print dialog boxes
WHAT IT M E ANS TO YOU
Color settings files (CSFs) control the behavior of an application’s color management features. Adobe Creative Suite 2 comes with several preset CSFs—each based on a common workflow, such as Web/Internet or Prepress—that users can select from one central location in Adobe Bridge.
Adobe Bridge serves as an easy-to-use, central location for selecting CSFs and then sharing those settings across all
Adobe Creative Suite 2 components.
Common interface for creating
PDF files
Simplified print dialog boxes make it easier to control color management features whether printing a proof or a final document.
All Adobe Creative Suite 2 components have an easy-touse, common interface for generating Portable Document
Format (PDF) files and sharing PDF presets.
Color Workflows for Adobe Creative Suite 2
2
