CMYK and pantone colors displaying as rgb in coreldraw

[wetgravy]

Alright, so this is odd, my corel seems to be displaying colors in the program as rgb colors, but it exports and prints properly, I've checked the display settings on how it handles the colors when involving my monitor and they are correct and I've tried resetting the software and even re-installing but it's still displaying as rgb. (I haven't tried the f8 while loading trick so i'm going to try that one when I get home to my studio ...)

I'm not really too concerned with this as it doesn't effect the end result and I use a custom color swatch preset or I open my big book of cmyk swatches I printed on my printer just to know my printer profile when designing ... it's just slightly annoying.

But if anyone knows a fix for this, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fatboy]

Yes please,I have the same problem

 

[cdiesel]

Is the document setup as RGB or CMYK?

 

[Joe Diaz]

You can switch between rgb and cmyk in the "color managment". By default it will be set to rgb.

 

[wetgravy]

in corel draw there isn't a way to set up the document to be exclusively rgb or cmyk, and you can in fact have pantones, cmyk and rgb all in the same document.

I don't thing its the color management since i've tried all the settings, and anything in there changes the output of the documents but it still displays cmyk colors as bright rgb colors. That and the cmyk colors were displaying as the correct colors before, and nothing appears to have changed.

 

[wetgravy]

Ah donkey farts. I found it ... it's the stupidest thing that prevented the colors as displaying correctly. (actually found it by accident clicking everything in rage ... great visual too of me cursing at the program and madly clicking hoping the mouse dies too) Attached is an image of an arrow that needs to be selected (either from the printer profile, seperations profile or the internal rgb profile.) ... if it's not selected it appears to not process cmyk colors, so any of the three arrows need to be selected, otherwise this is a pill of a problem.

 

[Joe Diaz]

Do have X5 yet? In x5 you can set default settings and document settings.

Then there is a setting called "primary color mode" There you set the document, or the corel default to rgb or cmyk.

However in X5 I have found it doesn't matter what setting you select when you are viewing it on your screen. Your cmyk colors still appear as the same old muted cmyk colors, and the rgb are still super bright on your screen. And depending on how you have your monitor set, your pms colors should look good too, all in the same document.

Here is a screenshot of the corel default rgb and cmyk color palette in the same file:
http://signs101.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=58861&stc=1&d=1292729497

 

[wetgravy]

Still using corel 12 here. x5 is nice, but I haven't had the need to upgrade yet.

 

[signswi]

Wish all our clients would use primary color mode--dealing with Corel exported EPS files is such a pain due to the mixed modes (and how it exports gradients but that's another story...). Flexi is even worse.

 

[Joe Diaz]

Wish all our clients would use primary color mode--dealing with Corel exported EPS files is such a pain due to the mixed modes (and how it exports gradients but that's another story...). Flexi is even worse.

It's not that one program is more of a pain then the other. That is a matter of perspective. They are all just different systems that handle things like gradients, drop shadows, colors, etc... in different ways. If you use Flexi as your primary software you might think it's a pain to open files from Adobe or Corel, just like if you use adobe you probably think it's a pain to open something made in Corel or Flexi.

You clam the problem is with how Corel or Flexi exports a file, but perhaps the problem is with how Adobe or whatever software you are using is importing them? Here again, it is a matter of perspective.

I do know that Corel, has made great strides over the past few years to be even more compatible with other design software. Especially Corel X5's color management system. You have an option to embed your color profiles now. And importing ai's or eps's designed in other software is a lot less of a pain then it used to be in corel. Which can mean one or both of two things, Corel has made improvements and/or everyone else has too.

 

[signswi]

In most cases it is defacto the way Corel or Flexi exports as I can open them back in Corel or Flexi and see the problems still. Corel for example has a nasty habit of converting gradients to thousands of chopped up embedded image files, Flexi has it's own set of problems, etc.

Really EPS should die entirely (as a layout format--it's fine as a format for non-managed pure vector logos, etc.) but all these weird niche industries (like signage!) keep it alive for various reasons, often due to legacy systems/processes. There are certain things about Corel I do find useful over Illustrator (and X5 does look better) but Flexi is wretched.

Really if more designers understood PDF files the issue would be moot, a PDF/X workflow is lovely once set up but you need clients that understand generating PDFs properly and that's rare in this industry. Providing .joboptions files helps but so many designers lack even basic preflight knowledge that you get into trouble with transparencies pretty often. Designer preflighting education is sadly very poor at even the best schools.

Rant/derail over