Greetings! Looking for an explanation to better understand. A client sent me a pdf file where the background is black. If I place into Illustrator (CS4) and use the eyedropper, it shows as 75/68/67/90 - if I import into either Photoshop as a CMYK image, or into Coreldraw, the eyedropper shows 40/30/30/100 (which is what it should be) Any idea why reading the file into Illustrator is showing a different mix? Is there something I need to change? I would like to rely on Illustrator to show the correct color.
-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
CMYK question
- Thread starter GVP
- Start date
Solventinkjet
DIY Printer Fixing Guide
Try opening it in Illustrator instead of placing it.
Nope, the document was set to CMYK before placing - first thing I checked.
No, opening or placing - eyedropper reads the same
Hmmm... I can't see how to adjust color management when opening or placing a file - only when outputting it...
ColorCrest
All around shop helper.
EDIT > Color Settings... (Using Illustrator) to see the policies. The behavior should be that as Solventinkjet advised.
The black values are almost a moot point because they are both Rich Black and your RIP will further change them again.
Time to get nerdy 
It has to do with a few factors:
1) how the original file was made
2) what program you’re using to open it
3) what your specific color management settings are in your Adobe suite.
Corel (like Illustrator) is a vector based program. Photoshop is a raster based program. The two are fundamentally and completely different in how they handle image data - including how they interpret color.
Photoshop is MUCH more powerful in terms of color management. The way that Photoshop is set up by default (unless you've changed your advanced color management settings) is to take whatever file you open and not only rasterize it, but convert it to a specific color space. Meaning even if you have vector image you made in Corel with a pure black (100% of only K), Photoshop will most likely display that black as a combination similar to what you are seeing (a "build", or "rich black"). It can be even more confusing because depending on your output settings, these numbers will be different after you save the file.
Illustrator (and probably Corel) don't do nearly the same amount of color management, especially if you're just placing the file as opposed to opening the original. You will never get an accurate color reading using the eye dropper tool on a placed image in Illustrator because technically it's not sampling the file itself - it's sampling a preview of the original file. Placing a file inside another document is like making a shortcut on your desktop - it's only an alias, or a link to the original location.
Like ColorCrest mentioned, it almost doesn't matter because your RIP is going to change these color builds, so after you finish reading my dissertation you can probably just chose to not worry about all of this unless you're experiencing a specific color problem.
Feel free to dm me, I went to school for way to long studying this stuff and would be happy to make all those years (and debt) useful to somebody
It has to do with a few factors:
1) how the original file was made
2) what program you’re using to open it
3) what your specific color management settings are in your Adobe suite.
Corel (like Illustrator) is a vector based program. Photoshop is a raster based program. The two are fundamentally and completely different in how they handle image data - including how they interpret color.
Photoshop is MUCH more powerful in terms of color management. The way that Photoshop is set up by default (unless you've changed your advanced color management settings) is to take whatever file you open and not only rasterize it, but convert it to a specific color space. Meaning even if you have vector image you made in Corel with a pure black (100% of only K), Photoshop will most likely display that black as a combination similar to what you are seeing (a "build", or "rich black"). It can be even more confusing because depending on your output settings, these numbers will be different after you save the file.
Illustrator (and probably Corel) don't do nearly the same amount of color management, especially if you're just placing the file as opposed to opening the original. You will never get an accurate color reading using the eye dropper tool on a placed image in Illustrator because technically it's not sampling the file itself - it's sampling a preview of the original file. Placing a file inside another document is like making a shortcut on your desktop - it's only an alias, or a link to the original location.
Like ColorCrest mentioned, it almost doesn't matter because your RIP is going to change these color builds, so after you finish reading my dissertation you can probably just chose to not worry about all of this unless you're experiencing a specific color problem.
Feel free to dm me, I went to school for way to long studying this stuff and would be happy to make all those years (and debt) useful to somebody
shoresigns
New Member
This isn't how Illustrator behaves. If you open the file (as opposed to placing it) and you don't get any warnings about colour profiles, you should get 40-30-30-100 with the eyedropper. Can you show us the file? Either something's fishy with your file, or your ancient version of Illustrator doesn't have proper colour management.
myront
Dammit, make it faster!!
In Corel very rarely does anyone import/place a native cdr file. Always open it. As for an eps or pdf it's imported/placed without any color correcting. You can "link" an an image as opposed to straight import but I never do that. Importing a raster image also does not alter the colors. It may look different on different monitors and a designer may alter as they see fit but...
Output is a different story altogether.
Output is a different story altogether.
shahidmqamar
New Member
This is due to the icc profile used by software.photoshop,illustrator or even rip softwares use icc profiles to create colours.different icc profiles behave differently,they will take combinations from original file and create their own combinations.Kindly see if you are using same icc profile in both softwares.hope this explains the reason of different percentages of cmyk in different softwares.