Save as 300dpi problem

[drslim2]

Here's a PDF/X file of your label. Most good printers should be able to work with this.

Hi again,
I am having a problem with maintaining the colour of the blocks on the label after saving the file as an image file (jpg / png) and printing printing it. The colour becomes darker and greener.
Any ideas please.
Thanks

[gwpriester]

Without looking at your file, I imagine what is happening is you are comparing screen display to actual printed image.

Xara's default color space is RGB, which is brighter and more saturated than CMYK or most printers can replicate. This bright greens print deeper, cyan prints more like peacock blue, purple becomes duller and more blue, and other shifts.

This is color space reality.

Some ink jet printers, especially those using 6 or more colors, can do a better job capturing the wider range of colors that you see on the screen. But any four color CMYK printer just cannot print the intensity, brightness, and saturation that you see on the screen.

To give yourself a better idea how your printed output will appear, switch to Simulated Printer Colors (Window > Show Printer Colors > Simulate Print Colors). This will give you a more realistic idea how your printed colors are going to look.

[pauland]

Gary is right.

You might be tempted to think this is something to do with the way Xara handles graphics, but the issue of colour spaces and RGB colours (screen) versus CMYK colours (print) is present in all graphics software, not just Xara. In Photoshop or Illustrator you'd have to choose what colour space you want too.

I have clients that frequently provide me with print graphics in CMYK format and I warn them about colour shifts on screen - the reverse of your problem.

[drslim2]

Hi,

If I export the .xar file as a high quality pdf file and print it, the colour is what I require.
However, if I save the .xar file as an image, import the images back into xara, I can see the changes.
What is the best colour format to use so that the screen matches the printed version as closely as possible - rgb, cmyk or hsv?
Thanks

[steve.ledger]

CMYK and then be sure to enable Window>>Show Print colors>>Simulate print colors

But remember this is never going to be 100% accurate as CMYK is the colour of ink whereas your screen is RGB, the colour of light.

[gwpriester]

I'm not sure why you want to import the images back into Xara. When you create a PDF document, yes you can open and edit it in Xara, but this should not be necessary.

When you create a high quality PDF, you are converting your RGB colors to CMYK which is best for printing or sharing with clients or others.

But you should not try to bring the CMYK images back into Xara. They will look different. Your original images should remain unchanged. Then should you need to edit the document, do this in the Xara document you created and export a new PDF file for printing.

[drslim2]

Thanks for the info.
To cut a long story short as to why I am converting to images first ... we make up all product labels for many customers in xara. We used to then set up to print 8 labels per A4 page and exporting as a high res pdf file from xara.
However, as some customers want 3 labels of 1 product, 10 of another etc, we had bespoke software built that imports X number of images from different folders, automatically sets them up on the A4 page, exports as a high res pdf file which is then ready for printing.

I have not had many problems with changes in colour, just this one file.

[handrawn]

What is the best colour format to use so that the screen matches the printed version as closely as possible - rgb, cmyk or hsv?
Thanks

its not that simple

you can define cmyk colours for print in xara by using cmyk colour model - but what you see on the screen will always be rgb - as sledger says you can get an approximation by using simulate print colours

also the variation is non-uniform across the colour spectrum