Pantone, CMYK, RGB and Hex differences in Xara Designer Pro X

[Ander]

You cannot have correct values without color management. This is especially true of converted spot color.

With CMYK values, one doesn't even know what the pdf transformation will do until the pdf is exported with the intended output condition and then viewed in a color-managed application such as Acrobat, pdfToolbox or other RIP software because of the lack of color management at the document level. There is no soft-proofing...because of the lack of color management. In one sense, a person is flying blind.

Don't get me wrong, I love to draw my illustrations in Xara. But I draw them mostly for inclusion in layout software which has color management. The ads and occasional 1- or 2-paged documents I do in my Xara application are not as important to me other than the pdfs are ok. Anything else simply has to be color managed--including some of the aforementioned ads, etc.

LCMS is a widely available OpenSource color management system. I do not know if Xara's applications can even have the LCMS code rolled in. If it can, it should. This isn't the 1980s through the early 1990s when output had to be non-color managed PostScript to be ripped direct to film.

It works just fine to export from xara when i work in cmyk color, and i dont let xara convert spot to cmyk.
When exporting pdf i choose custom and Advanced, i have downloaded icc profiles from Adobes site, its free and i using CoatedFogra39 and embed profile. Open up in Acrobat all looks ok.

Yes LCMS would be nice to see in Xara.
I have testing the Trial of xara designer pro x now for 2-3 weeks, i must say i like the program very much but it could handle the color better, right now i think if i should pay for it.

It have been interesting to join and read all answers here, Many thanks for all answers

Included some picture of what i do when exporting to pdf.