PDF CMYK Problem

[Newbietoo]

Hi,

I am using Xtreme Pro V4 and am exporting to PDF to provide print-ready CMYK

When I print direct from Xara the colour is pretty well a perfect match to the hard copy CMYK colour chart I have. However when I export the drawing as a PDF/X an then print, the colours are way off. I've fiddled with just about every setting in the PDF export dialog (none of which I understand) except they all say CMYK, but to no avail.

I have attached screen shots showing the difference between Xara and the PDF. The printed version of the PDF looks the same as the screen version (and is wrong). The screen version of Xara is quite different to the printed version (of course), but the printed version is true CMYK

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks
Patrick

[behzad]

ofcourse this will happen anyways. The left bar is RGB and right side is what CMYK looks like in RGB.
So with that said your best bet is to have a pantone swatch booklet and also when you go to press as for a hard proof.

[steve.ledger]

You can only ever see simulations of CMYK on a monitor because monitors always work with RGB (the colours of light).

CMYK is print/ink colours and cannot be accurately simulated via 'light' on a screen, so different software may show a different result 'on screen'.

Xara allows you to view simulated printer colours via 'Window - Show Printer Colors' menu item.

However, as behzad says - provided you work to the same CMYK values or PMS colours, then you shoud be fine.

[Newbietoo]

Thanks Guys, but you may be misunderstanding my problem...

I have no issue with how the colours are representing on the screen; I know they're quite different. My problem is that the printed output from the PDF i.e. Acrobat, is quite different to the printed output of Xara. Xara prints (hard copy) true CMYK, near as I can tell anyway. PDF prints the way it looks on the screen, which isn't near what it looks like on screen in Xara, nor is it CMYK on paper.

So my problem is, how do I get a PDF printout to be the same CMYK colour as a Xara CMYK printout?

I don't care what colour they are on screen

Thanks
Patrick

[steve.ledger]

When I print direct from Xara the colour is pretty well a perfect match to the hard copy CMYK colour chart I have. However when I export the drawing as a PDF/X an then print, the colours are way off.

What are you sending the the PDF to the printer *from*
Adobe Reader? Other?

[Newbietoo]

PDF X-Change Viewer or Acrobat; doesn't make any difference. And I can't see any adjustments in them that impact this

[steve.ledger]

I've often noticed that Adobe reader will sometimes not display PDF's created by Xara at all, when Foxit will without any trouble at all..
Foxit Reader also does a far better job based on my limited experience of printing from a PDF.
Have you tried by-passing Xara's PDF export and using something like PDF Re-Direct Print Driver set to CMYK mode and comparing? (see screenshot)

Also, exporting from Xara, I find PDF v 1.3 or 1.4 gives the best results - but that be due to my limited use/need for the format.

Commercially, the shop I work part-time at don't print directly from PDF.
If a PDF is supplied, it's loaded into CorelDraw where the colour matching is checked before exporting to the RIP.

Member minimro would have more experience than I in this regard..

[Newbietoo]

OK, well now the plot thickens...thanks for that Sledger.

If I print to PDF (instead of exporting) i.e. using a PDF Print Driver the colours are correct i.e the screen views of XARA and the PDF document are the same.

ALSO I have discovered if I use the RGB setting in PDF Export i.e. NOT the CMYK setting, the PDF colours are correct; that is correct CMYK in the printed output.

So maybe I've been fundamentally misunderstanding something here. This has been my process:

1. In XARA create the drawing and use CMYK colour values selected from a hard copy CMYK colour chart (on screen the colour looks nothing like on paper of course)

2. Export PDF and select CMYK...the printed colours are wrong and the PDF on screen colours are different to those in Xara

3. Instead of (2) Export PDF and select RGB (see image)...the printed colours match the CMYK colour chart and the PDF looks the same on screen as Xara on screen

...what am I not getting here?

Thanks for your help

[Charles Moir]

For print read PDF using CMYK you should be using the Commercial Printing options (PDF/X) which is designed to only produce CMYK colours.

You can use any other PDF export option, but I see that your Color Model drop-down has RGB selected - which means all colors get converted to RGB. That drop-down should be either Native (which means color will be exported in the model they are in Xtreme) or select CMYK which will convert all colors to CMYK.

[Newbietoo]

That's what I would have thought, but that's not happening (that's the whole problem). The PDF printer (not export) from Xara IS producing true CMYK hardcopy...the colours in Xara were nominated as CMYK; hey look bright on the screen of course but print the exact CMYK in PDF Print.

But in PDF/X with CMYK or Native (my first option and I thought the most obvious) selected they're something else altogether. However, if I select RGB in the PDF/X options the hardcopy matches the CMYK paper chart

I'm printing on a Canon PIXMA 4000 with separate CMYK tanks, which I am then comparing with Serif hard copy CMYK color chart