In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites are required for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Convert to CMYK is available in the Workflow. The purpose of this Fixup is to convert selected objects to CMYK.
2. General
You can find this Fixup on the tab Data Preparation of an Article, Order or Production Job by:
- entering the name of the Fixup in the area Filter,
- activating the option Color in the area Category,
- activating the option Convert in the area Action,
- activating the option CMYK, Spot Color, Vectors, Images and Text in the area Property.
3. Description
This Fixup converts the selected objects to CMYK. The target color space for the conversion can be defined by selecting ICC profiles that is available in the Workflow either as a Working Color Space or a Output Color Space. Optionally, the selected ICC profile can be embedded to the target color space as an Output Intent for PDF/X and also convert all Spot Colors of the PDF file to the target color space.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to perform as intended, the following requirements must be met:
- At least one object in the file has not been created in CMYK.
- The file may contain images, texts, vectors, and smooth shades that are to be converted.
Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Convert to CMYK
To convert objects to CMYK, the following options can be selected:
- Apply to [1] – select which objects are to be affected by the conversion in the selection menu. The following options are available:
- All Objects – all objects of a file that will be converted to CMYK.
- Images – all images of a file that will be converted to CMYK.
- Vector – alle vectors of a file that will be converted to CMYK.
- Text – all texts of a file that will be converted to CMYK.
- Vectors, Text and Smooth Shades – all Vectors, Texts and Smooth Shades of a file that will be converted to CMYK.
- Convert Spot Colors [2] – by activating this option, all Spot Colors in the file are also converted to CMYK.
- Color Space [3] – click on the respective checkbox to select whether you want to use an ICC profile of the CMYK Working Color Space or the Output Color Space in the Workflow for conversion.
- ICC Profile [4] – select the ICC profile to be used for the conversion from the selection menu.
- Embed Output Intent for PDF/X [5] – by activating this option, the selected ICC profile is also embedded in the PDF file as an output intent.
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Convert to CMYK.pdf". The file was created in RGB, consisting of vectors, an image, a text line, a Spot Color and a smooth shade. The background was created as a Spot Color. The green leaves of the plant are an image. A smooth shade and a line of text were added to the flower pot.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Convert to CMYK_End.pdf" was created, where all objects in the file including the Spot Color were converted to CMYK. The values from Figure 1 were used.
Figure 2: Left: Original file; Right: Edited file in which all objects were converted to CMYK
Article update: Workflow 1.20.0 – 03/2024