Creative Adobe Suite 5 Manual

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Last updated 11/16/2011
Chapter 5: Color management
Understanding color management
A color management system reconciles color differences among devices so that you can confidently predict the colors 
your system ultimately produces. Viewing color accurately allows you to make sound color decisions throughout your 
workflow, from digital capture through final output. Color management also allows you to create output based on ISO, 
SWOP, and Japan Color print production standards.
Why colors sometimes...

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A color management system translates colors with the help of color profiles. A profile is a mathematical description of 
a device’s color space. For example, a scanner profile tells a color management system how your scanner “sees” colors. 
Adobe color management uses ICC profiles, a format defined by the International Color Consortium (ICC) as a cross-
platform standard. 
Because no single color-translation method is ideal for all types of...

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Creating a viewing environment for color management
Your work environment influences how you see color on your monitor and on printed output. For best results, control 
the colors and light in your work environment by doing the following:
View your documents in an environment that provides a consistent light level and color temperature. For example, 
the color characteristics of sunlight change throughout the day and alter the way colors appear...

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If you decide to change the default settings, easy-to-use presets let you configure Adobe color management to match 
common output conditions. You can also customize color settings to meet the demands of your particular color 
workflow.
Keep in mind that the kinds of images you work with and your output requirements influence how you use color 
management. For example, there are different color-consistency issues for an RGB photo printing...

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6.  Use color management when printing and saving files.
Keeping the appearance of colors consistent across all of the devices in your workflow is the goal of color management. 
Leave color management options enabled when printing documents, saving files, and preparing files for online 
viewing. (See 
“Printing with color management” on page 88 and “Color-managing documents for online viewing” on 
page 84.)
Synchronize color settings across Adobe...

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Change the appearance of CMYK black (Illustrator, InDesign)
Pure CMYK black (K=100) appears jet black (or rich black) when viewed on-screen, printed to a non-PostScript 
desktop printer, or exported to an RGB file format. If you prefer to see the difference between pure black and rich black 
as it will appear when printed on a commercial press, you can change the Appearance Of Black preferences. These 
preferences do not change the color values...

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Color-managing imported images
Color-managing imported images (Illustrator, InDesign)
How imported images are integrated into a document’s color space depends on whether or not the image has an 
embedded profile:
When you import an image that contains no profile, the Adobe application uses the current document profile to 
define the colors in the image. 
When you import an image that contains an embedded profile, color policies in the Color...

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View or change profiles for imported bitmap images (InDesign)
InDesign allows you to view, override, or disable profiles for imported bitmap images. This may be necessary when 
you are importing an image containing no profile or an incorrectly embedded profile. For example, if the scanner 
manufacturer’s default profile was embedded but you have since generated a custom profile, you can assign the newer 
profile.
1Do one of the following:
If the...

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Color-managing PDFs for online viewing
When you export PDFs, you can choose to embed profiles. PDFs with embedded profiles reproduce color consistently 
in Acrobat 4.0 or later running under a properly configured color management system.
Keep in mind that embedding color profiles increases the size of PDFs. RGB profiles are usually small (around 3 KB); 
however, CMYK profiles can range from 0.5 to 2
 MB. 
More Help topics 
“Printing with color...

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Soft-proof colors
1Choose View > Proof Setup, and do one of the following:
Choose a preset that corresponds to the output condition you want to simulate. 
Choose Custom (Photoshop and InDesign) or Customize (Illustrator) to create a custom proof setup for a specific 
output condition. This option is recommended for the most accurate preview of your final printed piece. 
2Choose View > Proof Colors to toggle the soft-proof display on and off. When...