Wrong Color Output

[gdellaiera]

I always import a file from InDesign so I can embed the correct fonts & colors, but I am having trouble with one color specifically; Pantone 370 C. Its loaded into FusionPro correctly but when I export it, all the CMYK values get mixed up.

 

They are supposed to be:

C = 28 M= 0 Y = 81 K = 45

 

They export as:

C = 65.37 M= 25.93 Y = 100 K = 8.79

 

 

Has anyone else run into this issue before?

[Dan Korn]

FusionPro version? InDesign version? Acrobat version? OS version? Maybe post the InDesign file?

[gdellaiera]

FusionPro 10.0.16 InDesign CC 2017 Acrobat DC MAC OS X El Capitan 10.11.16

[Dan Korn]

FusionPro 10.0.16 InDesign CC 2017 Acrobat DC MAC OS X El Capitan 10.11.16

Thanks. I don't think anything relevant has changed in how colors are exported from InDesign since 10.0.16.

 

Can you please post the InDesign file? Or an example file that demonstrates the issue?

[gdellaiera]

Here is the pdf output/print ready file for the business card. I pulled this file into adobe Illustrator & highlighted the name & clicked on the color. This is where I found the values to be different from InDesign & FusionPro.

Yankee BC-Output.pdf

[Dan Korn]

Here is the pdf output/print ready file for the business card. I pulled this file into adobe Illustrator & highlighted the name & clicked on the color. This is where I found the values to be different from InDesign & FusionPro.

That's great, but I need the InDesign file in order to troubleshoot the problem.

[gdellaiera]

Dan, maybe I'm missing something but i keep getting 'invalid file' when I try to upload the InDesign file. Is there a specific way to upload them here?

[Dan Korn]

Dan, maybe I'm missing something but i keep getting 'invalid file' when I try to upload the InDesign file. Is there a specific way to upload them here?

Try putting it in a Zip file and uploading that.

[gdellaiera]

Here's the file

Yankee BC Ricoh.indd.zip

[Dan Korn]

I don't see any colors that are wrong between the InDesign and PDF files that you posted. Both have the CMYK color "New Color Swatch" (C 65, M 26, Y 100, K 35) on the frame at the lower left, and the Spot color "PANTONE 370 C" on the frame at the lower right. The Spot color in InDesign doesn't have a CMYK equivalent; it's actually a LAB color (L 54, A 27, B 50).

 

Do you mean that the wrong color is being exported to the Color dictionary in the FusionPro template? That's a known issue, where LAB colors are not converted to CMYK correctly. That's fixed in a patch build of the FusionPro VDP 10 InDesign plug-in. You can contact Support to get a download link for the patched plug-in.

[gdellaiera]

Dan, I've worked with Alex Marshall & we found a fix. Thanks again for the help.

[Dan Korn]

Dan, I've worked with Alex Marshall & we found a fix. Thanks again for the help.

That's great to hear. Could you please post what the fix was, for anyone else who might have a similar problem and see this thread?

[gdellaiera]

Here is the workaround below if you want try it and pass around. In the next release it won’t matter what you have the “Color Conversion” set to. Your Lab Spot Colors will all be converted regardless.

 

Open your InDesign document. Go to File->Export and select Adobe PDF (Print) (*.pdf) as the SaveAs type. Give it a name and click save.

 

You should see the following dialog. Select “Output” from the left. Then change “Color Conversion” to “Convert to Destination”. The click Export. Now when you export using the FusionPro plugin your Lab Spot colors will be exported properly.

 

(I couldn't get the images off the email)

 

So this fix didn't quite work for me, but in the upcoming release the LAB color export will be fixed. The color was still coming in wacky so we ended up getting the exact CMYK values for the Pantone color (370 C), and then I sat & tweaked it in the colors menu in FusionPro.

 

Alex has had success wit this work around and I would suggest that anyone running into this issue try his method listed above first before tweaking CMYK percentages. The tweaking has taken a very long time & should only be used as a last resort. To avoid all of this, use RGB/CMYK values in your InDesign files.