pdf for media publication

<p>Problem: I have to produce a pdf (required format) for print media. This would normally be via an agency but this is a DIY job that doesn't justify agency fees.<br>

I converted it to pdf in PS and it looked fine on my monitor, but when it was published the tones were decidedly warm - blacks were dark brown. Blacks on the opposite page were fine, so it's obviously a fault at my end, not in the printing.<br>

It has to be published again. Any idea on where I went wrong?</p>

<p>Are all your images in sRGB? Is the document mode set to sRGB, too? You need to stay within one single colour space everywhere in the document. Which software are you initially working in?</p>

<p>If you're making a pdf for print, you probably want it in CMYK, otherwise someone else's system is going to do the RGB->CMYK conversion and it will all go pear-shaped in a handbasket, if you get my meaning.</p>

<p>Also note that photo blacks are different from process blacks - A typical process black area is 100% Black coverage plus 40% Cyan to give extra "blackness". (Small black text is just 100% black to avoid registration issues). For photos, An RGB value of (0,0,0) - black - converts to C:75%, M:68%, Y:67% and K:90% for a total coverage of 300% (<em>aside: yikes that's heavy, your printers will be having fits</em>) in my Photoshop defaults.</p>

<p>Many thanks for the answers so far.<br>

I was working in Adobe RGB1998 and simply converted to Adobe PDF. It looks like I should have converted to CMYK first.</p>

<p>If the file going directly to the "printer" you should enquire as to whether you should send them in CMYK format.<br>

The giveaway to using CMYK is the press run. For 8.5x11 the number where I am is 50 and less for larger sizes.</p>

<p>You need to talk with the printing company and get what their exact requirements are for color space, etc. There's no workaround for this. Find out what they need, and produce that. If you're PDF has the correct color profile, dot gain settings, etc., then it should come out fine, so long as your monitor is properly calibrated.</p>