Send proof as pdf

[markf]

I read the chapter on color management. I had learned a bit of that and am following a color managed work flow as described. Working in Adobe RGB. I read the section about sending proofs to clients as .pdf. I tried that and have some questions and obsv.

 

I set my image size as 1200px x 800px at 150 ppi = 8.5" x 5.3".

 

I am using Acrobat 9. The book describes dragging the file to the page pane in Acrobat. That doesn't seem possible with Acrobat 9. You have to "create a pdf with acrobat.com. I do that and then open the .pdf in acrobat. It lists the size as 16.7 x 11.11 and there is a section that says the output intent is sRGB. there are no options for specifying any of this in the create pdf process. This is all far different then what I intended.

 

If I save as a pdf from photoshop it maintains the size in inches but is clearly down sized from the original .jpg and noticeably aliased. The output intent info is not there and so I can't tell what color space it's using.

 

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what but saving as pdf seems problematic on a couple of levels.

 

I like the idea of using acrobat because it preserves the color space. This size issue and the un-intended output intent to sRGB are problems. I'm thinking of going back to sending .jpg's.

[BrianKitts]

With acrobat professional installed you should be able to right click on a JPG file and say create PDF from file. This is how I normally do it.....I say "should be able to" though because for some reason lately this hasn't worked for me, it's been printing the file to PDF through windows which screws up the page size, resolution, and color space....

 

Safest way to create the file would be to open Acrobat Professional, and select create PDF from file and point it at your JPG. This will retain your size, and colorspace as expected.

 

One thing to keep in mind about the size though, is that when you open a PDF to print it, by default is scales to fit the page. So if you have a specific printing size in mind, you should be informing your client of page size and to turn of the scale to fit option, otherwise it won't even matter that it's retaining the page size the you wanted.

[Jeff Mottle]

To ensure you don't run into any issues with color management with acrobat, the drag and drop method is what I recommend, rather than printing to a PDF.

 

The method is to simply open Acrobat and drag your image into the window. The pages panel shows up if you open it and if there is already an image in the PDF document.

 

While you can set a working space for Acrobat, the default behavior for acrobat is to preserve the embedded profile. (Edit -> Preferences -> Convert to PDF)

 

The only time the working space is used is when an imported image does not have a profile. The working space generally defaults to sRGB in acrobat unless you have the working spaces in CS suite synced in Adobe Bridge and it's set to something else. I would leave acrobat's working space as sRGB so that unprofiled documents look correct. (Edit > Preferences > Color Management)The general assumption is that untagged images are in sRGB colorspace.

 

Where are you seeing in acrobat sRGB? I just want to be sure we're talking about the same thing.

 

I just opened a tagged image in Photoshop and the same images dragged into Acrobat and both looked the same. The only thing that would cause them not to look the same is if your display profile is not being properly loaded and Photoshop is not seeing it.

 

As for size, I've never had an issue with it not maintaining the size of the original document. To set the size in acrobat when viewing check out this option:

 

File->Properties->Initial View. Set the Magnification setting to the option you prefer.

Edited November 4, 2009 by Jeff Mottle

[markf]

Thank you both for your replies.

 

I am not using Acrobat Professional. The chapter in the book doesn't mention the need for that. I'm using Acrobat 9.2

 

I'm not as concerned about print size, more concerned about size on screen. I want it to open and appear the same size and color as it does when I compare side by side with the same jpg opened in photoshop.

 

In Acrobat I cannot find any way to open the pages panel. If I open an existing multi-page .pdf it is there. With no document opened it is not there and I cannot find how to make it appear. If I drag and drop a jpg from photoshop onto Acrobat, nothing happens.

 

Under Edit>Preferences I cannot see (Edit -> Preferences -> Convert to PDF) or any settings at all for color management.

 

I am seeing the sRGB when I open the pdf I created through the adobe.com (that I seem to get forced into using). When I open the pdf in Acrobat the page pane appears. Next to that are two icons. One is page view, the other is call Standards. If I click on that some info appears in the pane that says, Output Intent - sRGB

 

As for size I want it to be the same on my monitor at 100% zoom in Acrobat as the jpg I used to create the pdf is at 100% zoom in photoshop.

 

I'm attaching the pdf. It has a greenish cast form the sRGB conversion and also seems to me to have aliasing problems. also attaching the jpg I used to make the pdf

 

It sounds as if I may be using an entirely different version of Acrobat that works in an altogether different way. Do I need Acrobat Pro to do this correctly?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Jeff Mottle]

It sounds like you are using Acrobat Viewer, not Acrobat, which is what is referenced in the book. You can't do any of the things I mentioned without that. It's been a while since I've used on the online PDF creator on Adobe.com, but it is the same as printing to a PDF, which is a lot easier to mess things up in terms of color management and sizing. I would highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Acrobat (the application, not the viewer) if you want to create your own PDFs to send to clients.

[markf]

Thanks Jeff. I never had the app and just assumed that part of the chapter was referring to the reader. I feel a bit foolish.

 

I see there is Acrobat standard and pro. I guess I'll be getting one of them so I can use it to output to my clients. Sorry for my basic mis-understanding.

[Jeff Mottle]

No worries. I would download the trial to be sure it's going to work as you expect and then go for the purchase. If you run into any issues just let me know.