When I export an artwork as jpeg, the color in the preview window is different from my workspace.
When I open the exported jpeg with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, it display the color different from both export preview and workspace.
When I export as pdf, there is no difference between the workspace display and acrobat reader display.
Any idea what is the issue?
Thanks.
stusee is mostly right, however not exactly:
1) the difference between your workspace and Export to JPEG preview : according to your screen capture you export to CMYK Jpeg, most likely the object in the document is RGB, the difference is due to RGB vs CMYK gamut. If by any chance your document's color is CMYK, not RGB - the Export to Jpeg preview dialog uses .NET imaging component, which is fully color managed, however it had problems with correctly displaying CMYK images prior .NET 4.x. If you do not keep your XP system up-to-date and you do not have .NET 4.x installed you might get inaccurate CMYK preview. This problem is extremely rare though and can be easily fixed by running MS updates - sound idea regardless of color management.
2) the difference between Draw workspace, Acrobat and Picture and Fax viewer. As stusee mentioned Draw X5 and Adobe Acrobat are fully color managed applications and they will use monitor color profile from OS CM settings automatically. Another examples of fully color managed applications that work this way are Vista Picture Viewer, PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign, Safary, Firefox, IE9, FoxIt PDF Viewer, PDF XChange. XP Picture and Fax viewer is not color managed at all, the same is true for IE below 9, Chrome, Opera, MS Paint, etc - they do not use color correction at all and send raw RGB numbers directly to the screen, they have even bigger problems displaying CMYK images, as they can not convert CMYK to RGB correctly.
3) You can use Proofing docker functionality in X5 to quickly preview how content would look without monitor color correction. I doubt anybody would be interested to know how the image would look in XP Picture and Fax viewer, however it is useful if you do web design and would like to see how the content will look on your monitor in non-color managed browser like IE8 or Chrome. Go to Tools/Color Proof Settings... In the Color Proof Settings docker on the right select your monitor color profile in the "Simulate environment checkbox", check "Preserve RGB numbers" box and check "Proof colors" box. Now Draw or PP will send RGB numbers directly to the screen, bypassing monitor color correction. If you are not sure what your monitor color profile is - go to the Tools/Color Management/Document Color Settings, expand RGB profiles combobox, and take note what is the first profile in the "Monitor profiles" group - this is the profile Draw and PP are using for monitor color correction.
Gennady
Hi stusee & Gennady,
My default setting is CMYK. Document is CMYK. The object is also CMYK (C100 M100 Y0 K0).
I've updated my .NET to version 4, same result.
I believe I have the correct color setting for my workspace, because the print result from my printer is same as my display in Draw.
However, my concern is on my client side. Most of the time I save my artwork as pdf for my client's proofing. However, some of them request for JPEG. In that case, if, by default, their computer is opening JPEG with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, I'm worried that they may see the color differently from my computer as well as the printed output.
MT Studio said: I've updated my .NET to version 4, same result.
This has nothing to do with NET this has to do with Color Management settings and knowing how to use them. Attached is a CDR file with a cmyk blue beside it is the exported blue as an RGB JPF placed back into Draw. Below left is a screen capture of the two together and to the right a screen capture of the exported JPG file from Windows Viewer.
Export the JPG as an RGB if you're going to view in a non-professional viewer such as Windows viewer an e-mail browser or Mac Viewer.
Thisis why I wrote the book.
Hi,
I have looked into this issue once more - unfortunately you are right, the display of CMYK images in Microsoft .NET Imaging component ( i.e. the preview image window in Export to JPEG dialog ) is not accurate on XP. The component can not display CMYK images at all and MS is doing CMYK-to-RGB conversion under the hood using some arbitrary parameters and disregarding embedded CMYK color profiles. If you try to read image colors within the JPEG preview you will get wrong results as well ( not CMYK 100 100 0 0 ). The problem has existed on XP and Vista, Windows 7 was working right from the very beginning. Microsoft has resolved this issue on Vista with their platform update which, AFAIK, is included in the .NET 4.0.. Unfortunately they never addressed this problem on XP and it is unlikely they ever will. You would have accurate preview only on Vista and Windows 7 system.
I have to stress however, that this is a preview problem, it does not affect the content of CMYK Jpeg we export in any way, it is absolutely correct. Practically it means that on XP you have to rely on the Draw or PP display, not on the preview shown in Export to JPEG dialog.
MT Studio said:However, some of them request for JPEG. In that case, if, by default, their computer is opening JPEG with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, I'm worried that they may see the color differently from my computer as well as the printed output.
If you want your clients to see JPEGs as close to the original ( what you see ) as possible you should export RGB jpegs and make sure they are in sRGB color space and sRGB color profile is embedded. This is is not 100% accurate as some CMYK colors can not be reproduced accurately in sRGB, there will be slight color shift. Still, this is as close to the ideal you can get without asking them to color-calibrating their systems and without knowing how they view your images. To get truly identical results you would need to ensure that both you and your clients run fully calibrated systems and use color managed viewers, which is not realistic in most cases.
David Milisock said:This has nothing to do with NET this has to do with Color Management settings and knowing how to use them.
However I agree with you that CMYK Jpegs should not be used in the first place in such scenarios.
Gennady Petrov said:David, you are either mistaken or unaware of this problem
My comment was intended only for the integrity of the export from Corel. IMO no should professional use such low end applications to view professional level work. If your end user is not a professional you need to understand their proofing needs and accommodate them.
Image files need to be viewed in Corel Photo-PAINT or Photoshop, PDF files need to be viewed in Acrobat, color managed professional applications.
I could ask my grand mother to run the 100 meter and she would she just would never win.
What we see here regularly on this forum is a user expecting an aircraft carrier to fit into a bathtub.
OK, I misunderstood you then. I agree that Picture and Fax viewer is simply not a right tool for this job. Taking into account that right tools are free and one click away to install it should not be a problem for a client as far as they are aware of the requirements.