RGB CMYK ??? - PLEASE HELP.

[tblla]

I am a graphic artist with a landscape architecture firm located in Whistler BC, Canada and use Vector Works on a daily basis, currently we are working on a revision of the Whistler Area - Topographic & Street map that will be printed. We have finished the map (in Vector Works) and have submitted the files (as PDF's) to our printer and have been told that the files are RGB and they need to be CMYK for printing and that there will be a colour shift when printed with the current configuration. What we would like to know is, is there any way to set the colour for the document to CMYK? or what we can do to combat this.

any help you can provide with on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

thank you.jeremy burrowsjeremy@tblla.com

[MullinRJ]

Jeremy,The answer you seek is a complicated one. The process is simple, but the experience level needed is high. You will need to export your drawing to another format (EPS, JPEG, TIFF, Photoshop, etc...) and import it into a program that does color conversions. PhotoShop, Pagemaker, Freehand, Illustrator are just a few.

Now comes the hard part. Making the conversion is easy to do, but the results you get are based on the settings of the program making the conversion. These settings need to be adjusted for the type of printing you intend to do and the output will be affected by every variable involved in the printing process, such as, your choice of paper, type of ink, press type, ink coverage, dot gain, undercolor removal, etc... In a nutshell, what you see on the monitor is NOT what you get on paper.

My best advice at this point is to hire or consult with a graphics prepress professional. The money you spend here will be much less than the money you spend doing the job over (and over, and over). The odds of getting it right the first time by guessing are comparable to your odds of winning a lottery by playing one number.

If you like, I will gladly recommend the person I use. Drop me a line and I will connect you.

Best of success,Raymond MullinMullinRJ@aol.com

[MikeN]

Using Adobe Acrobat 5.0, I would take 2 minutes prep a Vectorworks drawing for CMYK printing by doing the following:

- File > Print Setup- Set "Acrobat Distiller" as the printer- Select "Properties"- Select "Adobe PDF Settings"- Select "Print" from the "Conversion Settings" pull-down menu- Select "Edit Conversion Settings"- Select "Colour" tab- "Settings File" > None- "Colour Management Policies" > Tag Everything for Colour Management- "Intent" > Default- "Gray" > None- "RGB" > None- "CMYK" > Select your prefered CMYK setting. I use Photoshop 5 Default Setting.- Select "OK"

Presto! CMYK PDF output.

Enjoy Mikemnelson@infotectus.net