CMYK for print?

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
User avatar

2018-03-23 17:45:47

Hi there,

Excuse me if this is perhaps an obvious answer.

I am attempting to create graphics for print with Pixelmator, which I will then place into InDesign.
I am under the impression we cannot "edit" images in CMYK in Pixelmator at this time, only preview as a "soft proof" (meaning, I guess, we can preview how the colours will look when printed).

Seeking some clarification here.

- since I can't "edit in CMYK" does this mean that I should be saving my conversion as my last step before exporting the image to InDesign?
- does converting to the "soft proof CMYK" mean the actual file type has been converted from RBG to CYMK, and is therefore suitable to use in InDesign? Or does the file type remain RBG and it is literally just a preview, and I should be converting in another application?

Thanks!
User avatar

2018-03-23 18:03:27

I touched on this when answering your question in another thread, but here's a good article that should clear all this up for you: https://indesignsecrets.com/import-rgb- ... export.php
User avatar

2019-01-18 03:39:51

Just learning here...I am using Pixelmator pro. How do you save in CMYK format? Is this possible? I do not have any Adobe software. Is this something I would need to invest in to get images in CMYK and Pantone formats? I appreciate any insight you can give.
User avatar

2019-01-18 15:49:16

So, to clear a few things up, CMYK is not a format, it's a method of mixing/creating colors used in printing. Images can be saved with the colors represented in CMYK in order to more reliably reproduce 'printable' colors on a digital screen, which uses the RGB color model to create individual colors.

While it is possible to export images and convert the colors to CMYK in Pixelmator Pro, I have a feeling it's not exactly what you're looking for. So could you let me know what kind of images you're working on and what you're looking to do with them, in general terms?
User avatar

2019-01-23 04:46:56

I save color images in Pixelmator every day as either .jpg or .png and use them in InDesign or lately Apple Pages files. Before sending to various printers I save the final InDesign or Pages files as .pdf. I’ve yet to have any problems. The printer will know what to do.
User avatar

2019-10-25 14:22:31

I just joined the Community here so forgive me if this post is under the wrong discussion. I think it fits but it's not a RGB to CMYK question. I agreed with David Blatner to use InDesign (if you haven't left Adobe yet) to convert the RGB to CMYK.
My question is about Greyscale images. I worked for Newspapers as a graphic artist for many years and on some pages we needed a grascale image. In Photoshop we converted to 8 bit greyscale from RGB and could work on improving the image in that format. The files were smaller and we could tweek the image to get a better look. Not quite the same as RGB to CMYK - most times you don't need to tweek CMYK after coverting. I'm now a mortgage broker and clients send me scanned versions of their docuents in RGB. The lender required PDFs so combining several (can be 40 pages) of RGB jpgs made large PDFs. I did as I did in the newpaper business and would covert the RGB to grayscale (again tweek the file in Photoshop if their scan needed it). So, after all that why is there not coversion to other color formats in Pixelmator Pro? Oh, and I did use LAB at times too. That would be great to. Affinity Photo does both grey and LAB.
User avatar

2019-10-28 13:13:54

You're free to ask the question here, Neil! For now, a color conversion feature during the editing stage was deemed to be out of scope for us for a few different reasons. One of those reasons was soft proofing + conversion during export should suffice for most people. And just a few days ago, we added a Soft Proof Colors feature to Pixelmator Pro.

When editing an image that you'll later export to grayscale, you can choose View > Soft Proof Colors > Generic Gray (or your own grayscale profile) to view what the image would look like when converted to grayscale. Then, you can go ahead and tweak the image. Finally, once you get to the export stage, choose a format such as JPEG or TIFF, and choose the same color profile in the Export dialog.
User avatar

2020-09-18 19:05:35

hello everyone, I think this is the appropriate thread for my question. I'm working preparing some images for RISOGRAPH PRINTING (What's a Risograph? The Risograph is a stencil duplicator. Think of it as a cross between screen printing and photocopying. The Riso prints one color at a time in bright, vibrant colors. It is ideal for posters, graphic prints, zines, comics, and other graphic arts.) I know my images need to be in greyscale, and that solid black doesn't print so well (given the drums in the process) I'm wondering if I should scale back on the opacity or add a screen/noise/grain to the image? Has anyone else used PIXELMATOR PRO to prepare an image for RISOGRAPH PRINTING? thanks, VD