CMYK support

[designpro]

I would like Pixelmator Pro to have native support for the CMYK color space. I can open a CMYK PhotoShop image but you automatically convert it to RGB.

[ResLes]

I believe they looking into this feature because many folks have requested that, fair point

[Andrius]

CMYK support is definitely something we have in mind, but probably in the form of soft-proofing rather than natively editing in CMYK.

[Gordon]

Yep, I second this request

[Taylor]

Hello,

What does "Soft proofing" in CMYK mean? Am I correct to guess this means we can convert an RBG image into CMYK by enabling CMYK soft proofing? However, we cannot edit the image afterwards (I.e. We should convert it as our last step before outsourcing the image to a program like InDesign for print)?

[Andrius]

If you're soft proofing an RGB image with a CMYK color profile, the image is displayed using the colors available in the color space of your CMYK profile so, on the screen, you see pretty much exactly what the image will look like when printed. However, the actual color values in the image file itself are in an RGB color space. Currently, Pixelmator Pro can convert images to CMYK and grayscale according to specific color profiles when exporting but there isn't a way to edit or soft proof images in those color spaces, so that feature isn't super useful just yet.

The alternative workflow is to convert an image to CMYK but then you wouldn't be able to work on the same image for both digital and print and any further conversions would most likely mess up the colors.

[Taylor]

Hi Andrius,

Thank you for such a quick response!

I am hearing that Pixelmator is not able to meet my needs (as an app for digital painting and graphic production, to use for a print magazine). I should find another application. Is this correct?

[ResLes]

@Taylor: Its a bit harsh to ask an employee of a company if the apps sucks in an important area of yours

I think Pix Pro is a really awesome app! I reckon this app will improve in this area in the near future would be amazing if they can make an disadvantage to an advantage in comparison to other apps Its a small company and they do a great job! All its needed is time... I love to support them to have as much competition as possible agains Adobe!

[Andrius]

I am hearing that Pixelmator is not able to meet my needs (as an app for digital painting and graphic production, to use for a print magazine). I should find another application. Is this correct?

A perfectly acceptable (even recommended) workflow, would be to import RGB images into InDesign and convert to CMYK only upon exporting from InDesign, so if that's what you'd be doing, Pixelmator should certainly be able to meet your needs. I'm assuming you're using the original Pixelmator here, which has a soft proofing feature, not Pixelmator Pro. I shared this link in the other thread, but just in case you missed it, here it is again: https://indesignsecrets.com/import-rgb- ... export.php On that page, there's an in-depth explanation about RGB-CMYK workflows with InDesign, so it's definitely worth a read.

@Taylor: Its a bit harsh to ask an employee of a company if the apps sucks in an important area of yours

I think Pix Pro is a really awesome app! I reckon this app will improve in this area in the near future would be amazing if they can make an disadvantage to an advantage in comparison to other apps Its a small company and they do a great job! All its needed is time... I love to support them to have as much competition as possible agains Adobe!

Thanks for the support!

[Andy Otto]

Let me add my voice in for a desire to have soft proofing support. My work greatly involves printing so seeing what colors will look like in CMYK is super important to me. Any ETA on the next release?

[Esquipulas]

Hi there up with this thread. A little bit lost ! To make it easy, do I need PXM (what I have) or PXM Pro to export a native PXM image on CMYK format ?? (+ I'm french and do not understand 100% of the whole thread by the way ) Thanks for reply by advance.

[Andrius]

It kind of depends on what you need to deliver to the printer if you're getting this printed at a print shop. Most of the time, you should be able to send an RGB image and have the printers convert it to CMYK for you. The original Pixelmator (what you have) has a soft proofing feature, which lets you see what your image will look like after it is converted to a specific CMYK profile. Usually, if you are soft proofing with the exact profile which will be used for printing, you'll get accurate colors in the printed image after it is converted to CMYK.

As for Pixelmator Pro — it can convert to CMYK upon exporting but, without soft proofing, there isn't an easy way to see what the CMYK version will look like while you're editing. So it's probably not the best option for preparing images for print at the moment. However, a soft proofing feature is definitely in our plans for Pixelmator Pro!

[Esquipulas]

Hi Andrius thanks for reply. All clear.

[Andrius]

Hi Andrius thanks for reply. All clear.

My pleasure!

[TomM]

Still no CMYK. Tsk tsk.

[fruadulent]

Can I add more pressure for there to be a CMYK setting? Seems like people have been asking for years now?

Also a bit strange that you would reccomend peolpe use Indesign for specific functions- if i had indesign i wouldnt be using pixelmator!!!

[Andrius]

That wasn't quite a recommendation for using InDesign, one of the users asked whether, if they were using an application like InDesign, whether they should use the steps outlined when working with Pixelmator Pro and that application. My overall point was yes, the recommended workflow is to work in RGB, not CMYK, so those steps would work. CMYK hasn't yet made it to Pixelmator Pro partly because of the internal architecture in the app (which would make it very difficult and time-consuming for us to make it possible to edit using CMYK color directly) and partly because it just isn't a huge focus for us. Especially when editing in RGB is completely fine for print in many cases. As much as we'd love to add everything our users ask for, we do have to set some priorities because our resources aren't infinite.

With all that in mind, soft proofing is still in our plans for Pixelmator Pro, but not in the short term as we have a whole bunch of stuff planned out for the next 6 months, at least.

[TomM]

As you say CMYK has never been on the to do list.
Maybe some day when Pixelmator Pro Pro is released.

[Andrius]

As you say CMYK has never been on the to do list.
Maybe some day when Pixelmator Pro Pro is released.

It's actually lined up for Pixelmator Pro Ultimate – Print Edition™. On a more serious note, could you tell me a little more about your print workflows at the moment? How do you go about preparing your images? Do you print them at print shops or at home? If it's at a print shop, what kind of specs do the printers require for the images in terms of file formats and ICC profiles? Would love to get some more info so that if/when we do add some form of CMYK support, we can have as many of our users' workflows in mind as possible.

[TomM]

It's actually lined up for Pixelmator Pro Ultimate – Print Edition™. On a more serious note, could you tell me a little more about your print workflows at the moment? How do you go about preparing your images? Do you print them at print shops or at home? If it's at a print shop, what kind of specs do the printers require for the images in terms of file formats and ICC profiles? Would love to get some more info so that if/when we do add some form of CMYK support, we can have as many of our users' workflows in mind as possible.

I print reference photos at home on a normal inkjet.

For some years I have created magazine ads for an art gallery for national publications as well as local.
The majority ask for PDFs in CMYK .
When I first started, I would ask for a press profile for soft proofing. I was surprised at how many reps did not know what I was talking about.

Ultimately, I started sending in the PDFs with no embedded profile. Usually the printed result is acceptable.
We also use a company called Gotprint for banners and cards. They provide CMYK templates with GRACoL2006_Coated1v2.icc imbedded.

I have also been sending digital creations to a local professional print shop. They are using a dye-sublimation process to print on aluminum. I believe there is a CMYK conversion in the process but they only require Adobe 1998 files.

Incidentally, I use a software that features soft proofing as an adjustment layer. So you can choose the profile and intent and have it there in the layers stack to turn off and on.

[Andrius]

So would I be right in thinking that, in your case, adding soft proofing with custom profiles + applying the same CMYK profiles to the image during the export stage would cover your workflows? That should ensure colors are consistent in terms of what you see and what you get in the final image. In the meantime, you can use the CMYK sliders in the Colors window to choose CMYK colors only, though if the conversion is done by someone else, that introduces the possibility of the colors shifting during the conversion stage.

[TomM]

If you could export a file in the CMYK color space, then why not provide the ability to open or convert a file to CMYK in Pixelmator?

[Andrius]

The difficult thing is color accuracy with a completely different color model. When you're exporting a file, you're basically taking certain RGB values for every pixel and turning them into certain CMYK values for a single, flat image. With editing in CMYK, you've got a whole range of different tools that let you choose colors, nondestructive color adjustments and effects that have an effect on colors, blending modes, potentially loads of different layers with varying opacities, and all these potential combinations have to be accurate when using CMYK colors, which is a fundamentally different color model from RGB. So it's not quite as simple as flipping a switch somewhere in the code, unfortunately.

[TomM]

I can only imagine the difficulty of designing software.
Yet the pixel editor that I use has a CMYK color space option.

[Andrius]

It's by no means impossible or insurmountable, just for an app as extensive and full-featured like Pixelmator Pro, it would take a relatively large amount of our time and there always seems to be something that deserves our attention more. I totally understand that, if you really need this feature, it probably seems that we're wrong to prioritize other things (and maybe we are).

[ResLes]

Hi,
Just to get some background knowledge. Do I understand it correctly, for the same amount of work which goes into such an feature you could roll or 3 or 4 more other features which are higher in demand? Thanks.

[Andrius]

It's not quite as simple as that but, to some extent, yes, that's true. It's especially true for things that change the image rendering engine in significant ways. For example, clipping masks might seem like a relatively simple thing to add but there are so many possible ways to clip layers to other layers, each clipping mask itself can be formatted in a range of different ways (using effects, styles, with various blending options), there's also nested shapes, groups, etc. So that feature took a long time to develop. Most significant features take a long time, but, for example, a Free Transform feature for Pixelmator Pro (which is available in the latest beta) seems to be more important than CMYK editing.

[Karen]

Free transform is great, but I need CMYK channel separation for screen printing. When will your developers have this available? Ex-Photoshop user here...

[Andrius]

Free transform is great, but I need CMYK channel separation for screen printing. When will your developers have this available? Ex-Photoshop user here...

The honest answer is: not sure, at all. This is a pretty specialized printing feature and would require not just CMYK color support, but also custom channel separation, and a few other things. Specialized print features really aren't a huge priority at this time because Pixelmator Pro is designed with a somewhat different purpose in mind. We'd love to make everyone happy, we really would. But we do have to pick and choose the things to focus on, especially with an app as new as Pixelmator Pro.

[naomigilholme]

*PLEASE HELP*
I’ve installed a Ricoh 3110DN Sublimation Printer onto my Mac. I use Pixelmator at the moment.
*What settings do I use to print correctly for sublimation?
*Do I have to install an ICC profile?
*Can I also print in RGB or does it have to be converted?

Thank you