Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications

RGB versus CMYK

Since the dawn of desktop publishing, it’s been unquestioned that Thou Shalt Convert to CMYK. Those who submitted RGB files were considered uninformed, even uncivilized. But here’s a secret: Scanners and digital cameras see in RGB. High-end production scanners such as those from Fujifilm/Enovation and Kodak produce CMYK files only because they utilize software to perform the conversion from RGB to CMYK on the fly.

As shown in Chapter Two, “Ink on Paper,” the RGB gamut is larger than that of CMYK. Consequently, it’s often preferable to perform color corrections and compositing with RGB files, converting to CMYK as late in the process as possible. If you are participating in a fully color-managed workflow, you will keep your images ...