Dear Lester, When you send a PDF file to an outside firm for printing, such as I suggested for Edwin's project, your choice of printer driver can make a big difference in output quality. The Adobe PDF driver is good when your PDF is the final deliverable in the project, meaning it will be read online or the user prints it.
But if your PDF is the means of transmitting your work for film or a high-end digital printing press, the Adobe PDF driver may not give the best results. I learned that lesson through hard experience. That is why I urged Edwin to talk with his printing company before outputting his files. They will know the best way to prepare his files for their process. Printer drivers do not use CMYK color. The driver is required by the Windows OS in order to have a target to which you can print. The printer, whether inkjet or laser, is the device that applies the CMYK color. CMYK is a subtractive color model, based on color as reflected from a surface, such as a printed page. RGB is an additive color model, based on color coming from a light source, such as your computer screen. RGB graphics are designed for display on computer screens and projectors. That is the reason the Windows GDI uses RGB. If you send RGB graphics to the printer, the printer (or, in the case of inkjets, the software) must interpret and convert the data to CMYK, because those are the colors the printer can put onto the paper. In most cases, the members of this forum probably are not involved with offset or digital printing of their projects. As somebody who has worked in that area, I will share my experience and let the readers decide for themselves. Daniel Doornbos Technical Writer Promise Technology, Inc. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in or attached to this email message is either proprietary and/or confidential information, or information intended solely for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by email and delete the original message from your computer/server with confirmation to us that you have done so. Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: framers-bounces+danield=promise....@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces+danield=promise.com at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Lester C. Smalley Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:55 PM To: framers at frameusers.com Subject: RE: Colour question As has been repeated in this forum, time and time again, if you are 'printing' to PDF you should be using the Acrobat Distiller print driver, and not the drivers for any specific real or generic device. This should show up in your system (Windows) as the "Adobe PDF" or "Acrobat Distiller" (if you have an older version of Acrobat) printer. While you may not have any immediate problems, there is the strong possibility that the resulting PDF will not be compatible for all devices, or suffer from other problems which will rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune times such as 15 minutes before a critical deadline..... And I am not convinced that the printer drivers in Windows use CMYK - they may, but they may also just use RGB which is what the Windows GDI (Graphic Device Interface) uses as it's default color space. On Friday, June 09, 2006 03:09 PM, Daniel Doornbos wrote: < SNIP > | When you print to PDF, you use a printer driver, either a specific color | laser printer or a generic driver. These drivers use CMYK color as well, | so again, you are left with an approximation. - Lester ------------------------------------------------------- Lester C. Smalley Email: lsmalley AT infocon DOT com Information Consultants, Inc. Phone: 302-239-2942 FAX: 302-239-1712 Yorklyn, DE 19736 Web: www.infocon.com ------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as danield at promise.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/danield%40promise.co m Send administrative questions to lisa at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.