Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite
1

I am currently working on some software which need to output cmyk pdf files. (I use Pdfclown which is a java pdf generating library for this).

I think my software is working correctly but to confirm that the colors are correct and as expected, I would like some software which can show me the cmyk color values in my output pdf file. Does anyone know any linux software which can do this?

share|improve this question
If you use GIMP, you can get RGB values of any point on screen (even without taking an screenshot), And I think there is a CMYK plugin for gimp (written by Adobe), and if you install that you can get CMYK values too. If I understand your question correctly. – ilius Jun 11 '11 at 13:31
Do you have a link to that plugin? The only one I could find was cue.yellowmagic.info/softwares/separate-plus/index.html which as far as I can see don't support import/working with cmyk files. (It looks like it works in rgb, and then export to cmyk in the end). – MTilsted Jun 11 '11 at 18:18
@MTilsted, you want a tuple for every point in the image saying what its RGB is? – soandos Apr 4 '12 at 20:19
No, I want a tuple for each point saying if the color is a cmyk color, and if it is, I need to know the cmyk color code as saved in the document. The pdf files I generate contains cmyk colors not rbg. What I need is a manual way to read the pdf file, so I for example can verify that the black color I use in some of the graphics really is encoded/saved as the cmyk color (0,0,0,1) in the pdf file. – MTilsted Apr 5 '12 at 4:13

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote accepted
+200

The only check tool I know is Adobe Preflight, part of Adobe Acrobat Professional package, which unfortunately is only available under Windows. If you know anybody that has it, use Preview in Preflight to verify the colors used.

Here are some remarks that may pertain.

Any pdf viewed on the screen must convert to RGB, so that's not the way to go.

JPG images are always in RGB, so better not use any of these. TIFF can be in CMYK.

Printeries convert to CMYK before printing, so you should check that your range of colors can be adequately presented.

share|improve this answer
So I guess I will just give up, or visit a graphics designer with Preflight installed. I thought about installing it together with windows on a vm, but it cost €650 which is far to much just to see some color codes – MTilsted Apr 10 '12 at 15:27
I downloaded a copy of "Adobe Acrobat pro X" which seems to include preflight, but I can't seem to find a feature in preflight which would give me the color of a specific point in the pdf file. It can show all the objects in the pdf file, but it is rather difficult to map objects to what is shown on the screen. – MTilsted Apr 18 '12 at 13:48
Not really. It just shows me where preflight is. I already know that. But it seems that preflight can't give cmyk colors for a specific point in the preview – MTilsted Apr 18 '12 at 15:39
I haven't seen preflight in Acrobat, but it should be able to give the summary for the page. – harrymc Apr 18 '12 at 16:13
show 1 more comment

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.