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Scribus => PDF Generation => Topic started by: GillesP on September 28, 2013, 10:33:07 PM

Title: PDF Color rendering
Post by: GillesP on September 28, 2013, 10:33:07 PM
Hello,

I had to use Scribus for the first time, to produce a color document printed wit professional printers.
First : Scribus 1.4 is really easy to use, and permitted me to do a good job. Big thank to the Scribus team !
Second : the export PDF option is totally adapted to professionals.
Third : the rendering color of the produced PDF was awful.
My solution : I had to generate a JPG image (with manual bleed margins and mark), import it in The Gimp, and convert it to PDF format. And the result, on screen and once printing, was great.

My question : As The Gimp is able to provide a PDF export solution out-of-the-box, I think it could be done in Scribus, correct ?
It it is not the case, I think a better documentation about color management would be valuable. Scribus is a great product to produce documents, but if you give this document to be printed, it's almost useless -without this idea to make the conversion with Gimp, I was totally blocked in my project)...

I solved my problem, so this topic is just to give you a feedback.
I like *a lot* Scribus ; if I could solve my PDF export problem, it would be wonderfull..

Regards,
--
Gilles
Title: Re: PDF Color rendering
Post by: Greg P on September 29, 2013, 02:08:46 AM
Since you give no details, it's hard to help.
I suppose the Gimp people will chortle a bit at this, but Scribus is known for its color management quality.
Did you use color management settings?
What type of PDF did you export to?
Did you export to Screen/Web or Printer? these are PDF export settings in the Color tab.
It sounds like you must have eventually went with RGB output (same as Screen/Web), given that you exported to JPG and then went to Gimp. Gimp is not known for its CMYK output. You could have selected this in the PDF Export dialog.
Title: Re: PDF Color rendering
Post by: Nermander on September 29, 2013, 03:44:31 PM
My first guess: You exported a PDF "for printer" and the viewed it on the screen with a PDF viewer.

That will usually cause awful colors because "for printer" generates a CMYK PDF.

Generally you should not create a CMYK PDF unless the printer specifically asks for it, and then you should be aware of that viewing a CMYK PDF on a computer monitor does not work as proof. You need to print the PDF to see how it looks.
Title: Re: PDF Color rendering
Post by: rascalsmom on October 02, 2013, 11:13:08 PM
Quote from: GillesP on September 28, 2013, 10:33:07 PM
My solution : I had to generate a JPG image (with manual bleed margins and mark), import it in The Gimp, and convert it to PDF format. And the result, on screen and once printing, was great.

My question : As The Gimp is able to provide a PDF export solution out-of-the-box, I think it could be done in Scribus, correct ?

How successful this is will likely depend on what pdf format your printer prefers. My version of Gimp (2.8.6 for Ubuntu) exports as a PDF version 1.5 . It seems most commercial printers prefer PDF/X1-a or PDF/X-3.