Rasterizing vector artwork bug?

SD
Posted By
Steve_Demetriou
Jun 3, 2004
Views
307
Replies
9
Status
Closed
I posted a question a couple of weeks ago about a color problem I was having when rasterizing vector artwork. I had a file of some labels which when rasterized to RGB space in PS 6 opened with the correct color, but when rasterized to RGB in CS opened with muted, incorrect color. The cause of this problem turns out to be what my cmyk space was set to in Color Settings. In PS 6 I had US Sheetfed Coated v2 selected; in CS US Sheetfed Uncoated v2! The color difference in the rasterized RGB file was dramatic. So much so that the client I did the work for didn’t accept it. Setting the Color Settings of both PS 6 and CS to Coated v2 for the cmyk space resolved the color differences even though I am rasterizing these files to an RGB space. Lab values now match, with correct color coming to my RGB file when the cmyk space is set to Coated v2, and incorrect color coming when the cmyk space is set to Uncoated v2.
Related Tags
artwork bug raster vector

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GB
g_ballard
Jun 3, 2004
Now that you have the settings matched…ya still have a huge problem with Photoshop making incorrect ASSUMPTIONS about the color space of the EPS.

For example, if the EPS CMYK does not equal Photoshop’s Working CMYK, the color is hosed when rasterized unless we Assign the correct color space (I would think)…

Still, the "bug" reference sounds more like a learning/workflow issue? If it is a bug, how would you recommend fixing it?
How should it be working?
SD
Steve_Demetriou
Jun 3, 2004
Not sure I understand your point. I was rasterizing to RGB not CMYK. Why should the CMYK setting matter to a file opening as RGB? That seems buggy to me.
GB
g_ballard
Jun 3, 2004
Ha, Ha, okay, ya got me on that 🙂
RW
Rene_Walling
Jun 3, 2004
Why should the CMYK setting matter to a file opening as RGB?

Not sure, but wouldn’t PS need to convert the images from the source (CMYK) space to the destination (RGB) space and wouldn’t assuming the wrong profile hose the colours?
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Jun 3, 2004
Were there Spot-to-Process colors in the original vector file?

And was that file (Illustrator?) a CMYK one?
SD
Steve_Demetriou
Jun 4, 2004
Rene and Ann, I don’t know where the source files came from. I received them from my client as generic EPS’s and don’t know the source application or color space. Nothing about the file itself indicated either. I don’t work alot with this type of file so I was baffled. If the files originated as cmyk that would make sense that my cmyk setup affected it when rasterizing. You can be dang sure I’ll ask in the future. I didn’t get paid for that one. Rightfully so.
M
MarkATS
Jun 4, 2004
Open the eps file in a text editor. It should show what app created the file and what color space it uses.
SD
Steve_Demetriou
Jun 8, 2004
Thanks much. I opened the file in a text editor and found they were created in Freehand using a number of Pantone colors. I saw nothing that indicated a particular color space, but the Pantone colors I assume are CMYK. How, then, would you know which CMYK color space to chose in Color Settings to assure the correct result in the rasterized file? I didn’t know the color was off until my client pointed it out. Seems like there is a lot of opportunity to get it wrong and not even know it.
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Jun 8, 2004
I would be inclined to open and re-save these files in Illustrator because it uses LUTs to translate Pantone colors to the screen and might produce the closest match to the algorithm which your Freehand files originally used.

Then Open the Illustrator file in Photoshop and use "Assign Profile" (with Preview checked) to see which profile best suits the file followed by "Convert to Profile" choosing your chosen working color space.

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