ADOBE CREATIVE CAREERS CURRICULUM

Principles of Color Management

Essential Principles Series

Principles of color management

In this resource, you will learn about the Principles of Color Management, including:

● RGB vs CMYK
● Understanding color variance
● Managing color in Adobe apps

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RGB and CMYK

RGB and CMYK are modes for mixing color

when designing graphics and artwork.

It’s important to know the difference between

the RGB and CMYK color modes. Depending on
where and how the final result is displayed, one
color space is always better than the other.

● RGB color mode is best for digital work.

● CMYK is used for print products.

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What is RGB?

RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) is the color space for digital images.

Use the RGB color mode if your design is supposed to be displayed

on any kind of screen.

If the end destination of your design project is a digital screen, use

the RGB color mode.

This would go for anything that involves computers, smartphones,

tablets, TVs, cameras, etc.

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Additive mixing

Digital devices create color when red, green, and blue are mixed
together. This is known as additive mixing.

Colors begin as pure black. Red, green, and blue light are added to
brighten it and create the colour required. Basically, a designer is
adjusting how light on the screen appears to create colors.

If red, green, and blue light mix together at an equal intensity, pure
white is created.

Designers control color adjustments, such as saturation and vibrancy,

by changing any of the RGB colors.

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What is CMYK?

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key=Black) is the color space we

use for printed materials.

Any machine designed for printing creates its output by combining the
CMYK colors to different extents with ink. This is known as subtractive
mixing.

Essentially, colors begin as white, and each layer of ink reduces that
initial brightness to create the required color.

Therefore, when all colors are mixed together, they create a pure
black (the Key colour).

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RGB and CMYK | Activity

Identify which color space you would use for each of the following outputs:

Stationery (Letters, Notelets) Projection Graphics Business Cards

Restaurant Menus Billboard Posters Digital Signage Stickers Online Logos

Paper Brochures Apps Social Media Graphics

T-shirt Prints

Flyers Video Infographics for Books

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Color variance

Colors might vary because of:

● Differences in image sources, e.g., from a digital camera or scanner

● The way software applications define color
● Your choice of print media
● Variations between devices/monitors (based on manufacturer or age)
● Monitor profiles - how a monitor is currently reproducing color
● Input device profiles - what colors an input device is capable of capturing
● Output device profiles - the color space of output intent, such as a desktop
printer or a printing press

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Color variance

When moving images between devices, you can

end up with color variations because of a device’s
color gamut or gamma.
● Color gamut - refers to the range of colors
a device displays
● Gamma - refers to how smoothly black
transitions to white on a digital display

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Adobe Photoshop

Setting Color Mode in Adobe Photoshop:

When you create a new document, the Color Mode option is
shown in the New Document window.

Checking Color Mode in Photoshop:

The color mode is listed in brackets in the document’s tab, but
you can also find it at Image > Mode where a tick will show which
mode (color space) you are currently using.

Converting between Color Modes/Spaces in Photoshop:

Go to Edit > Convert to Profile. Use the dropdown to select your
desired color mode in the Destination Space field.

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Adobe Illustrator

Setting Color Mode in Adobe Illustrator:

Select File > New and look for Color Mode options under the
Advanced Options menu. Click on the down arrow to expand the
menu and choose between RGB and CMYK.

Checking Color Mode in Illustrator:

The color mode is listed in brackets next to the document’s title
in the tab, but you can also find it at File > Document Color Mode.

Converting between Color Modes/Spaces in Illustrator:

To change color mode, select all objects in your document
(CTRL/CMD+A). Go to Edit > Edit Colors and choose your preferred
color mode.

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Adobe InDesign

Setting Color Mode in Adobe InDesign:

Color mode is set automatically for you depending on whether you choose a
Print (CMYK) or Web/Mobile (RGB) document.

Checking Color Mode in InDesign:

Go to Window > Color > Color. Colors will be show in their numerical forms as
CMYK or RGB, depending on your document’s color mode.

Converting between Color Modes/Spaces in InDesign:

You can change the color mode when you export your InDesign document. Go
to File > Adobe PDF Presets > [Press Quality] and select a destination to save
to. Then select Output and use the Destination dropdown menu in the Color
section to choose your preferred color mode.

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Color settings

You can solve the problem of working with different

color spaces by using a color management system.

For instance, Photoshop allows you to manage the

way color profiles are interpreted when you open
files.

You set these options through the Color Settings

dialog box in the Edit menu.

The settings you choose in the Color Settings dialog

box determine the way colors are applied and
converted between both RGB and CMYK.

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Color settings cont’d

1. Start Photoshop
2. Choose Edit > Color Settings
3. The Color Settings dialog box appears (see
right).
4. In the Settings menu, you can choose from a
series of preset settings.
5. Move the pointer over the menus in the
Color Settings dialog box to view more
information on these options.
6. Change the Settings to North America
Prepress 2 and observe the results.

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Pretested settings

Adobe provides pretested color setting options in the Settings menu at the top of the Color Settings dialog
box. These are the most useful settings:

● North America General Purpose 2 works well if you are exporting to both web and print formats.
● North America Prepress 2 works well if you are exporting to a printing press.
● North America Web/Internet works well if you are exporting to the Internet only.
● All images are converted to the sRGB IEC61966-2 working space. This is true for both web and general
purpose.

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Managing color in Adobe apps | Configuring printers

You can also set options for color management when

you print to your printer.

In the Color Management area of the Print dialog

box, you can configure whether colors are managed
by Photoshop or your printer, and specify preferences
for how colors are handled.

1. Open an image in Photoshop.

2. Choose File > Print. The Print dialog box appears,

and Color Management will be visible on the right.

3. You will see sections labeled Color Handling,

Printer Profile, and Rendering Intent.

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This activity is part of Adobe’s free “Adobe Creative Careers Curriculum'' series. Adobe Photoshop and other Adobe Creative Cloud apps require an account and
login. Keep in mind that children must be age 13 or older to create their own Adobe ID. Educators can find more teaching materials for using Adobe software in the
classroom on the Adobe Education Exchange.

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