Newbie question: output to RBG/CMYK in InDesign PDF?

[AJP]

Sorry for the newbie question. I'm rather new to InDesign (well, rusty would be a better word). A few questions about exporting to PDF in InDesign....

#1) If you place an image that is in either RBG or CMYK into InDesign, and then export to PDF and select "No Color Conversion" in the Output settings, does that indeed simply leave everything in the color profile it already is in the document?

#2) If this is the case, is it better to place an object in the correct color profile to begin with, or rather convert it at the PDF stage?

Thank you.

[D-Frag]

#1 yes, yes it does. (depending on what PDF setting you are using)

#2 us old schoolers will tell you back in the Quark days you didn't have an option, you HAD to make it the correct color, so sticking with my roots, I say make it in the correct color profile in Photoshop beforehand. Some of the RGB>CMYK conversions are awful and you may need a bump in contrast or saturation or curves so its important to do all that in photoshop first. Converting straight to PDF you don't know what you will get with your colors.

[hank_scorpio]

The colour destination profile setting is the exact same in InDesign and Photoshop.

There is no need to change RGB to CMYK before placing in InDesign. It uses the same conversion from RGB to CMYK.

If you convert your image from RGB to CMYK in photoshop you are basically losing gamut - i.e. you can't revert back to the RGB image which has a larger gamut than CMYK.

I usually use RGB images in InDesign and convert to a destination profile on export. This allows me to purpose the individual InD file to both web and print with virtually no loss of gamut in the images (where possible).

[AJP]

Thank you!