How can I see (verify) the ICC color profile of a PDF?

[Laserjones]

Hello,

I received a PDF intended to be printed in CMYK, and I want to check whether the correct ICC color profile is assigned. I cannot find this information anywhere in PDF-XChange Editor (Pro). When I right-click on an image in the PDF and view it properties, the color space is said to be "ICCbased". As far as I understand, this means that a separate ICC profile should be embedded in the file, but how can I verify this?

Also, how can I safely correct the profile for all graphics in the file in case it is not the correct one?

Best regards,
Joerg

[Dimitar - Tracker Supp]

Hello Joerg,

Please try this tool and see if it will get the information you need:

image.png

...or you may check here:

image(1).png

Regards.

[Laserjones]

Thank you very much. I'm still confused though. The first option gives me a long list of mostly identical(?) entries that all say "ICCBased based on DeviceCMYK" or "ICCBased based on DeviceRGB", but I don't see the specific color profile.

The second option shows me a color profile, but not the one the PDF is supposed to use, so I thought this is a default setting only (to be applied only when I actally convert the colors), but not the profile currently in use. Am I wrong?

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, Laserjones

The first method would be the one to check for what profiles the document uses. If none of the have a unique name and they all say "[...]based on device [...]" that would imply that the document does not have any specific profiles embedded/requested and it inherits all of its values from the device profiles.
The second section is as you suspect the defaults for the editor to use. Generally you do not want to modify these options, but in certain cases it could be handy. I assume Dimitar mentioned this section for the cases where you see the generic profiles you mention. In such cases, checking this window will tell you which profile is being used by the document, as they are what should be used unless the document overrides them.

Kind regards,

[Laserjones]

Thank you very much for the clarification! Meanwhile the creator of the file has confirmed that he actually did not apply the profile I had instructed him to, because it wasn't available in his software ...

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

[Laserjones]

Hello again, sorry, I'm still having trouble. Meanwhile the file has been printed and the result is horrible. The print shop claims that they had to convert the color of most pages from RGB, whereas the designer is 100% sure he exported the entire file in CMYK. So how can I check whether a single image in the file is in RGB or CMYK? When I right-click on an image and select Properties, it only says "Color space: ICCbased", but as far as I know, "ICC-based" can mean both RGB and CMYK. So how can I get more specific information?

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, Laserjones

Each image in a PDF can have a different colorspace defined in its own data. You can check that on an image by image basis, by using the "edit Objects" tool, then right clicking on the image, and choosing "recompress image:

image.png

This will show you the colorspace in use, in most cases it will say DeviceRGB, as mine does, which simply means it inherits from the display adapter. In your case this may also show "ICCbased" in which case, yes it could be either RGB or CMYK, and is not very clear. You may want to intentionally change it, using the recompression options present in this dialog.

image(1).png

Kind regards,

[Laserjones]

Hi Daniel,
thanks a lot for the quick and nightly reply. Indeed this method also shows "ICCbased" for a single image - but how is it possible that the color space information is so incomplete that it doesn't even say whether it's RGB or CMYK? Where does this "ICCbased" come from?
Best regards,
Joerg

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, Laserjones

To be honest, all I really know is that ICCbased is the colorspace, geenrally it would indicate that the ICCprofile in use by the application (which can sometimes be different from the device color profile) will be used on that image. In practice, I do not have a way to help you determine which it is, but I did speak with the Dev team on this, and they said there should be some additional information they can expose to you, to help with this in a future release.

As such, I have created the following Feature request. While internal only, you can ask any member of our support team for a status update, if you include the ticket number.

RT#6738: FR: Add more information about ICCbased Colorspace in images

Kind regards,

[Laserjones]

Hi Daniel, I'm really impressed with your support! Thank you very much and good night!
Joerg

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

[Willy Van Nuffel]

Maybe some useful information:

When you are executing a File > "Save As" in PDF-XChange Editor, you can change "Save as type" to "PDF/A Document" or "PDF/X Document".

After selecting "PDF/A Document", you can click the "Options..." button and explicitly choose the Conformance and a Profile (like CMYK).

After selecting "PDF/X Document", it seems like the Profile is always CMYK and you can choose between "Agfa" and "U.S. Web Coated".

After making your choice and clicking OK and Save (with a new name and/or location), you will have all images converted to the chosen profile in the resulting PDF.

EDIT: For preference, try with PDF/X-1a.

Kind regards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF/A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF/X

[Jordan - Tracker Supp]

Hello Willy Van Nuffel,

Thank you for the provided information.

[Laserjones]

Hi Willy, thank you very much. This may be helpful in the future, but in this case I mainly need a way to check the existing settings of a file in order to prove or disprove any claims made by creators and/or print shops about who messed it up ...

[Willy Van Nuffel]

Thanks for your reply.

I am afraid that at this moment there is no tool like "Preflight" in PDF-XChange Editor.
There is only the "Conversion Report" after save as, but I suppose it is not detailed enough to be useful for what you need.
>

PDF-XChange Editor - Conversion Report.png

>
Kind regards.


Willy

[Jordan - Tracker Supp]

Hello Laserjones ,

According to ICC Tech note PDF documents allow for images or other graphics objects to have an ICC profile associated with
them. Images in PDF files can also include an embedded profile within the image file, using the method of embedding defined by the image file format specification. That profile is not normally used during rendering, with some exceptions such as an image encoded in JPEG2000 where there is no ColorSpace entry in the image XObject.

What this entails is that you may need to go over all images in your document and check their properties for the Color Space used:

image.png

@Willy Van Nuffel - as he is attempting to check for non compliant Color Spaces, I do not think that converting alone will be enough as an indicator, as you can only see the fixed elements there.

[Willy Van Nuffel]

Thanks Jordan for your answer.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

[Laserjones]

What this entails is that you may need to go over all images in your document and check their properties for the Color Space used:
image.png

Hi Jordan, that's exactly what I did, but the problem is that with my PDF, the color space field only says "ICCbased" for every image, without specifying the actual ICC profile, so I don't even know whether it's RGB or CMYK ...

But as you can read above, Daniel already created a Feature Request to provide more information in a future release.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

But as you can read above, Daniel already created a Feature Request to provide more information in a future release.

I guess we wait and see what comes.