Adobe Acrobat 9 PRO Extended - Manual (Page 421)

415 USING ACROBAT 9 PRO EXTENDED
Color management
Last updated 9/30/2011
Basic steps for producing consistent color
1. Consult with your production partners (if you have any) to ensure that all aspects of your color management
workflow integrate seamlessly with theirs.
Discuss how the color workflow will be integrated with your workgroups and service providers, how software and
hardware will be configured for integration into the color management system, and at what level color management
will be implemented. (See “
Do you need color management? ” on page 413.)
2. Calibrate and profile your monitor.
A monitor profile is the first profile you should create. Seeing accurate color is essential if you are making creative
decisions involving the color you specify in your document. (See “
Calibrate and profile your monitor ” on page 426.)
3. Add color profiles to your system for any input and output devices you plan to use, such as scanners and
printers.
The color management system uses profiles to know how a device produces color and what the actual colors in a
document are. Device profiles are often installed when a device is added to your system. You can also use third-party
software and hardware to create more accurate profiles for specific devices and conditions. If your document will be
commercially printed, contact your service provider to determine the profile for the printing device or press condition.
(See “
About color profiles ” on page 424 and “ Install a color profile ” on page 426.)
4. Set up color management in Adobe applications.
The default color settings are sufficient for most users. However, you can change the color settings by doing one of the
following:
• If you use multiple Adobe applications, use Adobe® Bridge CS3 to choose a standard color management
configuration and synchronize color settings across applications before working with documents. (See
“
Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications ” on page 415.)
• If you use only one Adobe application, or if you want to customize advanced color management options, you can
change color settings for a specific application. (See “
Set up color management ” on page 416.)
5. (Optional) Preview colors using a soft proof.
After you create a document, you can use a soft proof to preview how colors will look when printed or viewed on a
specific device. (See “
Soft-proofing colors ” on page 420.)
Note: A soft proof alone doesn’t let you preview how overprinting will look when printed on an offset press. If you work
with documents that contain overprinting, turn on Overprint Preview to accurately preview overprints in a soft proof.
6. Use color management when printing and saving files.
Keeping the appearance of colors consistent across all of the devices in your workflow is the goal of color management.
Leave color management options enabled when printing documents, saving files, and preparing files for online
viewing. (See “
Printing with color management ” on page 422 and “ Color-managing documents for online viewing ” on
page 419.)
Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications
If you use Adobe Creative Suite, you can use Adobe Bridge to automatically synchronize color settings across
applications. This synchronization ensures that colors look the same in all color-managed Adobe applications.