Plot to PDF in CMYK

[Mohawk]

I know most of the people here plot to pdf to send files to clients. I've been doing it for it for a long time now. Recently I've been sending pdf files to a client that is modifying them in CorelDRAW. They are telling me the files are not "true black".

My pen color is Black (RGB 0,0,0) And when the pdf file is opened in CorelDRAW it is Black (CMYK 0,0,0,255) or sometimes refereed to as 100% black, because it is 100% of the ‘Key’ black ink which is used. But "standard black" comes out as a dark gray in most printers.

Is it possible to plot my lines to CMYK, so I can get something like C-25% M-25% Y-25% K-100%? Or are they stuck converting the pdf files after I send them?

[rkent]

You can use True Color when assigning colors to a layer, you simply type in 25,25,25 for your example. I think you will have to use STB plot styles so AutoCAD will plot the true color.

[Mohawk]

Thanks for your input, but does STB work in CMYK?

 

I've done a little more research on this. In my Plot Style Table Editor, in AutoCAD 2008, when I click on "color", then "select color" I have a "True Color" tab. And this is in a color-dependent plot style table (CTB file). But it clearly states in that tab "True Color Stored as RGB:"

 

I was able to find this online.

 

"For those who do sophisticated color plotting, named plot styles (STB) offer one other advantage: They work with the new true-color options in AutoCAD 2004. Color-dependent plot styles are limited to the 255 colors of the traditional ACI (AutoCAD Color Index) palette. That's more than enough for production drafting, of course, but it limits people in the publishing world."

 

I guess I'm at little reluctant to try STB. But if I use STB for one client it shouldn't effect my other jobs. Right? Or would I have to have a workspace for STB and one for CTB? Or is it as simple as working with multiply CTB's? And does STB's work in CMYK? Which is my main concern.

[Mohawk]

Well I switched over to STB. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. But it still says; "True Color Stored as RGB:".

[rkent]

I think STBs are great. Look at the tab over from True Color and see Color Books Tab, Pantone has some CMYK choices although they may not give the values you are looking for.

 

It is easy to have drawings in CTB and others in STB. People make the mistake of constantly converting back and forth which is a mistake, pick one for that drawing and stay with it.

[Mohawk]

I just finished reading the CTB vs STB debate it this forum. I've been using CTB my whole career and now that I understand STB I think I'll use it as well. The only reason I see in working in CTB is for compatibility with other draftsman. There is also that acronym WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). Because of the extra options in STB you might increase the probability of making the mistake of having two red lines on your screen print with different line weights and not notice it until you plot. Not 100% sure if that's true. I don't want to continue the debate in this thread.

 

BTW. The Color Book is also available in CTB. I have to try some plotting to see if I can get a "True Black".

[rkent]

The colors are available in CTB but only for on screen, when plotting they are mapped back to the closest 255 colors.

 

As for STBs I still use bylayer and don't set color to the object level, that does get too hard to keep up with.