I'm using Krita (can't find the version number, but it's a new download) on Windows 7 Pro.

To keep my print-on-demand book printer happy, I have to convert the RGB book cover file I've designed in GIMP to CMYK, at a maximum of 240% total ink coverage (TAC/TIC). Krita is a crucial part of that conversion chain, as its Specific Color Selector is the place where I can set the CYMK percentages to those required by the printer. I've adjusted the percentages in Krita, or it appears I have. But when I preview my colors in the final application (Adobe Acrobat Pro DC), my blacks are still sitting at 298%, as if I'd never gone through Krita at all.

Clearly, the CYMK percentage changes aren't getting applied or saved. Can someone here tell me what I need to do to make these changes stick? I've searched everywhere online to find out, but have gotten nowhere on it.

I realize this is a ridiculously basic question, but getting the answer will make all the difference in getting the book to press. Any help will be gratefully received.

(BTW--Tried to insert an image of what I'm attempting to do, but it wouldn't show up in the preview.)

From your description... did you replace the old color with the new one you selected in the specific color selector? Did you also convert the image to cmyk first?

TheraHedwig wrote:From your description... did you replace the old color with the new one you selected in the specific color selector? Did you also convert the image to cmyk first?

Thanks for responding.

Yeah, that's the problem, right there. Yes, I selected "CMYK/Alpha" as the Color Mode, and left the Depth at 8-bit. But do I need to do something else to actually convert the RGB to CMYK?

Similarly, I've changed the Profile to the required U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2, and reentered the percentages at 60% cyan, 40% magenta, 40% yellow, and 100% black/K, just the way IngramSpark wants them. I see a difference when I check Soft Proofing in the View menu. But do I need to do something more to confirm those changes? If so, what?

As I said, I'm willing to attach a screenshot, if someone can tell me the right way to go about it.

EDIT--- Just did some investigating in Scribus. (That's the app I'm using to convert the .tif files I'm working with in Krita to the .pdf Adobe Acrobat requires). The images I thought I'd edited into CMYK in Krita still read as RGB. So no, whatever I'm doing in Krita isn't changing anything.

Did you convert the image via image->convert image color space? Because I cannot identify if you just selected the appropriate color space in the specific color selector or also converted the image. Krita will convert that color to the image color space the instant you paint with it on the canvas. If you need to have a specific cmyk value, you will need to have the image data in cmyk first.

You can tell if your image is in cmyk by looking at the status bar.

TheraHedwig wrote:Did you convert the image via image->convert image color space? Because I cannot identify if you just selected the appropriate color space in the specific color selector or also converted the image. Krita will convert that color to the image color space the instant you paint with it on the canvas. If you need to have a specific cmyk value, you will need to have the image data in cmyk first.

You can tell if your image is in cmyk by looking at the status bar.

All right. Just went back and did the Image>Convert Image. I noticed that before, and even experimented with it, but thought it was a redundancy with the color selector.

The status bar says CMYK/Alpha now.

What's next?

EDIT-- To see what's happening while I waited for the next answer, now that I've converted the image color under the Image menu, I did the steps for getting the image into a pdf and opening it in Acrobat. Without doing anything to it there, I checked it with the Output Preview. Good, it came up right away in CMYK, U.S. Web Coated, etc. But the blacks are still sitting at 288%. So I still have work in Krita left to do.

Thanks for your ongoing help with this.