Colors in FM layouts

[FMHelp]

I am trying to get the colors in my FM layout to match certain CMYK colors. Everytime I enter the CMYK colors, FM changes them significantly. I know FM runs of RGB but does anyone know of a way around this besides randomly guessing colors - I need them to be very close to exact.

[AudioFreak]

There are programs out there that allow you to mouse over anything onscreen and it will give you the RGB settings for that color.

http://www.filedudes.com/RGB_Editor_2000-download-36078.html

There is prob more but this came up on first page searching google.

Maybe this one is better for your needs.

http://www.old-jewel.com/ppicker/page20/page20.html

Michael

Edited July 5, 2007 by Guest

[comment]

See here:

http://www.fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/247808/

There are programs out there that allow you to mouse over anything onscreen and it will give you the RGB settings for that color.

This functionality is included in Apple's native color picker.

[Vaughan]

Or the Digital Color Picker application, in the Utilities folder.

[comment]

Neither one will solve the color space conversion problem, however.

[m.v.peabody]

...we are assuming, of course, that by entering CMYK values you mean using the "sliders" on the menu available on the FM color pallette.

I've been in printing all my life and never found a RGB / CMYK conversion that made everybody happy. They all take some tweaking.

At the risk of adding to the file size and possibly making this way too difficult and kludgy, have you considered creating a piece of art to insert where the problem color is? Or is this more a matter of tweaking the color conversion?

[FMHelp]

I use it as a publishing tool - I know, its not the best program out there for this but that decision isnt up to me.

On the things I produce with FileMaker, there are ususally some colored headers as well as colored sections of charts that need to be pretty close to exact matches of my clients' logo colors. Using the color match tool (I have no idea what FileMaker actually calls this) isnt always an option.

[comment]

More information would be useful. How do you output from your publishing tool? IOW, how can you even tell that the colors do not match? Do you have any kind of color management system running? Can you give an example of CMYK values that you're having difficulty to match?

I don't know what you mean by "the color match tool".

[FMHelp]

The way I output my finished product from FileMaker is by running PDFs of the records. The issue is that I have clients providing me with the CMYK colors from their logos, I put them into FileMaker and then I send them to my printer and they come back very far off from the correct colors.

There are a lot of factors here that could be causing issues - Adobe, my printer, trying to put CMYK colors into FileMaker. I’m not sure where the issue is.

The color match tool I referred to is what we always refer to as the "eye dropper" I have no idea where that name came from! It is the magnifying glass on the colors pop-up screen that you can use to grab the color from something else.

[comment]

There are a lot of factors here that could be causing issues - Adobe, my printer, trying to put CMYK colors into FileMaker. I’m not sure where the issue is.

I am almost sure the issue is not Filemaker as such - that is, I believe you would have the same problem with any application that stores its colors as RGB.

This is a bit outside of my area, but here are some things I would try:

1. Try converting your CMYK values to RGB in Photoshop and/or in the ColorSync Utility, then pass the resulting RGB values to Filemaker.

2. Try outputting to PDF using the Save as PDF-X option.

Both of these are basically shots in the dark. The real solution is to use a color management system - but that is really outside the scope of this forum.

[m.v.peabody]

I think I've found a limitation in FileMaker, and would like to know if there are workarounds for this, be it in the form of plug-ins or something else.

When checking the preferences, FM allows a pallet maximum of 256 colors. Does this include imported art? If so, that may not be good enough to match a corporate logo.

You might also check the Acrobat Prefs, and turn color management off so you know that what you are printing is not being converted a second time. (For that matter, if you're still not satisfied with the color, try using any old conversion that program will offer...maybe something will be "close enough!")

I hope you find something that works. Keep us informed.

• also....I've been a printer all my life, and databases are a relatively new addition to my job description. So if you're having issues with Photoshop or other Adobe products, I might be more help to you there.

[comment]

There is no such limitation. Filemaker allows its native objects to have any one of the 16,777,216 colors of the full 24-bit RGB gamut. The palette preferences affect only the colors you can choose from instantly. Even if you have set it to 88 colors, you can always select 'Other Color...' and choose your color using Apple's color picker.

[m.v.peabody]

Thanks, comment. I feel better already. :