black is causing a headache

[Bobby]

Hi guys!!

I've got a few questions about black.
At the moment I'm making a magazine for my graduation assignment.
The magazine consists only of black and white and grayscale photo's.
Now I've got a few questions since I'm kinda lost in the world called cmyk, rgb, adobe and printing.
The problem is that i use rgb photoshop files and cmyk illustrator files and I tend to mix those as well. (I make photoshop collages and I throw in vectorized illustrator images).
When I make pdf's of those files I get all kinds of blacks (and also dark gray) which looks horrible. Now my question is, is this only on screen or will this also show when it's printed?
I've been reading a lot about it (the black settings in illustrator etc.) but for some reason everybody recommends another setting.
I've started experimenting a bit. The only cmyk setting (in my eyes) that comes close to rgb black is c60 m40 y40 k100. Is this too 'rich' ?
Also (my second question). I have al these big 300 dpi photoshop files which i use as backgrounds of my spreads in Indesign. I tend to insert them as photoshop files in indesign so i can alter things afterwards if i need to. Is this a recommended way of working? Or does my pdf gets too big in the end? (let's say 30 spreads). I have no clue if there's any limitation to how big a pdf at max should be.
Any answer would be highly appreciated!!

[spiceroy]

noooo it will also show in printing.. if u get it printed professionally make sure all images/vectors are in cmyk-colour scale...and for sexy black always use: c20, m30, y20, k100... it wont get any deeper than that and i prevents too much bleeding of the ink coz of oversaturation

i also use psd files in indesign (cmyk 300 dpi)... better save than sorry..takes a bit longer to process but it works fine. there no max at a pdf... some single magazine pages can take up to 80 mb if u use many layers/images etc

so main thing: get rid of RGB (thats only for monitor colour) and work all in the same colour scale! (also turn off colour profiles when saving as the psd)

hope i was a little bit helpfull...

[Bobby]

Thanks for the reply!!

Do you use cmyk mode for photos too?
I've always been taught to keep photos in rgb (there's so much discussion about this too) so i got kinda confused when I throw cmyk vectors and rgb pictures in one photoshop file.
I've tried your black settings but when i export to pdf it turns kinda purple-brown' ish. Is this normal?
One more question: what setting do you use for displaying blacks in illustrator? rich black or accurate? (display mode and export mode please). Thanks again!!!

[spiceroy]

no no...change everything thats used for print to ink colours (CMYK)... everything thats for screen/web to screen colours (RGB)...

if u throw a cmyk vector into a rgb psd-file it will still be converted to the rgb colour modes u save the file in

as for the pdf...what are your pdf settings? u can choose to preserve colour spaces, or force it all to cmyk. just make sure ure not makin a rgb pdf in the end it should just look black if ure screen is calibrated...

u got full edition Acrobat? than u can look at the colour seperations to see what the actual colour is gonna be

choose for accurate. that way u will be able to tell the difference between black (0,0,0,100%) and rich black (20,30,20,100%). u will also notice that big normal black fonds will automatically overlay on their background...creating weird unwanted effects.