Planet Photoshop

Once You’re In CMYK Mode, Stay There

July 23, 2008 by Corey Barker Tip of the Day 3 Comments

You’ve read some techniques in this chapter that require you to be in either RGB mode or Lab Color mode; however, if for any reason your image is already in CMYK mode, do not (I repeat, do not) convert to RGB or Lab mode for any reason. Once you’ve converted to CMYK mode, the data loss from the conversion has already occurred, and switching back to RGB mode won’t bring back those lost colors. What’s worse is, if you switch from CMYK to RGB (or Lab), when you convert back to CMYK mode, you’ll go through another CMYK conversion and damage your image even more. The moral of this story is-once you’re in CMYK mode, stay there.

Posted by Corey Barker

Corey is the newest education and curriculum developer for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. He is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art & Design in Sarasota, Fl, with a degree in Illustration. Over the years, Corey has worked as a graphic artist in a variety of disciplines such as illustration, commercial design, large format printing, motion graphics, web design and photography. His expertise in Photoshop and Illustrator have earned him numerous awards in illustration, graphic design and photography. Using Photoshop since Version 2, his expertise and creativity have evolved exponentially with every new version, which makes Corey an invaluable addition to the NAPP team.

3 comments on “Once You’re In CMYK Mode, Stay There”

  1. Suddenly, in the last two weeks, I cannot access CMYK mode in Photoshop. It is not grayed out… it has completely disappeared from the list. I use this feature every week to convert files for offset printing. I’m using Photoshop 10.0.1 (CS3) with Mac OS 10.5.7

    Something else that happened… the Photoshop desktop takes over the entire monitor. I cannot have two images visible at the same time.

    Very bizarre. Very counter-productive

    HELP!

    Reply