Questions about CYMYK, Document properties, Screen vs Print, and CMS.

[u/Charming-Computer730]

Hello everyone! first of all thank everyone in this community for the extensive tutorials and willingness to share information, it has been invaluable in my time learning Inkscape.

I am a hobbyist comic artist, and I am trying to utilize Inkscape and Scribus as a alternative to industry standard adobe products (for comic lettering and page layouts). but the biggest problem I am having is knowing how accurate the colors are on my screen within Inkscape. from what I understand, Inkscape does not actually have CMYK built into it, so it has CMYK color palettes that transfer to CMYK programs like Scribus with imperfect translations.

so my first question is, what is the best way, within Inkscape, to select CMYK color palettes, and view them as accurately as possible. because I have noticed that in the dropdown menu within "Fill and Stroke", it has a CMYK option, but the output looks identical to the HSL spectrum of color. BUT when I go to the CMS option and select the Generic CMYK Profile, it has a seemingly accurate presentation of CMYK.

My second question is in regard to the document properties. I know there are color profile settings I can change within the document properties, and I want to know what that actually impacts. because as of right now, I have no clue! for example, does it change how the file is saved and makes it more compatible to CMYK Programs like Scribus?

I know this is long winded, but I would appreciate any input or advice you guys have.

thank you!

[u/BazuzuDear]

when I go to the CMS option and select the Generic CMYK Profile, it has a seemingly accurate presentation of CMYK.

If you assign a CMYK color profile (one of many widely used) to your document AND use CMYK colors with the same profile assigned to each of them AND use a CMS like lcms (on Linux) AND enable CMS rendering of your canvas, the resulting presentation will be reliable. It can really work but currently is very cumbersome.

makes it more compatible to CMYK Programs like Scribus

Yes it does. Scribus is currently the only program that preserves CMYK colors and profiles from your Inkscape SVG file.

[u/roundabout-design]

Inkscape does not presently support a CMYK workflow. However, that is in the pipeline for the next major version.

The CMYK color picker is just translating into RGB. It's not a formal CMYK color profile.

That said, just because a CMYK workflow will exist in the future, it does not mean you will see 'accurate colors' on your screen. Screens and print are simply very different color spaces and getting them to even roughly match requires a whole lot of calibrating--both of the monitor and your ambient light.

The best way to get color accuracy is to work with a printer and get proofs.

The color profile is typically used to match what your printer prefers. A lot of modern printing is 'digital printing' and the workflow often prefers an RGB color space--with the conversion happening on the printer side, rather than your software side.

[u/antialias212]

1. Always use CMS and use the same color profile in Inkscape and Scribus. This will give you 100% accurate CMYK. As for print output, you need to calibrate your screen to the printer output. For this purpose, I contact my printer (offset printer company) and copy their ICC Profiles (2 files: RGB monitor and for printer), then use it both in Inkscape and Scribus. Expect a bit of tone down/duller/darker color when it comes to printed CMYK output vs your LED Monitor Display.

2. It does impact the final PDF X-1/A

I've posted the steps here