I am creating a CMYK document. After converting a reference photo to CMYK I imported it into my DRAW file. I will use that to pick colors.
The problem: the eyedropper tools work correctly capturing CMYK colors as long as it is not in a powerclip. If I place that image in a powerclip the eyedropper tool only sees RGB.
Is there a setting somewhere that I need to make or am I stuck just working outside of the Powerclip? I have plenty of alternative ways to workaround this issue, just didn't know if this was a bug or something.
CORRECTION: It's not the Powerclip at all. It has to do with whether or not I have the layer locked. Unlocked = CMYK, locked=RGB. ???
Also, changing the Edit Across Layers setting seems to be a problem as well.
I believe it works something like this:
When an object is inside a PowerClip, it becomes a part of the PowerClip container, and when you measure the color values with the eye-dropper you get the same color model as the clip container.If the container doesn't have any fill, it reads the document color mode default instead.
/Ronny
“The ability to think differently today from yesterday distinguishes the wise man from the stubborn” John Steinbeck
Thanks, that works. Very strange though. That doesn't explain the Edit Across All Layers issue though. I wonder what THAT is all about.
Interestingly, the color picker picks the white background of the doc as RGB. I wonder if I don't have the color profile set correctly.
OK, so now there is now no powerclip. Locking the layer that contains the image or turning on the Edit Across all Layers is what is now affecting the color pick tool.
Bill Fehr:the color picker picks the white background of the doc as RGB.
Bill Fehr:Locking the layer that contains the image or turning on the Edit Across all Layers is what is now affecting the color pick tool.
Not sure about the Edit Across all Layers issue though. I don't get it here.
Bill Fehr:Also, changing the Edit Across Layers setting seems to be a problem as well.
Profiles will only affect the numbers not the model, IE. RGB will be RGB but there may be a number shift if not imported correctly.
David Milisock
Also the powerclip and layers issues for a sample image are an easy work around, the issue is that CorelDRAW is a really sophisticated program allowing more then one colo rmodel in a file so there is no correct resolution to the layer/powerclip eyedropper issue.
I know there are ways to do this but why should I have to?
When you don't know any different I guess this is acceptible but I can't help but compare this to how Illustrator works. With Illustrator, this is not an issue. This is what is frustrating for me with Corel. They start to have some real cool features in their software (like the color pallet update) but then still have these issues that require "workarounds." It's just silly.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Bill Fehr:I know there are ways to do this but why should I have to?
Because you're using a real program with page layout, and multi-color mode capabilities, not Illustrator. Try using Illustrator to do a multi-page, multi-color model file, you'll see what I mean. Illustrator is CorelDRAWs capability challenged cousin. For that matter creat ea 208" x 208" document in Illustrator. CorelDRAW is a real sign program, period.
Oh boy, didn't want to get this old debate started. :-)
David is right. Illustrator is limited to one color model, while Draw can handle both CMYK and RGB in the same document.Moreover, Draw can sample colors from the UI, meaning even outside Draw, when in "Select from desktop" mode. You cannot do this in Illustrator.
You didn't start a debate you just expect a real graphics application to act like a one trick pony. I don't want CorelDRAW to act like Ilustrator or I'll be back to the low profit matgin world of Adobe graphics.
Hi Bill,
I am afraid this problem mostly comes from misunderstanding of how Draw works:
Bill Fehr:I am creating a CMYK document.
You are not, not really. CorelDraw color architecture does allow mixing different color models (RGB/CMYK/LAB/HSL/Grayscale/DeviceN) . It is incorrect to compare Draw's color architecture to Adobe Illustrator's, if you have to compare it you should choose InDesign or Acrobat Pro. In Illustrator you can create CMYK document, which will force you to use CMYK colors. CorelDraw and InDesign will not force you, this is more flexible but also less forgiving. If you want to use RGB color in your "CMYK" document, neither application will raise a single warning, and it shouldn't. The price to pay for this flexibility is that sometimes it becomes ambiguous which color model to show in the color picker. Consider mesh that has CMYK, RGB and LAB colors. What would you show for any point between mesh nodes? This is where this "silliness" is coming from.
First, when you create Draw document with CMYK as primary color model application will tweak your workflow to be predominantly CMYK, but this is profoundly not the same as CMYK document in Illustrator. Second, your document by default is created without the background. Your screen is your canvas. You lay your CMYK image on the RGB screen. To show screen as CMYK would be a lie. Again, if you insist on "silliness" this is exactly what InDesign will show too.
The solution is to assign white CMYK background to your Draw document. This way color picker will not sample any screen canvas, but rather the CMYK background. As far as the background is CMYK, even if you lock the layer, it will still show colors of your locked CMYK image as CMYK.
The fact that it works differently if you do not have CMYK background and lock layer is probably a bug in Draw, at least I do not see any obvious technical reason for it to do so. But again, I wouldn't yet rush to conclusions. In any case what is going on is counter intuitive, but may be just a notch better than InDesign's way of not letting you to sample colors for locked layer at all. I think there are things that can be done to improve color picker in Draw, but these changes require some caution.
Gennady