LR's newest bug?

[digitaldog]

Try Print to JPEG and select a CMYK profile. On Mac*, the progress stalls "preparing file" forever. Apparently on Windows, an error pops that the profile is no good. Anyone able to actually print to JPEG to CMYK? Is this yet another bug the team forget to test?


*Build 1060496

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Just tried. You are correct.

[digitaldog]

Just tried. You are correct.

Mac or Windows?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Mac.

[Alan Goldhammer]

I just tried this on Windows and no image appears in the document and I don't get any error message.  I double checked with the same image and one of my standard printer profiles and it works just fine.  I tried two of the packaged generic CMYK files and both show nothing but when looking at the file properties some data is in the file.  Pretty weird

[JeanMichel]

LR's contribution to the cmyk is strictly limited to the soft-proofing preview. LR cannot process cmyk. According to Jeff Schewe, in the LR 6 LULA video, the cmyk preview was just a low hanging fruit feature for LR. To process cmyk you need to go to PS, and since you have to go to PS you should do your soft-proofing there too. Given that, I am unlikely to ever use LR to view cmyk soft-proofs.

I prepare many images for offset printing; my workflow is to process the images in LR, then 'edit a copy in PS' make all the necessary changes in PS, including image size, bit depth to 8 bits, change colour to cmyk, output sharpen, soft-proof and make the additional changes, and then save that file for eventual inclusion in an InDesign document.

Jean-Michel

[digitaldog]

LR's contribution to the cmyk is strictly limited to the soft-proofing preview. LR cannot process cmyk.

Yes, it can in later versions! It's just broken in terms of saving a JPEG using a CMYK profile (see, SWOP V2 selected?):



http://blog.conradchavez.com/2015/04/21/lightroom-6-and-cc-first-impressions/
Soft proofing and printing now accept CMYK printer profiles. Previously you could select only RGB-based profiles for the soft-proofing feature and in the Print module. Now you can also select CMYK output profiles. This is not full CMYK support since you can’t edit in CMYK, but it’s an important addition and it brings Lightroom up to par with Adobe Camera Raw, which added CMYK profile support a while ago.

[JeanMichel]

Hi again,
I just tried to print an image to a cmyk, swop, jpg. As you noted earlier, LR just will not generate the file. Makes sense since the file is in rgb and there is no way for LR to convert rgb to cmyk (except for the soft-proofing preview). Profiles do not do conversions.
Jean-Michel 

[digitaldog]

As you noted earlier, LR just will not generate the file. Makes sense since the file is in rgb and there is no way for LR to convert rgb to cmyk (except for the soft-proofing preview). Profiles do not do conversions.

I don't believe either point is correct JeanMichael. The profiles IS supposed to convert the data. That it doesn't is the bug IF we are to believe what Conrad wrote below. Now maybe the bug is, CMYK profiles showing up. But I don't think so. ACR, LR's big brother CAN convert to CMYK using the profiles that show up, LR should too.

[digitaldog]

I just tried this on Windows and no image appears in the document and I don't get any error message.  I double checked with the same image and one of my standard printer profiles and it works just fine.  I tried two of the packaged generic CMYK files and both show nothing but when looking at the file properties some data is in the file.  Pretty weird

This is what one gets on the Mac IF one selects Print to PDF. A blank appearing image.

[JeanMichel]

I don't believe either point is correct JeanMichael. The profiles IS supposed to convert the data. That it doesn't is the bug IF we are to believe what Conrad wrote below. Now maybe the bug is, CMYK profiles showing up. But I don't think so. ACR, LR's big brother CAN convert to CMYK using the profiles that show up, LR should too.

I still  think that there is no need to try to twist LR to do something it is not designed to do. CMYK conversions are a PS job. I quickly ran some queries and find that Jeff Schewe, who is pretty closet the LR team states that LR does not process cmyk; and then I found this from Eric Chan regarding query about cmyk and ACR:
Eric Chan, Camera Raw Engineer
593 Posts   97 Reply Likes
Official Response
As Steve explained, our imaging pipeline in Camera Raw is entirely RGB-based. You can import CMYK data but internally it will be converted to RGB.

Processing cmyk files is usually vey specific to the final press settings: exact image size, paper, halftone screen size, output sharpening for the halftone, whether or not any type of varnish or coating may be applied to,and so on. Not a job for LR, which normally output to an rgb device.

Jean-Michel

[digitaldog]

I still  think that there is no need to try to twist LR to do something it is not designed to do. CMYK conversions are a PS job.

I'm not sure you're paying attention to the recent version of LR CC, it WAS designed to convert to CMYK! It's a new feature! It's broken yes but the fact remains:
1. There IS the ability now to select CMYK ICC Profilers in LR's Print module.
2. CMYK ICC profiles are what's necessary to convert the data to CMYK!
3. ACR which is usually on feature parity with LR and CAN convert to CMYK has this feature.
4. At least one author, writing up the NEW features of LR CC state it can convert to CMYK.

Processing cmyk files is usually vey specific to the final press settings: exact image size, paper, halftone screen size, output sharpening for the halftone, whether or not any type of varnish or coating may be applied to,and so on. Not a job for LR, which normally output to an rgb device.

I'm aware of that fact and that's exactly what a proper CMYK ICC Profile is designed to do! In ACR or, presumably in LR. Now if you have actual info from the LR team that they screwed up and provided the ability to select CMYK profiles IN the Print Module, provide it. Either way, it's a bug.
This has NOTHING to do with importing CMYK data or processing it in the RGB pipeline! It's about running the RGB data through a CMYK ICC profile. Just as it does in Print with RGB ICC profiles.