: Image looks 'foggy' when exported as CMYK jpeg from Photoshop I'm editing an image for print and I've got it all set up how I want in Photoshop (cs5), but when I go to File > Save as

@Gonzalez368

I see that you are using picasa to view your image, picasa does not support CMYK jpeg as far as I can tell.

try using another software to view your image and see if that works.

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@Turnbaugh909

Printers, unless you have a full press with inkwells and rollers you clean, do NOT work with CMYK data. Every end user printer on the market expects and needs to see RGB data. Even many high-end "digital presses" expect to be sent RGB data.

What happens..


You send data to the printer
If that data is RGB, the printer converts the RGB to CMYK based on it's profile settings, then outputs.
If that data is CMYK the printer doesn't understand the data, so it assumes/converts it to RGB data, then converts it to CMYK based on it's profiles. Then outputs. You get a double color conversion this way which almost always changes color values.


I have never seen an end user printer on the market which requires, recommends, or expects you to send it CMYK data, even the most expensive, professional, end user printers want to see RGB data. You may want to check the user manual for your printer.

This is why, as you added, "the problem goes away" if you send the printer RGB data.

The comments don't make a great deal of sense. If the "print shop" specifies they need a CMYK image, then send them the correct CMYK image. But then JPG is an inappropriate format for CMYK. If you must send a CMYK image, save it as a .tif or .pdf and send that. Basically you're mixing and matching color spaces and formats in ways that will almost always yield undesirable results. If jpg, then RGB. If CMYK then tif.

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@Sent7350415

It seems like your exported JPEG image is using a different color space. While it's possible this is caused by the export process, it could be a number of other things, as well (the viewer program doesn't support color profiles for your .jpg, for example).

If possible, I'd suggest printing a sample of each image. While the discrepancy on your screen is annoying, it's more important to get the colors in the print correct, and then fix your monitor/software/OS combination to match those colors.

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