: Can I check whether plain black or rich black is used for text in a pdf? A design agency my company is using have created a flyer design for us. Upon print, it looks as if the body text

@Si6392903

Besides the answer DLev provided, you can open the pdf in other programs like Ilustrator and Corel Draw and use the normal eye droper.

But there is a chance the pdf you have is not a production pdf.

Sometimes an agency sends for a low resolution RGB file. RGB because it compresses better than CMYK on the embeded images.

Your best witness are the flayers themselves. Use a mesh counter.

There are two possible things here. If you see screen on the borders of the file and if you see difertent inks.

If you see screen there is a chance that the text not only was on rich black, but also flatened with the image.

But before asking some refund or something, ask yourself it the flyer is good enough as it is.

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@Jessie844

If you have Acrobat Pro, yes you can. I don't believe Acrobat Reader has this function.

(These instructions may vary depending on which version of Acrobat you use. I'm using Adobe CC 2015)


Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro.
Under the "Tools" menu (top left), choose "Print Production", which is under the "Protect and Standardize" section:





From the list on the right column, choose "Output Preview":




4: The "Output Preview" dialog box will appear. You can roll your cursor over any point in the document, and the color breakdown for that exact pixel will appear in the dialog box:



So to answer your question, if the text in your document shows 100% black and 0% other colors, you're good. If it shows a combination of CMYK colors including black, you have Rich Black text.

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