Quickly check whether your PDF uses CMYK or RGB color spaces — important for print accuracy.
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This tool scans your PDF to determine whether it uses the CMYK colour model, the RGB colour model, or a mix of both across its pages and images. It gives you a clear, colour-coded result so you know exactly what you are sending to print.
Commercial printing presses use CMYK ink, so RGB files will be converted during processing. That conversion can shift colours, especially vivid blues, greens, and oranges, in ways that are hard to predict. Checking the colour mode beforehand lets you manage those shifts intentionally rather than discovering them on a proof.
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black). It is a subtractive colour model where inks are layered on white paper, and it is the standard for commercial print production.
RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue. It is an additive colour model used for screens and digital displays. Colours that look vibrant on screen may not reproduce accurately when printed with CMYK inks.
A mixed-mode PDF contains some elements in RGB and others in CMYK. This inconsistency can produce unexpected colour differences between pages or between text and images. Standardising to one mode before printing avoids those surprises.
Yes, most print shops will convert RGB to CMYK as part of their workflow. However, you lose control over how that conversion happens. Pre-converting to CMYK with a known ICC profile gives you predictable results.
Use a PDF editor, Adobe Acrobat, or design software like InDesign to convert all colour spaces to CMYK before exporting. Applying a print-specific ICC profile during the conversion ensures colours match as closely as possible.
Analyze all color spaces used in your PDF including DeviceRGB, DeviceCMYK, ICC profiles, and spot colors.
Run a comprehensive preflight check on your PDF to see if it's ready for professional printing.
Check whether all fonts in your PDF are properly embedded — a common requirement for commercial printing.
Check the effective DPI of raster images in your PDF to ensure they meet print resolution requirements.
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