The purpose of this page is to clarify how Ashore handles files using different color profiles.
We recognize that the final destination of your proofs are often in a print formats. It is understandable, therefore, that the proofs you share with approvers might be exported in a print-ready color profile, or CMYK.
Unfortunately, files with a CMYK color profile do not always render correctly in internet browsers.
This is because there is not a perfect algorithmic way to convert CMYK to RGB. CYMK is a subtractive color system, and RGB is an additive color system. Each have different gamuts, which means there are colors that just cannot be represented in the other color system and vice versa. Both are device-dependent color spaces, which means that the color you get is dependent on which device you use to reproduce that color. This is why you have color profiles for each device that adjust how it produces color into something more “absolute”.
If your proof file type is a PDF, Ashore will attempt to display it correctly by automatically rasterizing it. Aside from converting the color profile, this process also attempts to mitigate the most common issues when displaying PDFs in internet browsers. When PDFs are exported for print, this process is more difficult for Ashore.
Our recommendation is to always use RGB color profiles when displaying files on the internet. This would include files you upload to Ashore.
If you are exporting a PDF from Adobe InDesign, for example, this would mean exporting for interactive. PDFs exported with interactive are natively RGB and purposefully setup for screen viewing.
