Tip of the Week: Viewing Color-blind Previews of Your Pages

How to view an InDesign layout as it would appear to someone with color blindness by exporting to PDF and viewing in Illustrator

This InDesign tip on viewing color-blind previews of your pages was sent to Tip of the Week email subscribers on May 31, 2018.

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Want to see what your layout might look like to someone with color blindness? InDesign itself doesn’t have a feature that will help you, but Illustrator does! Just export your file to PDF and open it in Illustrator.

PDF Import Options dialog box in Illustrator

PDF exported from InDesign opened in Illustrator

Then choose View > Proof Setup > Color blindness

The two kinds of color blindness that Illustrator can simulate are Protanopia and Deuteranopia. Here’s an explanation of the difference from Colourblindawarness.org:

Protanopia

Protanopes are more likely to confuse:-
1. Black with many shades of red
2. Dark brown with dark green, dark orange and dark red
2. Some blues with some reds, purples and dark pinks
3. Mid-greens with some oranges

Deuteranopes

Deuteranopes are more likely to confuse:-
1. Mid-reds with mid-greens
2. Blue-greens with grey and mid-pinks
3. Bright greens with yellows
4. Pale pinks with light grey
5. Mid-reds with mid-brown
6. Light blues with lilac

You can also learn more about color blindness and other vision-related issues in the glossary of ophthalmological terms at opticiancertification.org
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This article was last modified on July 7, 2021

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