Reply To: Dull Image Colours and Transparencies

Check your PDF export color conversion — the colors are probably converted to CMYK at that point.

Also, if I wanted to get a job lot of these printed with a commercial printers using a document exported to pdf/x1a are the dull colours as displayed in the pdf, and not the bright colours, printed? If so, this would be a real shame.

Ask if he accepts PDFs in RGB color space. If so, his printer may have an internal RGB-to-CMYK conversion, which usually is much better than InDesign's, because it can use the full technical capabilities of that particular printer and its ink or toner.

(But the colors won't ever be as bright as they appear on screen. The screen is a lamp and emits light, where paper only reflects it.)