A simple tool designed to convert any PDF into a prepress-ready PDF/X document, ensuring your print projects are ready for professional-quality printing with accurate colors and reliable output.
This project was created to solve a personal need: replicating the CMYK output of Affinity Designer/Publisher on a Linux system using Inkscape.
To begin, create a PDF in your preferred application and then open it with Cyan PDF.
Before you can use Cyan PDF, you must configure the color profiles.
- Input Profiles: Set a fallback profile for each colorspace: RGB, CMYK, and GRAY. Cyan PDF will use these if your input PDF doesn't contain embedded profiles, or
Override Input Profilesis checked (default on). - Output Profile: Next, set the output profile for your target printer. Only CMYK and GRAY profiles are supported for output. You also need to specify the rendering intent and the black point compensation.
Once you have configured these settings, click Save.
sudo apt install ghostscript liblcms2-dev qt6-base-dev qt6-pdf-dev qt6-svg-dev
You will also need a collection of ICC color profiles.
- https://www.color.org/profiles2.xalter
- http://www.eci.org/doku.php?id=en:downloads
- https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/iccprofiles/iccprofiles_win.html
You can also get a basic set of profiles from the package manager:
sudo apt install icc-profiles
Always use color profiles recommended by the printer.
git clone https://github.com/rodlie/cyanpdf
cd cyanpdf
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr ..
cmake --build .
cmake --install .
or
cmake --install . --prefix /some/location
├── bin
│ └── cyanpdf
└── share
├── applications
│ └── graphics.cyan.pdf.desktop
├── doc
│ └── cyanpdf-0.9.1
│ ├── LICENSE
│ └── README.md
└── icons
└── hicolor
├── 128x128
│ └── apps
│ └── graphics.cyan.pdf.png
└── scalable
└── apps
└── graphics.cyan.pdf.svg