Working in CMYK mode but the colors turn out different when saving the file?

Question

I was working in CMYK mode in Illustrator, saved in CMYK mode, but why did the colors turn out different? I saved the image in a JPG file.

I don't know if this is bug or not, but I also dragged the vectors into a PDF using Illustrator that someone gave me and the colors were fine. For the PDF, I clicked the CMYK color mode as well. Also, I have no such issues with color in RBG mode.

Did I do something wrong with how I input the colors or something? I also have the same issue with Photoshop. I added the colors using CMYK, not using the color hex codes.

Answer 1

Most image viewers and web browsers don't support CMYK jpegs, even though Photoshop can save them in CMYK mode. Jpegs should be in RGB mode, specifically saved with an sRGB colour profile embedded . That's the standard for the web.

It's fine to work in CMYK mode in Photoshop, but when you want to export a jpeg for the web use File > Export As, choose JPG as the format, choose the option to Convert to sRGB, and choose the Embed Color Profile option.

It's also possible to export a CMYK image as an RGB JPEG from Illustrator using File > Export As. The export dialog is a little different. Choose JPEG as the format, and Embed ICC Profile. Illustrator will automatically change the profile to sRGB.