Color Management Defaults at the Project Level

Question

From everything I've found here and elsewhere, it seems that in ArcGIS Pro, you can set default color models and profiles at the application level, and you can set them for individual project items, but you can't change the default at the project level. Is that correct, or am I missing something?

I also see that in editable styles, one of the options is to change the default color model for new items. However, if you add a style to a project, that doesn't seem to override the default--i.e., if your application default is RGB, but the style default is CMYK, new items are still created in RGB. That makes sense, since there are multiple styles available in any project, so ArcGIS wouldn't automatically know which style's default model to use. So, is there a way to specify for a project that you want to use the default color model from a particular style? And if not, then what is the purpose of being able to change the default model within a style?

JeremyWright · Answer

ah, understood.  Sorry for the confusion!

So as far as I understand it what you are asking for is a way to override the application defaults per-project.  I don't think such a thing exists, though project templates MAY provide some of what you're looking for. Unfortunately I don't think such a mechanism exists.  I'll ping the map authoring team in case they have any further guidance regarding style usage as a way around this.

JimGrode · Answer

Sorry, I think maybe my question wasn't clear. I realize defaults apply only to newly created items, not existing items. What I'm trying to figure out is whether I can essentially create different defaults for new items created in different projects. For example, Project A will have multiple maps, layouts or other items, created over time, that will be exclusively used in online applications, so it would be preferable for new items to be created in the RGB color space; Project B will be used for printed applications, so it would be preferable for new items to be created in CMYK. I realize that when working in Project A, I could set the application default to RGB, then when I move to Project B, I could switch the application default to CMYK, and then go back again when I return to Project A, etc. Or I can keep the application default as RGB and then when I create new items in Project B immediately change the color space to CMYK. What I'm looking for is a way I can keep the application default as RGB, but specify that new items in Project B should, by default, be created in CMYK, so I don't have to do that manual switching.

From my continued research, unless there's something hidden deeply and not well documented, it doesn't appear there's a way to do this directly through the project options, but I'm still hoping there might be a workaround such as by using styles.

JeremyWright · Answer

There's a lot of doc on color management, but here is the short version of the story:

1. the options in the color management subtab of the options dialog set the default for NEW project items, and also set the conversion options which affect what happens when you move something between two different color spaces.

2. the options on each project item (map, layout) are what is used for that item when it is the _Destination_ for a color conversion.

3.  you have TWO (RGB and CMYK) profiles because any color copied into the project item from another source (such as another style) will still need to be converted into the appropriate destination colorspace (e.g. Adobe RGB style->sRGB layout)

For full documentation see https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/projects/color-managed-project-items.htm