Why is "AlternateSpace" listed?

Spot colours have a fallback in process colour for on-screen preview and for printers that don't support the spot ink. Acrobat shows the alternate; the actual print uses the spot ink.

Does the tool flag duplicate spot definitions?

It deduplicates by ink name. Two different colour-space entries for the same ink show as one row.

Are the files uploaded?

No — pdf-lib reads the structure locally.

Why is "AlternateSpace" listed?

Spot colours have a fallback in process colour for on-screen preview and for printers that don't support the spot ink. Acrobat shows the alternate; the actual print uses the spot ink.

Does the tool flag duplicate spot definitions?

It deduplicates by ink name. Two different colour-space entries for the same ink show as one row.

Are the files uploaded?

No — pdf-lib reads the structure locally.

Spot Color Extractor

Walk a PDF's color spaces and list every spot (Separation) color used — names, alternate color spaces, and which pages reference them.

Your files never leave your browser. All processing happens on your device — nothing is uploaded.

1. Upload your file

Drop a PDF file here

or click to browse

How does the Spot Color Extractor work?

List every spot colour (Separation / DeviceN ink) referenced in a PDF, with the alternate process colour-space and which pages use each ink. Useful before sending to a printer to verify your ink count: a 4-process + 1-spot job (CMYK + Pantone 187) costs less than CMYK + 3 strays accidentally embedded from imported logos. Each entry shows the spot ink name (e.g. PANTONE 287 C), the alternate process space (DeviceCMYK / DeviceRGB / Lab) used for screen preview, and the pages where it appears.

🔒 Security & Privacy

All processing happens on your device. Your files never leave your browser, never touch our servers, and are not stored anywhere. Close the tab and the file is gone.

📱 Use it on any device

Works in any modern browser — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android, and tablets. No installation, no app to download. Just open the page and start.

⚡ Quick & easy

Drag, drop, click. Most files process in seconds, not minutes. No watermarks added to your output, no per-day limits, and the tool always shows the result before asking you to download.

🎁 Always free, no signup

Free to use, every time. No account creation, no email required, no “trial” that converts to a paid plan. We make money from ads so you don’t have to pay.

Frequently asked

Pre-mixed inks (typically Pantone) used for exact colour matching that CMYK process can't reproduce. Common in branding (corporate logos), packaging, and high-end print.