CREATIVE SUITE: 2

For this session we will be working in photoshop. Preparing work so that when it is printed digitally it will look the way it does on screen.

Along the title bar of the image we can see what colour mode the image / document is in.

image > mode: to change the colour mode.

The range of colour that you can produce with CMYK isn't the same as what you can produce with RGB. The CMYK gamut is larger that the rgb gamut.


RGB

CMYK

RGB is photoshops default mode and what it likes to work with. It allows you to use more filters and RGB files are much smaller.


Gamut warning to check if it will print effectively in CMYK

Adjustment layer to actively control the adjustments on your image.

Buy using black it creates a hole in the mask to adjust the image underneath.

Proof image

Works with the best of both worlds, turn on proof colours immediately before you start editing your image.

The default for proof colours which can be found in proof setup> is working with CMYK.

Preparing images for press

From Photoshop, you can prepare image files for offset lithography, digital printing, gravure, and other commercial printing processes.

Generally, your workflow depends on the capabilities of the prepress facility. Before you begin a workflow for commercial printing, contact the prepress staff to learn their requirements. For example, they may not want you to convert to CMYK at any point because they may need to use prepress-specific settings. Here are some possible scenarios for preparing your image files to achieve predictable printing results:

• Work entirely in RGB mode and make sure that the image file is tagged with the RGB working space profile. If your printer or prepress staff use a color management system, they should be able to use your file’s profile to make an accurate conversion to CMYK before producing the film and printing plates.
• Work in RGB mode until you finish editing your image. Then convert the image to CMYK mode and make any additional color and tonal adjustments. Especially check the highlights and shadows of the image. Use Levels, Curves, or Hue/Saturation adjustment layers to make corrections. These adjustments should be very minor. Flatten the file if necessary, then send the CMYK file to the professional printer.
• Place your RGB or CMYK image in Adobe InDesign or Adobe Illustrator. In general, most images printed on a commercial press are not printed directly from Photoshop but from a page-layout program like Adobe InDesign or an illustration program like Adobe Illustrator. For more information on importing Photoshop files into Adobe InDesign or Adobe Illustrator, see AdobeInDesign Help or the Adobe Illustrator Help.
  Here are a few issues to keep in mind when you work on an image intended for commercial printing:
• If you know the characteristics of the press, you can specify the highlight and shadow output to preserve certain details.
• If you use a desktop printer to preview the appearance of the final printed piece, keep in mind that a desktop printer cannot faithfully replicate the output of a commercial printing press. A professional color proof gives a more accurate preview of the final printed piece.

If you have a profile from a commercial press, you can choose it with the Proof Setup command and then view a soft proof using the Proof Colors command. Use this method to preview the final printed piece on your monitor.

to delete swatches in photoshop alt > right click 

Bottom cube = web safe

Top cube = gamut warning / safe

Save swatched with the files or work you are working with.

Save swatches = to save the colours for photoshop use

Save swatches for exchange = to use the swatches on different adobe software

Reset swatches: to obtain the default swatch pallet

Replace swatches: to get a specific swatch pallet you have produced

Colour libraries are similar to colour books in illustrator.

Click on the book and select a specific colour book to work from

You can't use spot / pantone colours on a RGB image because they are CMYK colours.

Duotone: two inks that can only be applied to a grayscale image.

how your new ink maps to the original black ink.

Channels Pallet: defines the amount of inks that are going to be used.

RGB

GREYSCALE

CMYK

We then worked on the greyscale image and attempted to add a spot colour.

by using the paintbrush making sure the foreground colour is black, you can paint over your image and the spot colour will appear.

You can click on your spot colour channel and change the colour also.

The solidity changes the depth of your colour. It's used to simulate the opacity that you wish to use.

If you right click on a channel you can duplicate it. Then double click on that channel to reveal channel options and you can also change the colour.

Only photoshop and tiff formats work with spot colours. Make sure spot colours are checked.

Next week we will be looking at printing and knocked out in indesign.