brochure color management help

dezign2 · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:23 pm Post subject: brochure color management help

Hi,

I recently created a brochure for a client. I sent it off to the printer via email as a .pdf document. The brochure is a one color document. However, they cannot print it because the print shop claims it is in CYMK mode. I thought I changed the color to read a Pantone solid uncoated color, but the print shop says it is still in CMYK. Then I converted it to grayscale, and that didn't work either. Please let me know how to change this document to show the Pantone color choice or to black and white without it still reading CMYK.

Thanks,
Cry

moondog · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

Hi dezign2,
This sounds simple, but with me, who knows. You SHOULD be able to open the file in Photoshop and then go to

IMAGE/MODE/RGB or GRAYSCALE or INDEXED

dog

dezign2 · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:37 pm Post subject: brochure color management help

That is exactly what I did; however, the print shop called and told me that my document cannot be printed the way it was sent, because I needed to pick a Pantone solid uncoated color and convert the document to that color. It is a one color document. They said it is still reading as CMYK document and when they convert it to a plate, the document wants to split the color into CMYK or 4 plates instead of one.

Do you know how to convert the document so that I will read as one color plate at the print shop? Does this have to do with Spot color channels? If so, can someone explain how to convert the document to spot color? I really need to get this worked out, as I am holding up the company's deadline for printing this document and it is rather embarassing on my end. Confused

Thanks,

moondog · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:40 pm Post subject:

sorry dezign2, this goes a bit beyond me .... I'm sure someone else will come along and offer you better advice.

combiBob · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:54 am Post subject:

Is this composed in Photoshop? InDesign? Quark? Are you telling your document to convert to CMYK when you make the pdf? Is the printer converting it when he plates it? The most obvious question. Is there ANYTHING in your document that's CMYK?

Reply in here and I'll ask around at work. (I'm also playing golf in about an hour with a guy who makes plates for a living. I'll ask him too.)

A lot of people just make the entire thing grayscale and have the printer print the black as Pantone xxx.

moondog · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:23 am Post subject:

hey combiBob, if I wasn't so one-dimensional, I might have thought to ask those questions. Now that you have asked them it occurs to me, but not before. Nice call! Good Luck with the golf game!

dezign2 · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:30 pm Post subject:

CombiBob,

I created the document in Photoshop. What I ended up doing is converting it to RGB and adding a channnel with the Pantone color choice. I'm not sure this is right, but when I check the document in the Channels pallet, the Pantone channel comes up as black, the R- channel is a gray color, the G-channel is another shade of gray as is the B- channel. The RGB channel shows the actual document in the Pantone color that I chose. I flattened the image and saved it as a .pdf file with the spot color box checked.

I am going to submit that to the printer tomorrow. Hopefully, I did it right this time. I always thought I understood the printing process, but I guess I really dont. I feel really stupid though. I cannot imagine that it is always this difficult to print a single colored document. Red Face

Thanks,

moondog · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:38 pm Post subject:

I will quickly share MY KNOWLEDGE of the printing process (limited as it is)

Mark: Sir, can you print this?

Printer: I'm not sure, let me look at it.

Mark: Okay

Printer: Okay we can print this

Mark: Great, please do!

combiBob · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:16 am Post subject:

design2,

OK. Here's the poop.

Sorry but your file is messed up. Your printer is right, and your latest fix to send them a .pdf made from a flattened RGB is also wrong. His rip software (that protects him from making plates on incorrect files) is probably stopping and telling him there's RGB in the file. You were right about this being WAAAYY harder than it should be.

The good news is the printer should be able to go into Print>Advanced settings in Acrobat and see what's what in the Ink Manager before he plates it.

In the future...

Grayscale images should be converted first to Duotone, then to Monotone, (your uncoated Pantone color) in Photoshop. They will probably need to be corrected using the curves supplied in the Monotone palette.

The rest of the job should be composed in a page make up program, like InDesign, Quark, or even Illustrator. You should never see anything on your screen that is not Pantone color. When you place or import the Monotone, you get the Pantone color in your swatches. Assign your text to this color. Click on the swatch to change it to a spot color. Then delete un-used swatches to avoid confusion (ha!)

A standard .pdf is made like the attached screen capture. That's it. My head hurts.

combiBob · Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:24 am Post subject:

Hey moondog,

Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure you're at least three-dimensional.

Cheers,

bp

PS, My golf game needs more than luck. But thanks.

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