Tut Colorsep

8/10/2019 Tut Colorsep

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This presentation will walk you through a process where you cancreate simple color separations with Photoshop. The tutorial

should work with any version of the application unless otherwisenoted.

Color Separations in Photoshop

PS Color Separations - 2011


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Lets start with an eight colorimage that has basic colors. I amincluding white as a color so itdoesnt show a piece of paper inthe center.

I intentionally made mybackground colors lighter so itwould be easy to set up. If youhave darker background colors,

you may have to pull thesqueegee twice across thescreen to get good coverage.

* You could set up two blackseparations (shadows separatefrom the face pieces). I will onlybe using one.

Creating the Image



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When I set up my separations, Ibuild them by starting with thebackground images. Then middleand foreground.

In this example, we have agreen/grey BG, shadows in theMG and the face and tie in theFG.

Even those layers will breakdown further. Eyes and dotsmight be on the forward part ofthe face and bowtie.

* Before you begin colorseparations, think about theresolution of your image. Use200 dpi for the screen asopposed to the 72 dpi monitorresolution.

BG MG - FG



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Well go through a few methodsin this tutorial. Starting with theeasiest, we are going to selecteach color, copy, and paste.

Step 1:Make sure you are on the layerwith your image. If not, click thelayer and it will highlight.

Step 2: Were going to select thelight green color first. Go toSELECT>> COLOR RANGE

An EYEDROPPER will appearand you can select the green.The little image displayed shouldreflect your selection. You canplay with FUZZINESS to selectmore or less of the neighboringcolors. Hit OK and the marchingants marquee will appear.

Method 1: Selecting Colors



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Step 3: With the marching antsgoing, COPY and then PASTE. Anew layer will be created withonly the green color in it.

Step 4: Select the layer with theoriginal image and go throughthe color range selection processagain with the grey color.

Its hard to see here, but look athow some pixels in the face wereselected. That has to do withanti-aliasing in the image andfuzziness in the selection. Illclean it up when were done.

Now that you know the steps,you can do them from all of yourcolors.

Method 1: Creating the Layers



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Step 5: Ive finished with thecolor layers. I just picked them atrandom so now I need to reorderthe layers in the way I want toprint them. Your order might be

different.

To change the layer order, justclick and hold on the layer anddrag it above or below the otherlayers.

Step 6: Rename the layers soyou know how to use them. Ioften add numbers to the layerlabels so after printing I knowhow to expose them.

If you were to have two blacklayers, the numbers will help outin the end.

Method 1: Creating the Layers



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Step 7: Now we have to fix anyproblems in our separations.Using the selection method, youhave more control, but there aresome flaws you need to fix.

Turn off the layer with your imageby clicking the little eyeball.

Create a new layer below 01 byclicking the little icon that lookslike a folded piece of paper.

Use the paint bucket tool to fillthat new layer with a nasty colorthat is NOT in your design.

Now you can see the spaces inyour selections. Use theMAGNIFYING GLASS for a closelook. Magenta is my nasty colorof choice.

Method 1: Overlap and Trapping



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Notice how the grey and greenhave no problems. I createdthose colors with aliasing (nosmooth transition). Im still goingto have to fix them though.

You want the colors to overlap alittle when you print so that theedges match up. If you feel superconfident, you can do an overlapof 1/16 of an inch. If not, you cando as much as you want but try1/4 inch to start.

Step 8: Turn off the visibility onall the layers but green, grey, andthe magenta.

Were going to work our way upthe layers.




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Trapping (Wikipedia):Trapping is a prepress technique, also knownas spreading and choking. It consists ofcreating small overlaps between abuttingcolors in order to mask registration problemson the printing press later on in the graphicalproduction.

Step 9: The bottom layers are theeasiest. Were going to expandthe green so that when the greyprints it will overlap the green.

1 - SELECT >> ALL2 - Select the Move Tool3 Hit the UP ARROW once4 Hit the DOWN ARROW once

Now the marching ants should bearound the green area only.




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Step 10: To the Select MenuSELECT>>MODIFY>>EXPAND

Im using a 72 dpi image. For my1/4 inch coverage, I used an

expansion of 18 pixels. You haveto choose yours based on yourimage resolution.

After you hit OK you will see theselection range has changed.

Step 11: I need to fill the newspace now. To get the bestcoverage I use the GRADIENTtool in the same location of paintbucket. I create a gradient thatgoes from green to green. Thereare other ways, but I use thisone. Ill use the same tool tofinish the separation process.




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Lets hit the grey layer. We dontwant to expand this layerbecause the pattern looks good.However we need some overlapwhere it bumps against the

yellow and black layers.

Well use the paintbrush for thistask.

Step 13: Make the yellow, red,and black layers visible and settheir OPACITY at about 50% sowe can see where we need topaint.

Step 14: Select the PAINTBRUSH and start to paint usingthe grey color. You want tooverlap the colors to give you alittle leeway when printing.



My overlap is a bit large and Iused a lot of copy and pasting inaddition to the paintbrush. Youractions will be different, but the

key is to overlap.


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The red layer stood on its ownso it didnt need any work.

The yellow layer stood on itsown so it didnt need any work.

Notice that the magenta layer isdisappearing. Were covering upall the spaces between theoriginal color selections.

Method 1: The Rest of the Layers



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For the orange layer you couldhave used theSELECT>>MODIFY>>EXPANDcommand. I used the paintbrushbecause it was an easy shape towork with.

The blue layer got close, but didnot directly touch the yellowlayer. Since it was stand alone, Idid nothing.

Method 1: The Rest of the Layers



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Method 1: The Separations


So here they are ready to expose on your screen.


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Method 2: Indexing Your Colors


There are other methods for separating your colors. One is converting your image to an indexed colorimage and then setting up channels (next to the layers tab) for each color. You will still use the colorselection tools we used before, but its a bit more difficult to go in and overlap the colors.

Starting with your original image,

you convert it to an indexed colorimage. Say OK to flatten layers.

You want a custom color palette

and make sure you have 8 colorssince thats your goal. Also checkPreserve Exact Colors.

See the jagged edges and how

you have colors where you neverplanned them? Grays often getplaced in borders between othercolors. I just dont like it.

Use SELECT>>COLOR RANGE

to grab a color. Select theCHANNELS tab, and click themenu button and choose NewSpot Channel.


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Method 3: CMYK Separations


The last method of color separations is CMYK. Most professional printing services use CMYK colors(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key black). The big thing to remember is that sometimes colors shift whenyou convert RGB (monitor) colors to CMYK. You might not like the results. Separations are easythough. There are only four no matter how complex your image is. When you print them for screenexposure you will need to print as a halftone and this tutorial does not cover halftones.

Starting with your original image,you convert it to a CMYK colorimage. Say OK to flatten layers.

The RGB palette does not always match up to the CMYK palette. See howthe bright greens got shifted around in the conversion? The blue got it too.Its an art when you need to use CMYK printing, so just be aware.

And heres your new channelspalette all ready to print out. Justturn off the visibility for the layers

and you can print black and whiteimages (with halftones).

CYAN MAGENTA BLACKYELLOW


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So thats it. There are other ways to do these separations andyou will probably find another that works faster for you. We

never really talked about complex images. You will probably

need to develop custom methods for those separations.Consider this a starting point.

Color Separations in Photoshop


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