DESIGN FOR PRINT WORKSHOP 2 - photoshop

Colour modes

- title bar on photoshop will tell you title of image, percentage you're viewing at and colour mode

- RGB = default colour mode of photoshop images

- scanned images, images from digital cameras will automatically be in RGB

- RGB isn't the same colour mode that we need for print, need CMYK

- if RGB, have to address the fact that there will be a broader spectrum of colour available

- more colours can be represented on screen with RGB than can represented on paper with CMYK

- gamut = range, great colour gamut in RGB

- RGB files are smaller

- to change mode, image menu > CMYK

- brightness and saturation of colour will decrease until it is possible to print

- to check that you are not working with un-printable colours, you can check by turning on the gamut warning

Original and gamut warning images

- vibrancy makes a colour sit outside of the CMYK range (very saturated and bright colours)

Fixing un-printable colours

1. decrease the saturation, which will decrease the gamut warning, pulls back the out of gamut colours

2. adjust the levels of brightness

3. to refine this, only change the areas that have the gamut warning on top of them, this can be done by creating a mask/adjustment layer

- proof colours: this displays on screen how the image will look if you were to convert it to CMYK

- before image is saved, convert to CMYK mode

Applying colour

- foreground and background colour tool

- colour palette

- swatches palette

- to delete swatches press 'alt' and click on them, save the swatch palette with at least one colour in so that you don't have to do this again

- 'save swatches for exchange' can be used in order to bring an illustrator or indesign palette over into photoshop

- on colour palette, a symbol will show if your colour is out of the gamut range

- on colour palette, a cube symbol means that the colour isn't safe for web

Spot colours

- spot colours can be accessed by clicking on the foreground colour > colour libraries

- to find a colour, simply type in the reference number

Duo-tone

- greyscale image, two colours, spot colour is over printed allowing you to accent the grey scales within the original image

- duo tone only becomes available when image is greyscale

Monotone

Duotone

Channels

- channels palette, defines colours within an image

- how photoshop stores info about the colours in an image

- always black, white or greyscale - don't contain any colour

- dark areas on image display how much of that particular colour is in that area

- creating spot colours in channels

- this technique can be used to tell the printers what areas to print with a particular finish

- reference can be given so that area can be printed in a certain way

- spot varnishes etc

- save as tiff or photoshop file **make sure spot colours is checked** can't save with spot colours as a jpg