I’m designing a book with many grayscale images. In the past single channel grayscale images tend to look rather flat. As a result, this time around I’m thinking about converting all GS images to CMYK, hoping that four inks will produce a richer looking image than one. Any thoughts on how best to achieve what I’m looking for (without using duotones)?
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You could do this if the printer and you are OK spending the money to print 4 color B&W. You might want a CMYK profile that has pretty high GCR so a lot of black ink is used in the mix and be careful the profile and conversions are good as I expect you want neutral B&W printed in 4 color (not all that easy). You can also load a CMYK profile into the Grayscale setup (in color settings) should you end up wanting to print with only black but using the CMYK profile for producing a conversion based on only the black plate. I’d have a serious conversation with your printer before you do ANYTHING.
Something I forgot to mention. The book will have many color images too, and will be printed as 4 color process. Adding Pantone inks is not a possibility, so there goes the duotone idea.
You might try pasting the grayscale in all 4 channels of a CMYK file, then impart a curve on the C,M & Y to devoid the highlight – 1/4tone of value, starting the seps somewhere in the 1/4 tone to midtone range, proceeding to a 50% cyan shadow and 40% mag and yel shadow.
This will print more neutrally than a standard CMYK conversion or even a heavy GCR separation both of which will rely on C,M & Y to create the highlight – 1/4tone range.
Replacing that with a single color black, then adding under-color to the mid-3/4-shadow range will provide extra depth and richness without creating neutrality problems on press.
While Ann’s black and gray duotone is by far the best solution, the above method may be used in a 4 color job and does not require a spot ink.
I’m with Ann also. Use a 5th color black. It should only add hundreds of dollars to a project. (I suspect that’s not an-arm-and-a-leg in book publishing)
What I’ve done in the past is to take the greyscale file and copy the channel from that file, paste it into a CMYK document as a color fill layer mask.
That way you can retain the greyscale files "status" and control the 4 color build as you need fit. It’s basically a reversable color space separation routine between greyscale and CMYK. You can then blend any custom mix in_FULL_ non linear fashion. If you want to adjust the CMY, just change the solid fill values. If you want to adjust the tone of the image, you adjust the black channel, via a color curve adjustment layer. If you want to create a colorized effect to a greyscale you change the color fill layer_OR_adjust the curve to your liking.
You should convert the image from the "correct" assigned greyscale color space to a linear, SWOP standard.
and yes, were going all the way, no stopping, the next town is motown!
Put that in the book and smoke it Andrew, Um sir…dude!
Okay, these are some great ideas. Here’s the other catch. I have at least 200 images that I need to perform this kind of magic on. Can I automate one of these techniques (Mike Ornellas’, for example) with an Action?
Only if an action can transfer info from one document to another. (not sure)
OR
You could set up the CMYK color space in the color settings to the old color look up tables with black generation set to max. This will give you a K only separation in CMYK. You can then work the script from there. Unfortunately the image will be somewhat flat due to the fact that the color space(s) of the look up tables, for the most part, suck. This wouldn’t be my first choice.
When dealing with a 4 color mix, with images that range from mostly light or mostly dark or whatever, It’s difficult to just tell you to run an action. Some images may need more CMY due to the tonal shaping.
In conclusion:
Due to the behavior of Quadtones, I’d stay away from things like automatic or batching.
And like Andrew says, you better talk to the printer before you send the job down the pipe or it may pass the processing plant and go directly into the ocean.
If it already hasn’t come to you, everyone here, this working methodology is the replacement for the duotone mode, but with far better, "accurate" previews along with better image control. The duotone mode UI is a real pain.
We could go even deeper to say that it will also be the solution for multichannel spot color documents, but I don’t want to hurt people too much this weekend.
We could also say that this is part of the,-Um,- bigger picture to change the world, and to "think" like Mike.
…. I don’t know about portable solutions for deaf people, but some use phones quite successfully.
Scott’s experimenting with CMYK (in hopes of better blacks) shows that he’s an outsider looking in and asking for guidance. Than he insults some (half?) of the pros who could help. (beggars shouldn’t be choosers)
Scott’s experimenting with CMYK (in hopes of better blacks) shows that he’s an outsider looking in and asking for guidance. Than he insults some (half?) of the pros who could help. (beggars shouldn’t be choosers)
Um, and how exactly did I insult anyone? Sorry if I did (?) but I’ve barely participated in this thread as anything more than a listener.
Ann, You forget that we are free not only to criticize but to defend as well : ) (if I was harsh, it’s because this thread has nothing to do with politics)
