Photoshop CS3 for Screen Printers- P19

Chia sẻ: Cong Thanh | Ngày: | Loại File: PDF | Số trang:30

Thêm vào BST

Báo xấu

55
lượt xem 12
download

Download Vui lòng tải xuống để xem tài liệu đầy đủ

Photoshop CS3 for Screen Printers- P19: The toolbox is the heart of Photoshop CS3, and where you’ll find the tools you need to create your artwork and perform editing tasks. From the toolbox you can access the selection tools, shape tools, type tools, Crop tool, and eraser tools. These are basic tools that any screen printer or graphic artist needs.

Chủ đề:

Bình luận(0) Đăng nhập để gửi bình luận!

Lưu

Nội dung Text: Photoshop CS3 for Screen Printers- P19

This page intentionally left blank.
Chapter 29 Printing Color Separations So, you’ve created your design and are ready to print it out. You’ve pre- pared the image for printing, whether it is a one- or two-color spot color design, a four- or five-color indexed color design, or a multichannel pro- cess color design. For the spot color and indexed color prints, you’ve pulled the spot channels and tweaked them. For process prints, you’ve lightened, satu- rated, and corrected color contaminations. You’ve used unsharp masking and done various tweaks on the design, including color correction. You’ve created the CMYK color separations, created a white printer, underbase, and/or highlight white plate if needed, created spot colors if needed, and you have the channels in the correct print order in the Channels palette. You might have even created a shirt color channel to see how the design will look on a particular color of shirt. In this chapter, we learn how to print out the images that you’ve cre- ated, including spot color, indexed color, and process color images. There is an overlap in the directions to enable you to jump directly to the sec- tion that contains the information you need without having to read the rest of the chapter. . Note: In this chapter we work through the print configuration process using files I’ve included on the companion CD. You’ll have to adapt these settings to match the needs of the files you’ll be working with in your own shop. 517
518 Part VI / Printing Double-check the Color Settings Before we get started with the actual print process, let’s verify that the settings in the Color Settings dialog box are correct. These settings should be configured already, but if you didn’t start at the beginning of this book and read each chapter in order, they might not be set properly. ] Tip: If you worked through Chapter 5, you can skip this part. Work through the following steps to verify that you have the correct set- tings. These settings should have been configured before converting any RGB image to CMYK, and if they weren’t, you’ll need to set them and perform the CMYK conversion again. Photoshop uses these settings to perform optimal separations for your equipment and needs. 1. Select Edit>Color Settings. 2. In the Working Spaces choices under RGB, choose Apple RGB. Yes, you should choose this no matter what, even if you aren’t working on a Mac. . Note: If you’ve saved any ink profiles to your hard drive that you’ve received from your supplier or ink dealer, you can choose Load CMYK, change Files of Type to CMYK setup, and locate the ink values. Click on the file to load these specific ink value numbers. 3. Next, change the CMYK Working Spaces setting to Custom CMYK. This will allow you to specify custom ink settings, dot gain settings, and more. 4. In the Custom CMYK dialog box, as shown in Figure 29-1, rename the custom settings if desired. I prefer to leave the name the way it is, as it is very descriptive and changes as the values change in the Custom Settings dialog box.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 519 Figure 29-1: Custom CMYK settings 5. From the Ink Colors drop-down list, choose Custom if you have spe- cific ink values to input. (Some companies offer a free plug-in for these values that include numbers for their specific product.) If you do not have any custom plug-ins, select another option from the list if it is available and meets your company’s specifications. Otherwise, choose SWOP (Newsprint) if you aren’t sure what to pick. This choice most closely matches standard process colors provided by many ink companies. 6. Continuing in the Custom CMYK dialog box, change the Dot Gain to 35 percent for automatic presses and up to 40 percent for manual presses. Leave the Dot Gain setting at Standard. 7. Change Black Generation to Light, Black Ink Limit to 85 percent, and Total Ink Limit to 250 percent. This limits how much ink will print on the substrate. ] Tip: You’ll get different thoughts on these settings; some people will set Total Ink Limit at 240 percent and others at 300 percent. Additionally, Black Ink Limit is sometimes set to 90 percent and Black Generation at Medium. You’ll need to experiment with your own presses and equipment; these are simply stan- dard numbers that often work well. 8. For the Separation Type, GCR is generally the best setting. Choose GCR if most of the image is neutral in color and light in most areas; choose UCR when the design has lots of black. 9. Leave UCA Amount at 0 if a setting is available. Click OK to return to the Color Settings dialog box.
520 Part VI / Printing 10. In the Color Settings dialog box, click the down arrow next to Spot and choose Dot Gain 30%. This will allow you to preview the image with dot gain in a spot color image. 11. Under Conversion Options, use the Adobe (ACE) engine and choose Relative Colorimetric for the intent. Do not check Desaturate Monitor Colors By in the Advanced Controls area and don’t worry about any other settings. 12. Click Save. Name the color settings that you are saving, and click Save again. 13. In the Color Settings Comment dialog box, type in T-Shirt settings or some other descriptive name. Click OK twice. Photoshop will remember these settings for you. These settings will allow you to get the most out of the program and, as you’ve seen, even allow you to download ink color values from a supplier and automatically input those into the program’s customization settings. 6 Caution! Once again, if you are just making these adjustments to the color settings and you’ve already performed a CMYK color separation, you’ll have to go back and perform that separation again. Photoshop uses these settings to decide how to separate an image. If they’re not set up correctly, the separa- tion will not be created correctly. Printing True Spot Color Separations True spot color separations are the easiest and most forgiving way to both output the print and to screen print. I define “true” spot color images as those images that consist only of one to eight solid, definable colors and whose colors do not have tints, gradients, or highlights and therefore do not need to be printed with halftones. These types of images, designs, and logos are great for clients such as sports teams, small businesses, and anyone else interested in buying an inexpensive screen printed shirt. In addition to being a good option for clients, it’s a terrific way to start or build a screen printing business and attract clientele.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 521 . Note: You can print true spot color separations on just about any printer at all; it doesn’t have to be a PostScript printer because there are no halftones. To print a spot color design, you’ll first need the separations. Figure 29-2 shows a spot color design that consists of four colors—black, green, orange, and purple. These colors have been separated and are shown in the Channels palette. No underbase is needed if the image is to be printed on a light colored shirt. Figure 29-2: Printing out spot color separations . Note: If you’d like to experiment with this image, it’s on the CD in the Chapter 29 folder and named SADD puzzle.psd. To print these separations: 1. Verify that you have a PostScript, laser, or inkjet printer available and that this printer can really lay down the ink or toner. (You could use an imagesetter too, although that might be overkill.) 2. In the Channels palette, remove the eye icon from the composite layer and the RGB layers. Place an eye next to each of the spot
522 Part VI / Printing channels you want to print and select them for good measure. Figure 29-3 shows an example. Although selecting all channels isn’t neces- sary (as shown in Figure 29-4), some printers might give errors if the channels are not selected. (To select multiple channels, hold down the Shift key while selecting.) Figure 29-3: Selecting multiple channels to print 3. Choose File>Print. 4. Verify that the print fits Figure 29-4: Selecting a single channel to print in the Preview window. 5. If desired, check Center Image, Scale to Fit Media, and Show Bounding Box. Be sure to configure the same settings for additional prints. 6. Verify that Output is selected. See Figure 29-5.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 523 Figure 29-5: Output options 7. Because there are no halftones in the image, setting options for Screen and Transfer aren’t required. However, you can configure Bleed, Border, or Background options if needed. You can also print registration marks. 8. Click the Print or Print One button. 9. In the Print dialog box that comes up next, choose a printer from the Select Printer area. I’ll choose a PostScript printer, as shown in Fig- ure 29-6, although an inkjet printer would do just fine. Figure 29-6: Choosing a printer
524 Part VI / Printing 10. Click the Preferences button. 11. For a PostScript printer, choose high quality and the correct paper type, set contrast, increase toner darkness, and configure resolution (if applicable) for the image. 12. For an inkjet printer, adjust the quality settings to Best Quality and Black and White. You’ll want to really lay down the ink if you are printing on vellum or film, but you don’t want to lay down so much that the ink smears or bleeds. Be sure to pick the appropriate paper type and print resolution also. I generally choose a fairly high setting (600 to 1200 dpi), but you’ll want to experiment with your own inks and papers before committing to a resolution. ] Tip: Read your printer’s documentation to see how to get the best print possi- ble. Compare this information with what your paper, film, acetate, and vellum suggests. 13. Click OK and OK again (or Print) to print. If the print doesn’t come out as desired (for instance if it’s pixelated, too light, or the wrong size), you’ll have to start over. Read Chapter 22 on spot color separations, Chapter 27 on page setup and the print dialog boxes, and Chapter 28 on specialty papers. ] Tip: Visit your printer manufacturer’s web site and see if there are any ICC pro- files available or any tips for working with Photoshop.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 525 Printing Process Color Separations Printing process separations is a little more complex than printing out solid spot color separations. With process color, you’ll have to set screen options, including frequency, angle, and halftone shape, among other things, and you’ll need a PostScript printer. Prepare the Image Preparing the print is the biggest part of getting an image ready, and sev- eral chapters in this book cover that part of the process. Preparing the image for the printer requires you to tell Photoshop and the printer what channels you’d like to print, how large the image should print, and how the page should be set up. To prepare the image for the printer: 1. Open the file FishProcess.psd from the Chapter 29 folder on the companion CD. (This file is provided for this example only; it isn’t necessarily ready for the printer and press.) 2. In the Channels palette, place an eye icon next to all of the channels that you want to print. You won’t want to print the Shirt Color channel, and you might only want to print a couple of channels as a test before printing out all of the others. Whatever the case, make the appropriate selections. See Figure 29-7. ] Tip: This file is in Multichannel mode, and the print order is Figure 29-7: Selecting the channels to print correct for most presses. 3. Choose File>Print and verify that the print fits in the Preview win- dow. Click Cancel. 4. Choose File>Page Setup and verify that Portrait is chosen. Click OK.
526 Part VI / Printing Output the Image When you are ready to print, follow the steps listed here: 1. Verify that you have a PostScript printer or imagesetter available. 2. Choose File>Print. 3. If desired, check Center Image, Scale to Fit Media, and Show Bounding Box. If printing out some of the channels now and some later, remember to use the same settings on all prints. 4. Verify that Output is selected. 5. Because there are halftones in the image, you’ll need to set the screen options. Click the Screen button. 6. Uncheck Use Printer’s Default Screen, as shown in Figure 29-8. Figure 29-8: The Halftone Screen dialog box 7. Click the down arrow next to Ink, and choose Underbase. 8. For Frequency, choose 55 lines/inch (lpi) for a manual press and 65 lpi for an automatic press. . Note: If you are using a manual press, you might need to set the lpi as low as 25. This is true with all of the ink colors, not just the underbase. You’ll have to get to know your equipment. 9. For Angle, type in 15. 10. For Shape, choose Ellipse. 11. Check Use Same Shape for All Inks so that the Ellipse shape will be chosen each time. 12. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose Yellow. 13. Set the frequency to either 55 lpi or 65 lpi. Use an angle of 75 and choose Ellipse.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 527 . Note: As mentioned in the following sidebar, you’ll get different theories here. At one print shop in our area, the owner sets the Yellow angle to 0. 14. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose Magenta. 15. Set the frequency to either 55 lpi or 65 lpi. Use an angle of 45 and choose Ellipse. . Note: As mentioned in the following sidebar, you’ll get different theories here. At one print shop in our area, the owner sets the Magenta angle to 75. 16. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose Cyan. 17. Set the frequency to either 55 lpi or 65 lpi. Use an angle of 15 and choose Ellipse. (Cyan always seems to be set at 15 degrees, no mat- ter whom you consult!) 18. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose Black. 19. Set the frequency to either 55 lpi or 65 lpi. Use an angle of 75 and choose Ellipse. . Note: As mentioned in the following sidebar, you’ll get different theories here. At one print shop in our area, the owner sets the Black angle to 45. 20. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose Highlight white. 21. Set the frequency to either 55 lpi or 65 lpi. Use an angle of 15 and choose Ellipse. . Note: If you have spot color channels to configure along with the process color channels, you’ll need to configure those in the Halftone Screen dialog box before closing it. Use the same frequency listed above and 15 to 45 degrees for the angle for each spot channel. Again, you’ll need to experiment with your presses, inks, screens, etc. 22. If you are printing to an imagesetter, check Use Accurate Screens. Click OK. (Be sure to read the following sidebar.)
528 Part VI / Printing A Word about lpi, Frequency, and Dot Shape If you don’t agree with the settings that I’m suggesting you configure for your screens, you probably aren’t alone. However, these angles, dot shapes, and lpi are what we use at our shop, and they work great for us. They are also the same settings that are suggested by professional screen printers in forums I’ve visited on the Internet. Keep in mind though that there are other opinions. I’ve read articles that state the black plate should always be 45 lpi and the angle set to 25 degrees; I’ve read articles that say never to use angles of 45 and 90 degrees because you’ll get moiré; I’ve also read articles that say that all spot color halftones should be printed at 45 lpi—never higher or lower. I’ve also read that circular dots are better than ellipti- cal ones, etc., etc., etc. You’ll have to decide, but I’m betting that the settings outlined in this section will work fine for you. If you are new at this, use the settings I’ve suggested as defaults and tweak as needed. 23. With the screens configured, place a check mark next to Calibration Bars (if available), Registration Marks, and Labels. Check any additional marks as desired. 24. Click the Print button. 25. In the Print dialog box, choose the appropriate PostScript printer or imagesetter. I chose my generic PostScript printer, whose driver I installed from the printer’s installation CD. This driver is compati- ble, and my PostScript printer outputs the separations. 26. Click the Properties, Advanced, or similar button to access addi- tional features. 27. Configure the settings for the printer. Be sure to pick the appropriate paper type too. I print at 600 to 1200 dpi, but you’ll want to experi- ment with your own inks and papers before committing to a resolution. If applicable, set the contrast, toner darkness, and other attributes. ] Tip: Read your printer’s documentation to see how to get the best print possi- ble. Compare this information with what your paper, film, acetate, and vellum suggests. 28. Click OK and OK again (or Print) to print.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 529 If the print doesn’t come out as desired (for instance, if it’s pixelated, too light, or the wrong size), you’ll have to start over or at least reconfigure the image resolution and printer configurations. Read Chapter 23 on pro- cess color separations, Chapter 27 on page setup and the print dialog boxes, and Chapter 28 on specialty papers. ] Tip: If C/15, M/45, Y/75, and K/75 don’t work for you, try C/22.5, M/52.5, Y/82.5, and B/82.5. You might get better results with these numbers. Printing Spot Color Separations with Tints, Gradients, and Highlights Spot color separations that have tints, gradients, or highlights require they be printed using halftones on a PostScript printer. (In contrast, “true” spot color separations can be output using any printer and do not require halftones.) Since you have to use halftones, you’ll have to set the lpi, frequency, and angle in the Halftone Screen dialog box in a manner similar to that performed for process color separations. However, because printing spot color images is different at the press and inks are a little different than process color at the press, you’ll need different settings. Printing Spot Colors with Gradients To print spot color separations that require halftones: 1. Open a file of a spot color image that should be printed with halftones. 2. In the Channels palette, place an eye icon next to all of the channels that you want to print. You won’t want to print the shirt color chan- nel, and you might only want to print a couple of channels as a test before printing out all of the others. Whatever the case, make the appropriate selections. 3. Verify that you have a PostScript printer or imagesetter available. 4. Choose File>Print.
530 Part VI / Printing 5. If desired, check Center Image, Scale to Fit Media, and Show Bounding Box. Again, repeat these settings for any additional screens. 6. Verify that Output is selected. 7. Because there are halftones in the image, you’ll need to set the screen options. Click the Screen button. 8. Uncheck Use Printer’s Default Screens. 9. Click the down arrow next to Ink, and choose the first channel. 10. For Frequency, choose 25 to 45 lpi (your preference). 11. For Angle, type in 25. 12. For Shape, choose Ellipse. 13. Check Use Same Shape for All Inks so Ellipse will be chosen each time. 14. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose another channel. Con- figure the same settings—25 to 45 lpi, Angle 25, and Ellipse. 15. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose another channel. Con- figure the same settings—25 to 45 lpi, Angle 25, and Ellipse. 16. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose another channel. Con- tinue in this manner until all channels have been configured. Configure the same settings—25 to 45 lpi, Angle 25, and Ellipse. ] Tip: Some printers always use an angle of 45 degrees when printing spot colors. You’ll have to experiment to find what’s best for you and the equipment you have available. 17. If you are printing to an imagesetter, check Use Accurate Screens. Click OK. 18. With the screens configured, place a check mark next to Calibration Bars, Registration Marks, and Labels. Check any additional marks as desired. 19. Click the Print button. 20. In the Print dialog box, choose the appropriate PostScript printer or imagesetter. 21. Click the Properties, Advanced, or similar button to configure advanced properties.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 531 22. Configure the settings for the printer. Make sure to pick the appro- priate paper type too. I print at 600 to 1200 dpi, but you’ll want to experiment with your own inks and papers before committing to a resolution. If applicable, set the contrast, toner darkness, and other attributes. ] Tip: Read your printer’s documentation to see how to get the best print possi- ble. Compare this information with what your paper, film, acetate, and vellum suggests. 23. Click OK and OK again (or Print) to print. If the print doesn’t come out as desired (for instance, if it’s pixelated, too light, or the wrong size), you’ll have to start over or at least reconfigure the image resolution and printer configurations. Read Chapter 22 on spot color separations, Chapter 27 on page setup and the print dialog boxes, and Chapter 28 on specialty papers. Printing Indexed Color Separations Indexed color separations are created in Photoshop when you want to choose the colors and the number of colors to print at the press. Index separations use random square dots called stochastic or diffusion dither (not halftones), so you won’t need to pick a dot shape. In addition, the actual size of the dot is determined by the image itself, so you won’t need to specify a frequency or angle either. This makes outputting color sepa- rations quite simple. 6 Caution! Because the size and quantity of the dots is created automatically, you’ll want to have an image that is between 175 dpi and 200 dpi. This will allow for a 65 lpi dot. To output an indexed color separation, perform the following steps: 1. Open the file PoolBalls.psd from the Chapter 29 folder on the com- panion CD. This image has already been indexed and separated.
532 Part VI / Printing 2. In the Channels palette, place an eye icon next to all of the channels that you want to print. You won’t want to print the shirt color chan- nel, and you might only want to print a couple of channels as a test before printing out all of the others. Whatever the case, make the appropriate selections. See Figure 29-9. Figure 29-9: Selecting the channels to print 3. Verify that you have a PostScript printer or imagesetter available. 4. Choose File>Print. 5. If desired, check Center Image, Scale to Fit Media, and Show Bounding Box. Again, create the same configuration if printing out more channels later. 6. Verify that Output is selected. 7. Place a check mark next to Calibration Bars (if available), Regis- tration Marks, and Labels. 8. Click the Print button. 9. In the Print dialog box, choose the appropriate PostScript printer or imagesetter.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 533 10. Click the Properties, Advanced, or similar button to configure advanced properties. 11. Configure the settings for the printer. Be sure to pick the appropriate paper type too. I print at 600 to 1200 dpi, but you’ll want to experi- ment with your own inks and papers before committing to a resolution. If applicable, set the contrast, toner darkness, and other attributes. ] Tip: Read your printer’s documentation to see how to get the best print possi- ble. Compare this information with what your paper, film, acetate, and vellum suggests. 12. Click OK and OK again (or Print) to print. If the print doesn’t come out as desired (for instance, if it’s pixelated, too light, or the wrong size), you’ll have to start over or at least reconfigure the image resolution and printer configurations. Read Chapter 24 on indexed color separations, Chapter 27 on page setup and the print dialog boxes, and Chapter 28 on specialty papers. Printing Simulated Process Color Separations Simulated process color prints are printed like true process color prints, except the configuration of the lpi and angle are different. Although theo- ries differ, we get pretty impressive results using 55 lpi for all frequency settings (although lots of printers use 65 lpi) and 25 degrees for all angles settings. We also use an elliptical dot, although some printers prefer circular. To print a simulated process color separation: 1. Open the simulated process image to print and verify that you have a PostScript printer or imagesetter available. From the Channels pal- ette, place an eye icon next to each channel that you’d like to print. Do not print the shirt color. 2. Choose File>Print.
534 Part VI / Printing 3. If desired, check Center Image, Scale to Fit Media, and Show Bounding Box. Create the same settings for additional prints. 4. Verify that Output is selected. 5. Because there are halftones in the image, you’ll need to set the screen options. Click the Screen button. 6. Uncheck Use Printer’s Default Screens, as shown earlier in Fig- ure 29-8. 7. Click the down arrow next to Ink, and choose the first ink color you want to print from the list. 8. For Frequency, choose 55 lpi. 9. For Angle, type in 25. 10. For Shape, choose Ellipse. 11. Check Use Same Shape for All Inks so that Ellipse will be chosen each time. 12. Click the down arrow next to Ink and choose the next color to print. Configure the same settings—55 lpi, Angle 25, and Ellipse for each of the remaining ink colors. . Note: If you have spot color channels to configure along with the process color channels, you’ll need to configure those in the Screen dialog box before closing it. Use the same frequency listed above and 15 to 45 degrees for the angle for each spot channel. Again, you’ll need to experiment with your presses, inks, screens, etc. 13. If you are printing to an imagesetter, check Use Accurate Screens. Click OK. 14. With the screens configured, place a check mark next to Calibration Bars (if available), Registration Marks, and Labels. Check any additional marks as desired. 15. Click the Print button. 16. In the Print dialog box, choose the appropriate PostScript printer or imagesetter. 17. Click the Properties, Advanced, or similar button to configure advanced properties.
Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 535 18. Configure the settings for the printer. Be sure to pick the appropriate paper type too. I print at 600 to 1200 dpi, but you’ll want to experi- ment with your own inks and papers before committing to a resolution. If applicable, set the contrast, toner darkness, and other attributes. ] Tip: Read your printer’s documentation to see how to get the best print possi- ble. Compare this information with what your paper, film, acetate, and vellum suggests. 19. Click OK and OK again (or Print) to print. If the print doesn’t come out as desired (for instance, if it’s pixelated, too light, or the wrong size), you’ll have to start over or at least reconfigure the image resolution and printer configurations. Read Chapter 25 on pro- cess color separations, Chapter 27 on page setup and the print dialog boxes, and Chapter 28 on specialty papers. Summary In this chapter you learned how to print true spot color images, spot color images with halftones, process color images, simulated process color images, and indexed color images. Each requires specific settings for lpi, frequency, and angle, and each has additional printer requirements. While theories vary about the settings suggested in this chapter, I’ve tried to offer industry standards, what works for our shop, and what I consider the best settings for the general public (beginning screeners in particular). Once you’ve tried these settings and output options, you can tweak them to suit your specific tastes, needs, and equipment.