Photoshop CS3 for Screen Printers- P19 docx

This page intentionally left blank. Chapter 29 Printing ColorPrinting 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 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. 518 Part VI / Printing 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 Blac k 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. Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 519 Figure 29-1: Custom CMYK settings 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 p erform 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. 520 Part VI / Printing . 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. . Note: If you’d like to experiment with this image, it’s o n 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 Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 521 Figure 29-2: Printing out spot color separations channels you want to print and select them for good measure. Figure 29-3 s hows an example. Although selec ting all channels isn’t nece s - 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 Shif t key while selecting.) 3. Choose File>Print. 4. Verify that the print fits in the Preview window. 5. If desired, check Center Image, Scale to Fit Media,andShow Bounding Box.Besureto configure the same settings for additional prints. 6. Verify that Output is selected. See Figure 29-5. 522 Part VI / Printing Figure 29-3: Selecting multiple channels to print Figure 29-4: Selecting a single channel to print 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. Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 523 Figure 29-5: Output options Figure 29-6: Choosing a printer 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 d ocu mentation to see how to g et the best print possi- ble. Compare this informatio n with what your paper, film, acetate, and vellum suggests. 13. Click OK and OK again (or Print)toprint. 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 p rinter manufacturer’s web site and see if there are any ICC pro - files available or any tips for working with Photoshop. 524 Part VI / Printing 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 t he printer requires you to tell Photoshop and the printer what channels you’d like to print, how large the image should print, and how thepageshouldbesetup. Topreparetheimagefortheprinter: 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 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. Chapter 29 / Printing Color Separations 525 Figure 29-7: Selecting the channels to print [...]... 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,... 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... 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 Figure 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,... they create decals for cars and trucks, print posters and banners for various shops and merchandise, and more Printing from Photoshop Although most CAD cutter/printers come with their own software, emerging technologies will arise that allow you to print directly from Photoshop to the CAD cutter At this time though, using Photoshop for output to a CAD cutter isn’t a viable option for most companies... 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... 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... accept sublimation cartridges before trying to print using sublimation paper Depending on the printer and the size of the sublimation ink set that you purchase, a set of sublimation cartridges runs around $300 The required paper for our sublimation printer is $15 for 100 sheets 542 Part VI / Printing Printing from Photoshop You can print sublimation items directly from Photoshop Once the image has been... 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... and attached to a press where they can then be screen printed The press is used only for numbering, so the screens stay in there all of the time (unless they’re being cleaned or replaced) A one-color numbering system can be purchased for less than $1,000 Tip: I’ve read that these systems are often more trouble that they’re worth Research this option fully before committing to it Use Vinyl Numbers (CAD... printer, or inkjet printer using inks you already have; all you have to buy is the paper Numbers are an issue for screen printers as well Numbers can be printed using heat transfers, sublimation, and other methods Numbers can be screen printed using a stenciling system, where a special press holds screens with all (or some) of the numbers ready to print when you need them, and numbers can also be output . 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. Screen dialog box before closing it. Use the same frequency listed above and 15 to 45 d egrees for the angle for each spot channel. Again, you’ll need to experiment with your presses, inks, screens,. to set the screen options. Click the Screen button. 6. Uncheck Use Printer’s Default Screen, as shown in Figure 29-8. 7. Click the down arrow next to Ink, and choose Underbase. 8. For Frequency,