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Quick Way to Change Multichannel to CMYK? 2

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signal49

signal49

Technical User
Nov 12, 2003
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Is there an easy way to change a multichannel (2-color) file to CMYK for a composite output to color copier? Client needs this ASAP and I'm stumped! It has drop shadow-y effects and greyscales, so I can't just select and fill with paint bucket... TIA!
 
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OK, this isn't an emergency anymore... she decided she could use it as greyscale and color it in Quark. But I'm still curious about how to actually do this.
 
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Wow... when you're in real hurry sometimes your brain doesn't want to work. Thanks!! [thumbsup]
 
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Marcus

Won't Image>Mode>CMYK automatically add the additional channels?
 
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Marcus

I just got home from work (2 hours thru a large snow blizzard) and tried it and you are correct!!

have a star!
 
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NO Marcus You're the lucky one mate, believe me!
My 2 hour drive normally takes 30 minutes and I don't need a whiskey when I get home!!
 
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Sorry to keep double-posting here.... I just got in to work this morning and gave that a try. Of course it works -- I can change the mode to CMYK when I add the 2 blank channels. But the 2 spot channels, when changed to CMYK, only translate onto the Cyan and Magenta channels. Is there a way to do it so that when I convert modes the colors will look more like the colors from the original? (Am I saying this right? I'm so tired this morning...) In other words, I don't want to have to adjust hues and everything to try and replicate the colors...
[morning]
 
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Ok Here goes,
This took me a little bit to get, so sit down.
I took a 4 colour pic.
Image>Mode>Grayscale
Image>Mode>Duotone
Selected the colours Pantone433, Pantone376, then ok (pick a colour that stands out)

Image>Mode>Multichannel
Image>Mode>Grayscale
Image>Mode>CMYK
Then with the spot colour channel selected
click on the channel option arrow thingy (top right hand corner of the channel pallet.

Merge Spot Channel

Taaaaaaa Daaaaaaa :->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->:->

Marcus
 
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Actually, it doesn't. (Sorry, it's been a little crazy here.)

My problem is at the step where you convert Multichannel to Greyscale. It either asks if I want to discard the other channel(s) or it changes only 1 of the 2 channels to greyscale. In this case, if I then convert to CMYK, I end up with 5 channels -- CMYK and the other spot channel. Then I choose Split Channels from the arrow thingy (the Help files say you can only Merge Channels from multiple greyscale files of the same size open at the same time). But then I'm stuck because I had 5 channels to begin with, and if I select CMYK, I lose that other spot channel all together. If I Split Channels before converting to CMYK, I can only merge back into a Multichannel file.

AND, if I go ahead and merge the CMYK channels created from the first spot channel, it just turns it into full color black. It doesn't make it look like the PMS color that was originally selected... I'm at a total loss here.
 
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OK I'm dumb. I kept looking at Merge Channels, not Merge Spot Channel. BUT, it still turns the first spot channel into black instead of the PMS color, red in this case. :-( The other spot color turned into blue though after I merged it.
 
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Try flipping the channels around at the duotone stage before doing the second grayscale step.

I did notice, if you have the bottom channel selected while coverting to grayscale it will ask to discard the other channel (which you don't want)
but if you select the top channel then convert to grayscale, it keeps the bottom channel there.

My example worked???

Marcus
 
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I'm starting from a multichannel, not a duotone though...

Your example worked (when I used the right option) as far as combining both spot channels into CMYK channels, but it didn't keep the color of the first spot channel. The colors are red and blue; an image of sunglasses. The glass part is red and the frame is blue, with a blue drop shadow behind the whole thing. When I convert to greyscale, the red (first channel) turns to black and doesn't go back to a color. But when I combine the blue channel, it keeps the color. Urgh...

BTW, why do your posts always have 2 stars next to them? Did you win something? ;-)
 
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Oh, I understand now, it takes me awhile :)

You said earlier that the work around is to make it grayscale the colour it in Quark. If you did that then you would only be able to apply one colour to it.

which is what my soloution does as well.

Try this
select the top channel
command+A (select all), copy
then
make grayscale
make CMYK
Merge spotchannel
then
Create new spotchannel
select the colour you want then paste into the spot channel
then merge that.

Does that work.
if not then I'm fresh out of ideas -- sorry

Marcus
 
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