FREE PHOTOSHOP COLOR SEPARATION TUTORIAL & ACTION

[Full-SpectrumSeparator]

This is a method to go directly from RGB artwork to Halftone RIP Interlocked Color Separations for screenprinting in Adobe Photoshop,  that I have written out into a text file of the steps, and recorded into actions.    This is an open-source freely shared work that I only claim original authorship of the process and steps, but obviously not the functions of photoshop that actually do the conversions,  it is just a unique and quick way I have found to get the basic Underbase, Highlight White, Black, Process Cyan, Process Yellow, Process Magenta,  Hexachromatic Red,Yellow,Green,Cyan,Blue,Magenta... so it is the W-CMYK-W and the "Simulated Process" version as well.    You would still want to choke the underbase, and the interlocked patterns for the colors in the Hexachromatic seps may need to be trapped to prevent over-exposure of the detail-dot shapes.


I am working on new videos to go along with all my new stuff, and I will post one that goes through these steps and plays the action-file attached,  as well as how to do the choke and trap, merge colors you don't need,  etc... this is just a basic and relatively simple way to go directly from the RGB art to the multichannel RIPPED separations, and these can be output to film for exposure....  the interlock method of halftones is sort of experimental even though I've been using it for years myself, but I want people to have access to at least something they can test out and work with, and which gives a quick way to get the basic set of process/sim process separations to print with.    I find more often that I just go directly to RIP and only choke or trap the dot-patterns to bump or reduce the screen if I think it needs it, then just print and dark to light sequence works great, dot-gain mixes the inks and opacity reduces the tendency of gain to make the colors shift darker.   

  I will post some video links when I have them up on my channel, and the real fun will be when I show the printing examples of these various experimental dot-techniques and separation methods... the proof is in the pudding and it is much more exciting when it comes out on the shirts,  I could show lots of examples but it makes more sense with the color-wheel tests and then showing how it works with any artwork image the same,  but learning to trust the separation and halftone RIP and go to screens knowing the tolerances and variables, what to expect and getting to the print result with confidence, it only takes doing a few of these style of separation and print to see how it works and understand when things are more or less difficult to hold on stencil and press.    I will be back with more,  thanks for letting me share.
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FULL-SPECTRUM FREE WCMYKW+RGBCMY PHOTOSHOP COLOR SEPARATION RIP TUTORIAL
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(With MERGED over Transparent with no other layers, RGB Mode Document in Adobe Photoshop)

IMAGE> IMAGE SIZE> RESOLUTION: 1200 DPI,  RESAMPLE CHECKED, NEAREST-NEIGHBOR (HARD EDGES)

RENAME ORIGINAL LAYER of MERGED ART TRANS BG to:

"ORIGINAL"

LAYER>  DUPLICATE LAYER:

Name:  "ORIGINAL INVERTED"

IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> INVERT

EDIT> FILL>   CONTENTS:  USE: WHITE,   BLENDING: MODE: BEHIND, OPACITY 100%, OK

LAYER> HIDE LAYERS

(SELECT LAYER "ORIGINAL")

EDIT> FILL>   CONTENTS:  USE: WHITE,   BLENDING: MODE: BEHIND, OPACITY 100%, OK

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

IMAGE> MODE>BITMAP  (Flatten Layers? OK)

RESOLUTION: OUTPUT: 1200, METHOD: USE: HALFTONE SCREEN  (OK)

FREQUENCY: 45, ANGLE: 22.5, SHAPE: ROUND (OK)

SELECT> ALL

EDIT> COPY

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

EDIT> PASTE SPECIAL> PASTE IN PLACE

(SELECT GREEN CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT GREEN)

IMAGE> MODE>BITMAP  (Flatten Layers? OK)

RESOLUTION: OUTPUT: 1200, METHOD: USE: HALFTONE SCREEN  (OK)

FREQUENCY: 45, ANGLE: 22.5, SHAPE: ROUND (OK)

SELECT> ALL

EDIT> COPY

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

(SELECT GREEN CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT GREEN)

EDIT> PASTE SPECIAL> PASTE IN PLACE

(SELECT BLUE CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT  BLUE)

IMAGE> MODE>BITMAP  (Flatten Layers? OK)

RESOLUTION: OUTPUT: 1200, METHOD: USE: HALFTONE SCREEN  (OK)

FREQUENCY: 45, ANGLE: 22.5, SHAPE: ROUND (OK)

SELECT> ALL

EDIT> COPY

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

(SELECT BLUE CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT BLUE )

EDIT> PASTE SPECIAL> PASTE IN PLACE

SELECT> DESELECT (IF STILL SELECTED)

(SELECT RGB CHANNEL ON TOP SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE SHOWING)

(SELECT LAYER "ORIGINAL INVERTED")

LAYER> SHOW LAYERS

IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> BLACK & WHITE>  REDS: 100%, YELLOWS: 100%, GREENS: 100%, CYANS: 100%, BLUES: 100%, MAGENTAS: 100%  (OK)

IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> INVERT

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

IMAGE> MODE>BITMAP  (Flatten Layers? OK)

RESOLUTION: OUTPUT: 1200, METHOD: USE: HALFTONE SCREEN  (OK)

FREQUENCY: 45, ANGLE: 22.5, SHAPE: ROUND (OK)

SELECT> ALL

EDIT> COPY

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

EDIT> STEP BACKWARD

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

(MAKE SURE ALL RGB CHANNELS AND RGB-CHANNEL SHOWING)

EDIT> PASTE SPECIAL> PASTE IN PLACE

LAYER> MERGE DOWN

IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> INVERT

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

RIGHT-CLICK ON THE RED CHANNEL> SELECT DUPLICATE CHANNEL> NAME: HIGHLIGHT WHITE,(OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO WHITE, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

(SELECT RGB CHANNEL ON TOP SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE SHOWING)

LAYER> DELETE> LAYER (YES) (WITH THE "ORIGINAL INVERTED" SELECTED TO DELETE THIS LAYER)

LAYER> DUPLICATE LAYER> NAME: BLACK (OK)

IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> BLACK & WHITE>  REDS: 100%, YELLOWS: 100%, GREENS: 100%, CYANS: 100%, BLUES: 100%, MAGENTAS: 100%  (OK)

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

RIGHT-CLICK ON THE RED CHANNEL> SELECT DUPLICATE CHANNEL> NAME: BLACK,(OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO BLACK, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

(SELECT RGB CHANNEL ON TOP SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE SHOWING)

LAYER> DELETE> LAYER (YES) (WITH THE "BLACK" RGB LAYER SELECTED TO DELETE THIS LAYER)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: BLACK, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

(SELECT RED CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT RED)

RIGHT-CLICK ON THE RED CHANNEL> SELECT DUPLICATE CHANNEL> NAME: CYAN,(OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO CYAN, SOLIDITY: 0%, (OK)

(SELECT GREEN CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT GREEN)

RIGHT-CLICK ON THE GREEN  CHANNEL> SELECT DUPLICATE CHANNEL> NAME: MAGENTA,(OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO MAGENTA, SOLIDITY: 0%, (OK)

(SELECT BLUE CHANNEL SO THAT ALL CHANNELS ARE INVISIBLE EXCEPT BLUE)

RIGHT-CLICK ON THE BLUE CHANNEL> SELECT DUPLICATE CHANNEL> NAME: YELLOW,(OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO YELLOW, SOLIDITY: 0%, (OK)

(CREATE A NEW CHANNEL in THE CHANNELS will be called Alpha 1, Rename to "UNDERBASE WHITE")

IMAGE> ADJUSTMENTS> INVERT

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO WHITE, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

WHILE SELECTED ON THE UNDERBASE WHITE CHANNEL,

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: HIGHLIGHT WHITE, INVERT NOT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: LINEAR BURN, OPACITY: 100%,UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: CYAN, INVERT NOT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: LINEAR BURN, OPACITY: 100%,UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: MAGENTA, INVERT NOT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: LINEAR BURN, OPACITY: 100%,UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: YELLOW, INVERT NOT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: LINEAR BURN, OPACITY: 100%,UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

IMAGE> CALCULATIONS> SOURCE 1, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: YELLOW, INVERT UN-CHECKED,, SOURCE 2, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: MAGENTA, INVERT UN-CHECKED,, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL, , RESULT: NEW CHANNEL,  (OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> SET NAME TO "RED",  COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO RED, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

IMAGE> CALCULATIONS> SOURCE 1, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: YELLOW, INVERT UN-CHECKED,, SOURCE 2, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: CYAN, INVERT UN-CHECKED,, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL, , RESULT: NEW CHANNEL,  (OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> SET NAME TO "GREEN",  COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO GREEN, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

IMAGE> CALCULATIONS> SOURCE 1, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: CYAN, INVERT UN-CHECKED,, SOURCE 2, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: MAGENTA, INVERT UN-CHECKED,, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL, , RESULT: NEW CHANNEL,  (OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> SET NAME TO "BLUE",  COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO BLUE, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

IMAGE> MODE> MULTICHANNEL  (FLATTEN LAYERS OK)

(TOP RGB-CHANNEL DISAPPEARS, RED, GREEN, BLUE CHANNELS BECOME Cyan, Magenta, Yellow)

(SELECT CYAN CHANNEL AT THE TOP SO THAT NO OTHER CHANNELS ARE SHOWING)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: GREEN, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

(with Cyan Channel still selected) IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: BLUE, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> SET NAME TO "CYAN 6-HUE",  COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO CYAN, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

(SELECT MAGENTA CHANNEL AT THE TOP SO THAT NO OTHER CHANNELS ARE SHOWING)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: BLUE, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

(with Cyan Channel still selected) IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: RED, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> SET NAME TO "MAGENTA 6-HUE",  COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO MAGENTA, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

(SELECT YELLOW CHANNEL AT THE TOP SO THAT NO OTHER CHANNELS ARE SHOWING)

IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: RED, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

(with Cyan Channel still selected) IMAGE> APPLY IMAGE>  SOURCE, LAYER: MERGED, CHANNEL: GREEN, INVERT CHECKED,,  TARGET, BLENDING: ADD, OPACITY: 100%, SCALE: 1, OFFSET: 0, UNCHECKED ALL,  (OK)

DOUBLE-CLICK CHANNEL> SET NAME TO "YELLOW 6-HUE",  COLOR INDICATES: SELECT SPOT COLOR,  COLOR: SET TO YELLOW, SOLIDITY: 100%, (OK)

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[starchild]

Jeff could you just make the vids available? Why did you disable them?

Oh and that new enhanced white?? Just be sure that a top white is still available.. What the software can do may not mean the printer can print it.

Sent using Tapatalk

[Dottonedan]

Should be fun to play with. Thanks for sharing.


D

[Full-SpectrumSeparator]

Jeff could you just make the vids available? Why did you disable them?

Oh and that new enhanced white?? Just be sure that a top white is still available.. What the software can do may not mean the printer can print it.

Sent using Tapatalk

They aren't even up anymore I deleted them actually....  all new videos are rolling out soon I promise,  and if you had the Corel SSR or Photoshop SSR you get the Full-Spectrum photoshop Toolkit FREE.

It is really kind of impossible to explain everything behind these methods and how to translate for printing, without doing the videos so that is my focus now for all the new stuff, you should see new uploads going live this week and then I will just continue to make up new playlists that go along for each tool or method.       

The printer has the power to determine what detail-level for blending / spot-separation he wants to work with, so the software like photoshop you can always choose to produce something you can print.

However with certain techniques and methods like the actions and tutorial attached above,  there are interlocking patterns in the colors where they blend and fade with white/black and each other, so that some shapes created appear like impossible 1200dpi -index-style pixel-formations,  and won't hold on a stencil,  but this is where a simple trap and over-lock printing comes into play.    The printer is the one who will know what they can hold or not on stencils, and having the power to determine the percentages you're working with is great so you always have control to make the software produce something you can print.

For example there are ways to trap the interlocked patterns and print a sequence that gives the colors the best mix of position and blend/overprint where they trap,  and the results usually create color-screens that have only large percentages and no small dots,  and the black and white are keeping the detail but you can still control.....    of course this is the reason behind using extra tints/shades or greys between color-blends if the stencil-making is simply not holding even 30% dot ranges...  but you know even with the automatic spot-separation you can get detailed screens from photos or blends that are harder to hold than halftones,  sometimes a designer will create text that is going to be a real challenge to hold on stencil.

But I will have to explain in videos about what you have control over in either manual, assisted-with-tools, or total-automation methods.   I don't think its right to talk about those things in the forum, so in relation to the free actions I shared above I think it is the 6-hues Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta that have the difficult interlcoking dot-shapes when mixed from the Red/Green/Blue,  but those also have the interlocking with  Black/White that creates complex dot-shapes.     This is provided and attached is the color-test wheel you can sep and print to see what you can hold or not, how close to reproduction-accuracy you get without having to tweak or adjust, and that helps to determine what or why you have to adjust or trap/choke or enhance anything.    Often these things can be controlled/adjusted way more with stencil/ink/press variables than just with the sep/dots.    The highlight white when going on top can have the most affect on all the saturated tones depending on how opaque or reduced the white is and where the dots fall compared to the others...  the sep curve is just a guide for the halftone screen to generate the right mixture/puzzle of dot-shapes.       The color-profile or gamut is produced on the actual shirt by the inks used, and no conversion is really necessary at all except from RGB original data to halftone screens for printing the inks...  translation is inherent in the digital-to-analog where it becomes an ink on a shirt instead of light on a computer monitor.     

You can select a dot-pattern channel from the sep actions or tutorial result and contract or expand the selection to create a simple halftone-dot choke or trap,  this is a very easy way to enhance or reduce the general curves/levels of the ink screen.    I have had people tell me the choke & trap buttons are their favorite thing and the most-often used,  just running seps direct to RIP and just perhaps a choke or trap... there are other modes where I build these in automatically but I'll show in a video more how to do it manually if I'm going to post it in this thread, I will make it relate to the actions/tutorial posted and how to work with the results of that or tweak things,   everything else will just be on the youtube channel or only come with certain tools as private video training.

Links to color-tests:    http://adobe.ly/1o0qsYg         http://adobe.ly/1o0qwqS       

[Sbrem]

Thank you for such a well laid out plan, I wish I had time to go through it, maybe over the weekend. I was meaning to write to you recently, because you had taken down the HSB seps in Photoshop video  that I wanted to review, having a job recently that I used the techniques I could remember, which would have indeed been easier if I could have watched it again. I don't have SSR because I'm a Mac guy, and that's not going to change, will not use a PC (don't anyone start, that horse is completely dead). So, is it possible that you may post that one again, or can I get a copy?

Steve