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effects effecting half tones

Sep 7, 2011 1:00 PM

I'm have issues with the special effects causing my b/w half tones to go flat. It's really odd, if I use a drop shadow or bevel or any other effect anywhere on the page the photo goes flat. Any advice out there? Anyone know the cause or how to fix it? BTW this only happens in greyscale, not cmyk or rgb.

1447 Views 24 Replies Latest reply: Rob Day, May 11, 2012 4:14 PM

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1. Stix Hart,

Sep 7, 2011 2:07 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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When do you see it go "flat" upon export, print or on screen? If export to what format and assuming PDF using what export setting?

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2. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 7, 2011 3:25 PM in reply to Stix Hart

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It goes flat immediately on the screen and it prints the same way.

Yes I export to PDF, I use press quality with some minor adjustments to the bleed settings.

Marcy McGuire

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3. Stix Hart,

Sep 7, 2011 3:10 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Well as luck would have it Peter Spier is answering the same question inanother thread here as we type. Have a look at that.

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4. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 7, 2011 3:25 PM in reply to Stix Hart

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Thanks, I can use a bit of "luck".

He doesn't give a fix, but I'll search Rob Days stuff and see what I can find.

Marcy McGuire

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5. Peter Spier,

Sep 7, 2011 3:23 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Probably the only real "fix" is to convert them to gray using the Black Ink channel for your CMYk target space.

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6. Peter Spier,

Sep 7, 2011 3:25 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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And would you minde removing the auto-signature from your email responses? You may get reported as a spammer.

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7. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 7, 2011 3:29 PM in reply to Peter Spier

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In Photoshop?

Signature removed!

Marcy McGuire

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8. Peter Spier,

Sep 7, 2011 3:47 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Yes, in Photoshop. I just put a screen capture in the other thread...

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9. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 7, 2011 3:51 PM in reply to Peter Spier

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I'm sorry I had about 5 threads open, searching for an answer to I can get back to work. Can you direct me to the thread you speak of?

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10. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 7, 2011 3:56 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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I found one from Aug 2002, is this the one?

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11. Peter Spier,

Sep 7, 2011 4:07 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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No Idea what thread from 2002 you are talking about, but I just put a screen cap into http://forums.adobe.com/thread/900015?tstart=0 a little while ago.

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12. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 7, 2011 4:18 PM in reply to Peter Spier

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I'm sorry that was it. I'm sure your accustomed to designers who are not tech wizards.

Unfortunately I don't understand it. Where does one find the black channel from the load gray. Photo shop takes me to my ColorSync Profiles.

Marcy McGuire

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13. Peter Spier,

Sep 8, 2011 2:44 AM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Sorry,

Had to quit for the night.

>" Photo shop takes me to my ColorSync Profiles."

Pick the CMYK proile you are using for output. Photoshop will load the black channel for the gray profile.

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14. Rob Day,

Sep 8, 2011 4:45 AM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Check this thread
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3484956#3484956

Grayscales can be color managed with a CMYK profile. From Color Settings Working Spaces Gray choose Load Gray.. and then load the desired CMYK profile:

Note that you have to click More Options and get the expanded Color Settings dialog for this to work. Also make sure the Grayscale doesn't have an assignment. You may need to choose Edit>Assign Profiles and choose your working gray space:

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15. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 8, 2011 8:00 AM in reply to Rob Day

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Realizing I was in my User Library and needed to be in my HD Library (an annoying MAC thing!) and then following your screen shot was the winning ticket!

Thank you and Peter for all your help.

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16. Marcy McGuire,

Sep 8, 2011 8:05 AM in reply to Rob Day

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Thank you Rob!

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17. Marcy McGuire,

May 11, 2012 1:50 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Any chance ID CS6 will support Greyscale and I won't have to do this anymore?

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18. Peter Spier,

May 11, 2012 2:01 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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CS6 suuports expor to a grayscale profile, but I don't think that's what you really mean.

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19. Marcy McGuire,

May 11, 2012 2:10 PM in reply to Peter Spier

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No it's not what I meant. Greyscale output -- is this a better way to ask?

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20. Peter Spier,

May 11, 2012 2:18 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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Export to grayscale is more or less analagous to the exisiting conversion to CMYK or RGB options that allow you to leave images in their native color space and export a grayscale PDF (you used to have to Print to PDF to get composite grayscale). I don't think it is going to do what you want, but why not download the trial version and see for yourself?

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21. Rob Day,

May 11, 2012 2:32 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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The problem you are describing only effects the preview of the layout, the change in preview has no effect on CMYK output. The original grayscale numbers are always output unchanged to the black plate when you export or print to document CMYK.

You've always had the option to convert the entire layout to grayscale from the Print dialog and in that case your starting gray values could change. Peter's saying now you can also make that conversion via a PDF export.

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22. Marcy McGuire,

May 11, 2012 3:47 PM in reply to Rob Day

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My print magazine is both cmyk and greyscale. Peter, I already have CS6. In older versions when you tried to apply any type of FX to a greyscale image it chaged the contrast and YES it did print this way. The work around was Peter's suggestion of changing the greyscale in PS to black plate only. This is work but it does take some fudging to get the greyscale image perfect for the press. I will experiment. Thank you.

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23. Peter Spier,

May 11, 2012 3:54 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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To my knowledge, nothing has changed in CS6 that would affect that.

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24. Rob Day,

May 11, 2012 4:14 PM in reply to Marcy McGuire

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greyscale image it chaged the contrast and YES it did print this way. The work around was Peter's suggestion of changing the greyscale in PS to black plate only.

That's because the InDesign black plate preview is more accurate than the default Photoshop 20% Dot Gain grayscale preview. When you change profiles the grayscale preview changes but the numbers don't—you can see that in Photoshop by checking the grayscale numbers in Info.

When you load the more accurate profile in Photoshop the preview changes and you are adjusting the image accordingly. It's your image adjustment that's changing the output, not the profile.

Even if ID did have a grayscale color space you would still have a preview problem if you used the default 20% Dot Gain in Photoshop.

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