Changing CMYK preview to two-color

I have a two-color logo that appears in CMYK. I need it to be in two-color for a two-color print job that I am doing. How do I change that in Illustrator? Thanks!

Cameo,
Are the two colours two of the CMYK or spot?
Depending on your printer you may be able to just use two of the CMYK colours and have them replace if relevant.

Similar Messages

Should the print company I use be able to change a file to spot color for me?

I recently sent a document in to a major print company to have a folder printed. The document was created in Illustrator using only two colors. They said they could not print it because it was still more than two colors and that I needed to change it to a two color document using Pantone Spot Color.
I've never had to do that for a print company before but I've also never had a two color project before. I opened the file back up and selected my objects and "recolored" the work and deleted all the swatches aside from the two colors I needed that were now Pantone Spot Color (HSB). It literally took me 2 minutes.
The reason I am asking is because they pretty much said that I don't know what I'm doing, which to a designer is completely insulting. We all do new things from time to time but that is an insult. Shouldn't they, a large print company with years of experience, know how to do this for me? They had the original design file.. Maybe they don't know what they are doing?
Any clarity on as to why I needed to do it and not them is greatly appreciated. Also.. any direction as the best way to use spot color over cmyk is appreciated too.

...which to a designer is completely insulting...
What's so special about "a designer"?
Prior to the mid 1980s, designers could get away with prima Donna attitudes, because they (or their employers) were paying pre-press "color houses" around $350 per hour to tweak colors to sooth their oh-so-erudite discernment and hyper-developed color sensitivities, and to gain reimbursement for the $100 per plate lunches on proof-check days.
That all changed when designers (and their employers) got tired of paying those fees and took on the responsibility for the technical side of assembling their designs into something printable. That was the so-called "desktop revolution" and "revolution" was not a bad word for it. It turned a huge industry on its head. Color houses which didn't adopt PostScript devices and workflows were soon dropping like flies--and so were designers who didn't climb down off their lofty pedestals and buckle down to learning the technical realities of what they were doing.
Don't be insulted, but the simple fact is, you still don't know what you're doing if you think converting any given process color job to a two-spot job is "just a couple of minutes' work." Only in the very simplest designs would it be as simple as re-defining a couple of process Swatches as spot color Swatches.
In Illustrator in particular, doing so won't even work if the original Swatches were not originally defined as Global Swatches.
If those two process Swatches were used in any Blends, converting them to spot will likely not update the intermediate steps of the Blend. In earlier versions of Illustrator, the same problem applied to grads.
You can often get away with not having properly trapped the file with process swatches, because there are potentially four component inks which may be shared between adjacent different-color objects. Spot inks are not so forgiving. Trapping is essential if the two spot colors touch.
So you really expect a printer to just have a policy to do that for you? And thereby bear responsibility for anything they may misinterpret or overlook that may cause a registration sliver on press and thereby loose every bit of profit on the printing (which these days is cut-throat competitive)?
No. It's your responsibility to build the file correctly. The printing houses I use know better. They know I would have a coniption fit if I ever caught them modifying one of my files. They know they are to return any problem file to me for correction.
JET

Two Color Pdf Output Problem

I'm new with InDesign coming from a Quark background. I created a 28 page booklet with CMYK cover and two color interior (black & PMS spot color)
I'm working in CS4 and my print vendor is CS3. I have provided him with both the InDesign file saved down to .inx as well as high quality pdf with no color conversion so that the spot color will print as is.
My print vendor is telling me that the black screens/gradients are separating as RBG. I'm trying to figure out if the problem is my inexperience or his. I don't know what more to do with the file? Please advise.
Thank you,
Tony

Okay, I'm back to this issue. Apparently the printer is taking the individual pdf pages and marrying them up to printer pagination using Illustrator. Could this be why the Black is converting to RGB? What software should he be using to maintain the two colors?
Thank you,
Tony

How can I change the font and font color in Preview?

I am trying to use Preview to fill in a PDF form, but I cannot change the font size or color. What am I missing?

I also found that Preview does not work correctly when filling out PDF forms. I had to use Acrobat reader.

Why does Illustrator change CMYK color numbers when set to preserve them?

I'm using CS2 on Mac OSX 10.4. Recently I tried importing a Photoshop image into Illustrator and then matching a color in Illustrator to a color in the Photoshop document. But Illustrator changed the CMYK values of the color in the Photoshop document even though I have "Preserve CMYK colors" checked in the color setup window. Both applications and files are set to SWOP v2.
I don't have the same problem when placing either Photoshop or Illustrator files into InDesign.
I ended up recreating the project in InDesign to get consistent color, but I need to know how to make Illustrator preserve color numbers for the project that will come up for which I need Illustrator features.
Thanks.

So here we are at Illustrator CC and this very simple integration has not been fixed... because as far as I'm concerned... it is a BUG!
Seriously, no offense to @Steve Fairburn... but that is just so archaic for a "suite" of programs that should work well together.
There is absolutely NO need for CMYK colors to be valued beyond solid percentages in 1% increments in either Illustrator or InDesign!
Here's a stupid workaround if you need to link images, and pull colors:
Load the image as "linked" -> duplicate it and choose "embed" -> pull the colors and make swatches with the eyedropper tool... then throw it away. You could also just relink the file after an embed, making sure to check the Adanced Options checkbox.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
1) why does InDesign give you the ability to "Reveal the Linked Image on the Desktop", whereas in Illy you can only reveal in Bridge?
2) "placing" the same PSD/PDF image in InDesign and Illustrator: ID allows for correct eydropper color pulling, while IL does not until you embed it.

Can i change the preview background color?

Hi
can i change the preview background color?
it's gray , may i change it?
thanks
i use bridge cs6

can i change the preview background color?
Yes you can do so in the Bridge preferences under general both Ui interface and image backdrop can be changed
In the same preferences Cache you can change the location of the central cache to where ever you will. But you have to realize that if you use an external disk this can cause all kinds of problems regarding speed, performance and permission issues. best to keep it on an internal disk and having an SSD available will be even better because you will benefit from performance and speed very much.
it's gray , may i change it?
As long as you have a legal version and it is able to change then feel free to set it to your own custom wishes...

Can I change InDesign CC 2014 to default to cmyk mode for pantone colors instead of lab?

I work for a large corporation with close to 1000 sales people so we have a POD vendor who manages a website for the sales people to order our literature. Our colors were all great and now with InDesign CC 2014 using lab values instead of cmyk for pantones our colors are off. Is there a way to set InDesign CC 2014 to default to cmyk mode for pantones instead of lab?
Thanks,
Dave

so we have a POD vendor who manages a website for the sales people to order our literature.
The Pantone + Solid ink libraries only have one Lab definition. You can force a conversion to process CMYK via Ink Manger and the converted output values will depend on the document's CMYK profile.
If you prefer a single, device dependent CMYK definition for a solid ink simulation, you now have to use the Pantone + Bridge library—those colors are defined as process CMYK—or you can go back to the legacy solid library

Help me wrap my brain around two-color printing.

I am doing my first layout for a two-color print job. It's a double-sided promo piece for a local non-profit.
Armed with my Pantone solid uncoated swatch book (rest assured, we are actually using uncoated paper) I am trying to piece together how to get all my ducks in a row.
The solid color blocks/text colors are pretty easy to work out - my swatch is the darkest color I can go, and I am able to lighten that Pantone color by tinting with white.
Where I'm running into issues is with my graphics. I am using two images (raster graphics) that have been converted in Photoshop to a single Pantone color. I did this by converting the image to grayscale > changing the mode to duotone > choosing "monotone" from the dropdown menu, and picking my Pantone color from the list.
Where I get confused is in reading online about other folks doing two-color printing, they are importing the grayscale image and a separate Pantone spot layer on top of it into InDesign. I don't even begin to understand this. Is it necessary?
By reading my process above, does it raise any red flags for you more knowledgeable folks out there?
Thanks so much,
Sara

Thank you - I actually was able to accomplish the task by using .psd's instead of .gif's. They were not in spot color originally, they were all over the board actually (of course!).
I am baffled by one last thing, however. I did the separations preview and took out all CMYK colors. However, when I exported the "package" the process color "black" was showing up. Yet, whenI did the separations preview and ONLY viewed black, both pages were completely blank. Luckily, I'm on good terms with the printer, so I explained this mystery to him when submitting the package of files. If he has any issues, I trust him enough to let me know what needs to be done. This printing firm does design as well, so I feel confident they will red flag any really serious things.
Thank you all again for your help! I've attached the final file in PDF, in case you'd like to see what you helped me do! The fades around the top text have some weird lines in PDF, but I assured they don't exist in the actual print file...
Sara

How to change CMYK art to grayscale?

I am trying to change a CMYK vector file to grayscale in CS4.
I went to Edit/Edit Colors/ Change to Grayscale. The .AI vector art now looks gray on screen, but the title says "Icon.ai@100% (CMYK/Preview)". It still reproduces as a CMYK file and not Grayscale.
I can't place this into a 2 spot colour document. What am I missing?

Here is a recap -
- the vector file was received from the customer as a CMYK PDF file. It is to be placed in a two spot colour flyer.
- I used Illustrator CS4 to open it and convert it to grayscale. It will print black only in the flyer.
It looks grayscale on the screen and yet says "CMYK" in the title.
I am not sure where to look in the palettes to confirm its colour mode.
- When I place the file in my InDesign CS4 document and Package the document, it shows up as a CMYK file. When I delete the file from that document, I end up with one spot colour and one process colour (black) job which is what I want.
So, this vector file is confusing me. How do I tell in Illustrator if it is CMYK or grayscale?
How to change the color mode?
Thank you!

How do I change an image to Spot color?

I've linked to an image of our logo in a document, but the file needs to be in two color spot before I print. How do I change our logo from a CMYK file to a SPOT one?

You cannot change the color of the linked logo in ID. You'll need to open the logo in the appropriate editor and make a new spot color version, then link that.

Changing CMYK graphic to duotone

I have a 2-color logo that is in TIFF format but was created as CMYK. It is black and Pantone 323. I am using it in a two-color job and need it to be in the 2 spot colors. I changed it to grayscale and then changed it to duotone, but the colored part shows up pretty muddy and dark looking, like it has too much black in it. I have tried changing the curves but that doesn't seem to help much. If it is duotone and the colors are specified to the printer, will it print correctly, even though it looks yucky onscreen?

Duotone is too restricted for this application. Create a new multichanel
image with just black and Pantone 323 as follows.
I have not tested this procedure, so you may find problems, but this should
get you a good result:
Dupe your original CMYK image, set custom CMYK with max black generation,
and reseparate by converting to Lab and back again. Convert to
multichannel, delete all the channels except the black, and add a spot
color channel (aka plate) named P233.
Make another dupe of the original image, and reseparate again, this time
with no black generation. Copy and paste the cyan channel to the P233
plate, using curves or levels to darken the spot channel, so that it has a
max density of 100 percent (assuming the art used solid color).
Use curves to match your new two plate image to the original CMYK. Do not
rely so much on visual appearance, but rather use corresponding eyedropper
points on your original image and the duotone, set to percent ink, as your
guide. Keep in mind that the spot color will not normally be an exact
match for the appearance of the original CMYK, so don't try to match color
values, just overall density. You will need to make the black plate
lighter - move the white end of the black curve horizontally toward the
middle, and make a similar adjustment to the spot plate.
If the black and/or the spot color are line art, you're done at this point.
Otherwise you need to do some clean up to void mixing black into your spot
blends (areas with less than 100% spot coverage) and vice versa. The rule
is to restrict your blends to pure black on white, or spot color on white.
The one exception is that you can have a black blend on 100 percent spot.
Use the eye-con in the channel palette to toggle the visibility of the spot
color, and check for areas of gray that overlap your spot color. With any
luck, there won't be any .
If you do have gray in any of your spot color blends, remove the black with
curves or the eraser, or if the areas are large, do further lightening of
the black plate with curves. Then use curves with the spot channel to
approximate the overall density of the blend with spot color alone.
If find that the art absolutely requires a mixed blend - for example two
angled gradients that intersect one another, this is probably why the job
went to process color in the first place.

CMYK/Preview

At the top of an Ai window it says "CMYK/Preview".
In technical terms, what is Ai doing here?
Is Ai merely converting the CMYK numbers for the
document into the RGB numbers of my monitor space?
To put it another way, is Ai doing anything more
here than being a well-behaved color-managed app?
Thanks all.

If you switch the color model from RGB to one of the CIE spaces, you get the reading in that slot that the translation is being done by ColorSync. So if the CIE spaces require translation, presumably the RGB and Hex values are the actual values that would be shown on your display if your display were using its default profile.
The apple color picker actually has more sophisticated color translation capabilities when you sample colors with it, but you have to poke around in it to find them. It can give you readings in any output space for which you have a profile on your machine. Unless you are using ACE system-wide for your color engine, these translations will be done by one of the Apple color engines, so at this point you are definitely stepping outside the Adobe color management loop.
I also have the Art Director's Toolkit on one of my systems. It gives me different readings from the Apple DigitalColor meter, and does not tell me how these readings are derived, at all. However, I do see a similar very slight difference between the reading it gives me in Illustrator and in Photoshop.
The default color profile for any consumer level display (Apple, Samsung, Dell, etc.) is going to be very simple curve-based math. They use XYZ for the profile connection space.
The custom monitor profiles I make with Color Eyes display are 16 bit conversion tables using Lab for the PCS.
Obviously we are going to get much more complex, accurate math with a custom profile than with a generic canned one, both because the custom profile is actually accurate to the display, and because there is a lot more data to work with in the custom profile in making the conversions.
But I'm an artist, not a programmer, so we are now getting into your field, not mine. I need to make a custom profile for the monitor I am now using (it's new.) If I get that done, I may come back and repeat your experiment with Apple's color picker sampling and the actual profile I am using, which should be more accurate... but from what I have seen so far, I still doubt it would be an exact match between the two apps.
Your screenshot experiment would be another way to go. I haven't tried this.

Just installed mountain Lion. Viewing a pdf sent to me using preview and some colors are appearing BLACK, however when I view the same PDF in Acrobat they are perfect and what they are suppose to be. WHY would PREVIEW showing a different color?

Just installed mountain Lion. Viewing a pdf sent to me using preview and some colors are appearing BLACK, however when I view the same PDF in Acrobat they are perfect and what they are suppose to be. WHY would PREVIEW showing a different color?

Here's what I've found on the issue:
Pantone color definitions have changed (coinciding with CS6) — they are now "Pantone+" (I think that's what they're called). The "+" apparently means they're now LAB colors. Lab colors are not properly displayed in Preview (or in Finder previews) — they display as black (as far as I can tell, in all circumstances). I'm sure it's a tad more complicated than that, but that's the gist.
Now the bad news — nobody seems to know anything about a fix or workaround (unless you convert your PDFs to process — this might be a fix for sending to clients). It causes issues for me in AI files — being able to view them in the finder (with previews) is a HUGE time saver for my workflow... when they're all black, not so much.
In my chat with a director of product dev at Adobe, they placed the responsibility to fix on Apple (assuming Apple wants to support Pantone color definitions in their OS).

How to make true two-color image from scanned rgb image...

hello...
I have 50 scanned images from one book, cyan + black, offset. How to easy make new two color (C+K) from this rgb images? If possible to make action.
sample:

How to easy make new two color (C+K) from this rgb images?
Not at all. They need extensive adjustments long before that - they are scanned wrongly to begin with (double-sided must be scanned against a black background), have fingerprints and whatnot. Once you have them cleaned up, converting to CMYK and cleaning up the colors is anotehr matter. Could be as easy as blanking out the yellow and magenta channels, could entail additiojnal extensive work. in any case, it won#t probably be automatic.
Mylenium

Change a VI's background color

how can I change a VI's background color ?

If you're looking to change it programmatically, you can use property nodes.
Drop a property node from the Application Control palette, right click on it and change the VI Server Class to VI. Next, change the Property to Front Panel, (not Front Panel Window). Now right click on the Panel output and create another property node for Color. Write to the Color property to change the panel color.
The attached image shows these two nodes.
Don�t forget to close the refnums.
Ed
Ed Dickens - Certified LabVIEW Architect - DISTek Integration, Inc. - NI Certified Alliance Partner
Using the Abort button to stop your VI is like using a tree to stop your car. It works, but there may be consequences.
Attachments:
Change_panel_color.gif ‏2 KB

Changing CMYK preview to two-color

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