Converting to spot colors in InDesign

Hi, Im trying to create a two color job in InDesign that will be black and red. The problem I have is that our imagesetter is not separating the colors.
I was told that the red color needs to be a spot color in InDesign for the imagesetter to know to separate the colors. Otherwise, if the colors are not set as a spot color then it sends the file as CMYK separations or grayscale separations.
The question I have is how can I change the images (and text) in my InDesign file to be set as a spot color? Thanks in advance.

You can import a grayscale image and use your two spot colors to create a mixed ink color, or you can create a duotone in PS, or if is line-art a multicolor DCS file. If it is line-art you can also create two separate grayscale or bitmap (black & white) images of each element in PS line them up in ID and apply your spot color to each. Too bad you can not color each layer PSD grayscale file in ID.

Similar Messages

Convert from spot color to custom CMYK value in Applescript

I thought this would be very simple and it's not apparently. I am trying to convert a spot color into a custom CMYK value. Basically:
tell application "Adobe Illustrator"
          set theList to every path item of current document
          repeat with k from 1 to count of theList
                    if fill color of item k of theList = {name:"Dark Green"} then
                              set fill color of item k of theList to {cyan:0.0, magenta:100.0, yellow:0.0, black:0.0}
                    end if
          end repeat
end tell
But this script obviously doesn't work. From what I can tell, the fill color simply returns the tint of the item, not the name of it. I can't find anything that returns the name of a spot color so I can set the correct corresponding color. In the above example, I made the color obviously changed so I could visually see the result.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm a first time poster here.
Thanks!

tell application "Adobe Illustrator"
          tell current document
                    set theList to every path item
                    set sw to every swatch
                    repeat with i from 1 to count of sw
                              set swname to name of item i of sw
                              if swname = "Dark Green" then
                                        set swco to color of item i of sw
                                        repeat with k from (count of theList) to 1 by -1
                                                  set co to fill color of item k of theList
                                                  if swco = co then
                                                            set fill color of item k of theList to {cyan:0.0, magenta:100.0, yellow:0.0, black:0.0}
                                                  end if
                                        end repeat
                              end if
                    end repeat
          end tell
end tell

Converting to spot color

I am trying to have a card printed and the printer is asking that I make the image in "spot color". I have no idea how to go about doing this. I created the image in Illustrator and formated it in InDesign. Can anyone help me out??
I am posting links to the files I created.
The Card:
THANKYOUCARD.indd - Google Drive
The Envelope:
RBenvelope.indd - Google Drive
The Logo:
royburnscampaignlogo2.ai - Google Drive

I am trying to have a card printed and the printer is asking that I make the image in "spot color". I have no idea how to go about doing this. I created the image in Illustrator and formated it in InDesign. Can anyone help me out??
I am posting links to the files I created.
The Card:
THANKYOUCARD.indd - Google Drive
The Envelope:
RBenvelope.indd - Google Drive
The Logo:
royburnscampaignlogo2.ai - Google Drive

PDDocColorConvertPage doesn't convert the Spot Color "All"

Hello,
I use the PDDocColorConvertPage() method to convert a page to DeviceGray (with the AC_Color gray 1.8).
Unfortunately the spot color "All" is still a spot color after the conversion (but the alternate color space is DeviceGray). Is it a normal behavior? Is it specific to the spot color "All" because it's a special case?
Thanks in advance for any information,
Joe

Correct.
I believe there is a flag you can set on the ColorConvert API to get rid of that too, if you really want – but All is special.

Creating Spot color in InDesign CS4, js

Hi,
I have this code:
try{
myColor = myDoc.colors.item("EMBOSS");
myName = myColor.name;
catch (e){
myColor = myDoc.colors.add({name:"EMBOSS", model:ColorModel.SPOT,
colorValue:[100, 0, 0, 0]});
But the color created still process. How do I change it to spot color.
Thank you.

Never mind, it's working. I just had old colors still not deleted.

CYAN color range (0 to 100 %) convert to spot color

Hi
We have around 1000 eps files with different cyan values for ex cyan at 40 % or 60%, we require the cyan value to be changed to Pantone 801 C.
Any script would be great help for us.
Regards,
Vinoth

tell application "Adobe Illustrator"
          tell current document
                    set theList to every path item
                    set sw to every swatch
                    repeat with i from 1 to count of sw
                              set swname to name of item i of sw
                              if swname = "Dark Green" then
                                        set swco to color of item i of sw
                                        repeat with k from (count of theList) to 1 by -1
                                                  set co to fill color of item k of theList
                                                  if swco = co then
                                                            set fill color of item k of theList to {cyan:0.0, magenta:100.0, yellow:0.0, black:0.0}
                                                  end if
                                        end repeat
                              end if
                    end repeat
          end tell
end tell

How to convert a PDF's Process Black to spot color

We have been asked to build InDesign templates for a two-PMS-color math book. The design calls for two PMS colors: a dark blue for most text and red highlights.
Because our Math plug-in doesn't work easily with PMS colors (it defaults to Process black), we hope to create all the “blue” text in Process Black. The press PDFs will have two inks: Process Black and PMS red. On press they will print the black plate in our blue PMS color.
This plan works on press, but for non-press use, we also want the PDFs to visually match the blue and red printed book. Ideally we would convert the Black Process ink to a blue spot but I'm not sure if this can be done.
Question 1: Does anyone know of a way to convert Process Black in a PDF to a spot color? Pitstop can convert spot to process, but we want the reverse.
Question 2 (which I may also post in the InDesign forum) Do you know of a way to redefine (or alias?) the indesign black swatch so that it functions as a spot color?

1 - yes, you can do this with Preflight in Acrobat Pro, but it's not on the default set of fixups.
Open Preflight, select "Single fixups" - the wrench icon
Options > Create New Preflight Fixup
Give it a name (e.g. "process black to spot")
Choose the Color category in the upper right
Choose 'Convert to spot color' in the upper left
Define the source parameters in the main panel (in your case, CMYK%, 0-0-0-100 with tolerance 0)
Define the spot color to change this color into, and the alternative space for rendering (i.e. your blue color)
If you wish, add a check to limit the conversion to certain things (e.g. text, vectors, etc.)
Click OK to save the fixup, then click FIX to apply it. To verify the result, use the Output Preview dialog in Acrobat.

Is there a way to convert a Word document with Red and Black into Spot colors in Acrobat X?

Customer sent us PDF files created in MS Word. Of course, Word creates CMYK versions of colors. I need the red text and black text converted into spot colors for 2 color output on press. Is there a way to do this? I saw another thread that said there is a Fixup in the Print Production/Preflight section of Acrobat X that has a convert to Spot, but I'm not seeing that. All I see is Convert to CMYK. I'm using Acrobat X 10.1.13 on OS X. Any help would be appreciated. He also sent the Word docs so I can drop that into InDesign and reformat the whole thing and fix the colors myself but if I can do it in Acrobat, that would be a lot quicker. Thanks!

Frequently in this scenario the red will be 100% of either magenta or yellow with 0% black. In these cases you can merely plate the Black & Magenta (or yellow) for press.
I've created a Preflight Fixup on occasion for these also.
An example shown - Note it requires the document is cmyk. MS Files will be rgb. You could create a Preflight looking for rgb colors.
With Fixup tab selected - Options > Create New Fixup > Type of Fixup - search for Spot in the field

[CS4-5.5][JS] Problem convert spot colors to process

Hi,
I'm trying to convert all spot color swatches to process, but for some strange reason, some weird behavior occures.
First I tried this piece of code...
app.activeDocument.colors.everyItem().properties = {space:ColorSpace.CMYK, model:ColorModel.PROCESS};
After running the script, the color icon changes, indicating the colorspace/model is changed. But when checking the color in detail, it's still a spot color.
Just as a test, I tried this piece of code...
function convertColors2Process(){
     for (var i = 0; i < app.activeDocument.colors.length; i++){
            var myColor = app.activeDocument.colors[i];
            if ((app.activeDocument.colors[i].name != "") && (app.activeDocument.colors[i].name != "Registration")){
                    if (app.activeDocument.colors[i].model != 1886548851){
                          while(myColor.model != ColorModel.PROCESS){
                                    myColor.model = ColorModel.PROCESS;
                                    myColor.space = ColorSpace.CMYK;
                                        myColor.colorValue = [50,20,30,40];
Now, the color thumbnail changes to the new color, but again, when checking the color. It's still a pantone color with the old values.
No error occures when running the script and I'm able to change the color manualy in Indesign.
How do I change the colour mode of all spot colors to CMYK?
Thanx
John

Hi Larry,
I've tried using ...
function convertColors2Process(){
     for (var i = 0; i < app.activeDocument.inks.length; i++){
                                app.activeDocument.inks[i].convertToProcess = true;
This will modify the ink manager to process the spot color as process color, but the color itself is still unchanged....
How do I modify any spot color to process color and change the colour mode to CMYK?
Thanks

Changing images (and text) in InDesign file to spot color.

Hi, Im trying to create a two color job in InDesign that will be black and red. The problem I have is that our imagesetter is not separating the colors.
I was told that the red color needs to be a spot color in InDesign for the imagesetter to know to separate the colors. Otherwise, if the colors are not set as a spot color then it sends the file as CMYK separations or grayscale separations.
The question I have is how can I change the images (and text) in my InDesign file to be set as a spot color? Thanks in advance.

Please re-ask your question in the ID forum:
Mike

Can I have "All spots to process" checked at all times, even for new spot colors?

When I check “All spots to process” in the pdf export settings and save my settings the settings remember that I've checked this option. But, if new spot color objects using new spot color swatches are added to the document (or another document) and I go into the pdf export settings the check mark has been changed into a dash (with the actual checkbox highlighted) – signifying that only some of of the spot colors will be changed to process colors during export. I absolutely fail to see how this could possibly be seen as a feature and not a bug … if the user has checked “ALL spots to process” wouldn't the user expect ALL spots to be converted to process colors, rather than just any spot colors that happened to be in the document that happened to be open when the user first checked that checkbox and saved that setting?
Am I missing something here? What's the point of even having that checkbox as part of your saved export settings if it doesn't include any other spot colors than those used when saving the settings?
What's the point of having settings if you can't trust them, and still need to manually "override" them every time?
I see that some users have taken to writing scripts that instead turn all spot colors in the swatch panel to process colors, and while I commend them for creating that workaround, I'm still pissed at Adobe for not getting the function right.
If this is a feature, who is it for? People who want to add just certain spot colors and turn those into process colors rather than turning all spot colors into process colors are surely better off doing that in the swatches panel, where they're in total control of what's what. And if they don't want to "permanently" change their spot colors to process colors, and prefer to (temporarily) convert them during exporting/printing only, they can do that in the ink manager. But when someone checks convert "All spots to process" couldn't we safely assume they really want ALL spot colors to be converted and not just some of them? I mean, the way that checkbox behaves now, it's like it's a button and not a checkbox. As in: hit the button "All spots to process" to switch all currently viewed spot colors to process colors in the ink manager, OR check the "All spots to process" checkbox to always convert ALL spot colors to process colors during exporting/printing.
Anyone got any light to shed on this?
And is there a way to actually get the advertised behavior, because if you have to run a script every time you export/print you might as well just manually select the checkbox every time instead, but either way it's just really unnecessary as far as I'm concerned … Adobe should get the feature right instead.
If you save a setting and recall it, it shouldn't be possible for that setting to change into something else (in this case changing a checkmark to a dash).
Clearly CMYK printing is the norm, so for most users it would make a lot of sense to have the "All spots to process" checked most of the time, and then you just go into the swatches panel or the ink manager and set things correctly for those print jobs that really do need spot colors.
I myself am not one of those who add spot colors to my swatches unless I'm really using them as spot colors, but I often work with magazines and folders featuring adverts made by whoever, and typically there's always at least one advert that features spot colors, and therefore it would be very nice if the "All spots to process" feature actually worked as advertised without any required actions from me.
We stopped sending ads back to the advertisers for adjustments a long time ago, unless we absolutely had to, because there were so many things wrong with so many ads that it was simply too much work to write back and explain everything to people who most of the time didn't even understand what we were talking about. We found that it was usually a LOT faster and easier to just adapt the ads ourselves, as long as it was something that could be worked out really quickly from within InDesign itself, which pretty much included most typical errors.
But with this feature I find Adobe is trying to make my job harder rather than easier, and it's pissing me off. Arrrghh… ;-)

But It's not a preference it's a shortcut
It's a bad joke, is what it is. ;-)
So, why in your opinion should it be presented the way it is? I keep saying in it's current functionality it shouldn't be presented the way it is (and that: if it is, it shouldn't work the way it does). If it's not a preference or even a proper checkbox, why present it that way?
If you put it right next to the table at the top of the window (so that it's directly associated with that information, rather than information right above it) and just called the checkbox “Spot(s) to process” and had it only visually reflect the content of the sleected spot colors in the table, then I'd see your point with likening it to the “Hyphenate” checkbox.
If a story has two selected paragraphs that uses two different hyphenation settings then the checkbox should present the way it does now, but if you hit the checkbox so that both paragraphs now use hyphenation and create a third paragraph inbetween the two previous ones it better inherit that setting and not turn off hyphenation for the new paragraph (unless of course there's a defined next paragraph style that switches to a style with hyphenation turned off). And if that checkbox said “Hyphenate all paragraphs” instead, then I would expect it to do just that, and not just the selected ones, and not just the current paragraphs but quite literally all paragraphs even newly created ones – otherwise it doesn't do what it says it does, and simply shouldn't be labeled that way.
And seriously bad interface design aside, you'd have to rename “All spots to process” to “Switch all currently displayed spot swatches listed in the table above to process” to actually describe what that checkbox does. So even if you're a fan of the current functionality, as opposed to one that actually lets the user set and forget a setting like that, and think it's better that users manually check it repeatedly (which I'm not saying that you are, but you're not giving me any feedback suggesting you even see my point of view with any of this, so what do I know?), then why wouldn't you still support an interface that visually matches/signals that functionality better? If it's a “Select all” checkbox supplementing a table containing a column of checkboxes, then present it that way. Don't put it at the bottom of the window next to another checkbox that works just like a regular checkbox and label it “All spots to process” – because that way you are signalling a different behavior.
Seriously, if I was to do design using the same mentality that Adobe uses when designing their user interfaces it wouldn't be long before I lost all clients. There's a lot to be said for de facto monopolies, I suppose. Oh no, there's nothing wrong with the design, just as long as you accept it on it's own terms and don't compare it to anything relevant, and just as long as you give people enough time to understand and accept it … and surrender to it.
For real … I wouldn't win one single pitch that way.
Today's threads have in many ways been a thorough reminder of the following quote from the second link I provided:
Is there an Internet rule yet stating that even the most obviously indefensible mistake will eventually be defended by someone somewhere? Awful marketing efforts get explained as genius viral campaigns, broken features become solutions.
And whether or not you're able to see my point of view or not is really besides the point too.
The real point was, and remains to be:
That for those who receive lots of ads or other external files that may or may not contain spot colors it would be far more useful to be able to set a checkbox to always convert all spots to process when exporting, than the current functionality is (and I'm not suggesting eliminating the current functionality, just change so it's presented like what it really is, and then just let that separate checkbox do what it says) … causing unnecessary manual action on the user's behalf shouldn't be the business of Adobe – preventing it should.
And here's further reading on the subject of bad Adobe interface design for those who might feel so inclined. ;-)
Cheers!

Convert CMYK+SPOT (only selected bands) to RGB

Hello,
My context:
I am dealing with multi-band TIFF files - CMYK + one or more SPOT colors.
I am able to read the multi-band TIFF file using JAI and read the number of bands correctly.
Also, I can read the value for any band for any pixel.
For the SPOT colors I have Pantone CMYK equivalents.
The bands are 8 bit in size.
My problem:
I need to be able to show/hide one or more bands and display the result.
Is there a (mathematical) formula for converting CMYK+SPOT color bands to the RGB color space?
A simple example:
(CMYK scale 0-100)
All bands: C, M, Y, K, SPOT1 (C=100,M=100,Y=0,K=0), SPOT2(C=100,M=0,Y=100,K=0)
Bands selected: C, M, SPOT1
PixelX values: C = 50, M = 10, SPOT1=80
Can we calculate PixelX's RGB values to display on screen?
Is there any documentation I can read anywhere on the subject?
Thanks in advance,
Georgi

While I have never tried it, you might find this interesting: [cmyk to rgb|http://bytes.com/topic/java/answers/16180-rgb-cmyk].

Spot colors not being saved.

In CS6 I have been having random situations where the spot color channels are not saved when saving a .psd, regardless of the settings in the save dialog box. Any idea of why this might be happening? I've even had the program dump the spot colors from a multichannel document today while trying to find a workaround. I considered converting the spot colors to alpha channels as well, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to do that. Odd, as alpha to spot color conversion is just a radio button away. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

This is on an Intel I Mac running Maverics 10.91 (lots of problems with that).
These are RGD documents at 8 bits per channel. The layers have always been merged at this point.
The spot colors involved are mostly book colors (Pantone Solid coated), though the program drops custom spot colors (u-white in the screen shot) as well on the occasions when it happens. This began occuring with CS6. I have noted in the forums that the book definitions may have changed, I am revising my actions to move to the current book definitions, though why this would affect a user defined spot color is unclear.In the cases where this occurs, only the "Art Mask" channel would be saved (it's an alpha).

Problems printing spot colors overprinting registration color

In order to get a spot color to overprint a registration color on a proof, I have to change the spot color to multiply and then select convert all spot colors to process in the output dialog. I've never had this problem before using CS4. I'm running Mac OS X 10.5 and printing to an EFI RIP. I can see the error in the preview window inside the print dialog box in Illustrator before I sent to the rip.

Absolutely.
Remember I only have this problem when a registration object interacts with a spot color. I've tried putting either object on top and either item overprinting or multiplying.
For the record, I can get it to work by checking "convert all colors to process" in the print dialog box, but nothing works without checking this box and I would like to avoid checking this box if at all possible.

Color conversion : special behavior with Spot Color "All"

Hello,
I have a document with printmarks which have a spot color "All". While I convert the page using the "Color conversion" to Gray 1.8 with Adobe Acrobat X the spot color "All" are still present (with the alternate color space DeviceGray).
Using Adobe Acrobat 9.x all objects have a DeviceGray color.
Is it a bug or a new behavior? Moreover the SDK method doesn't convert the spot color but keep the name (but I know this is not the right place to post it - it's just for information).
Regards,
Joe

I sense you may not understand the difference between sopt and process colors in the printing process.
When you use process inks you build all color representations by combining dots of varying sizes from each of the four process colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Because the dots are two small to be seen individually your brain is fooled into thinking it sees other colors. Process color printing requires four printing plates to produce the full range of colors possible, but that range is limited compared to what you can see in real life or capture in RGB.
Spot colors, in contrast, are similar to paint. Each color is mixed individually, and every spot color requires its own plate on the printing press (and you must use a press -- toner and inkjet printers use cmyk inksets and cannot print real spot colors). Because of the expense of these plates, the use of spot colors is usually limited to one or two colors in any print job, and if the job has other color (like photographs) that requires process inks, converting the spot colors to the closest process simulation is often employed if the spot colors can be simulated "close enough" to satisfy the client and the budget is tight.
I would avoid using process colors for type in small sizes or for very thin strokes, especially in lighter colors, as you are likely to see ragged edges.
So, how many spot color swatches did you use? More than two? More than four? Do you have a huge budget to produce the work? This may be a project that really should be designed from the ground up as process, or process and one spot for that hard to print bright accent color.

Converting to spot colors in InDesign

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