IMPOSSIBLE TO SELECT SPOT COLOR LAYER AS I DID WITH CS2

Hello, I'm a french user (sorry for my english). I'm used to proceed with jobs that are using PSD files with spot colors layers. With AI CS2,
a PSD file with spot color layer I was able to select each layer to change its color, its transparency or its order. With CS4, all spot channels are embedded in a single layer. It's really a problem for me. May somebody help me. Thank you. Pierre-Yves

Yes, in CS4 it is all one layer in CS 5 it is on different layers if they are spot channels.
This is CS 5 so you have to either go back or upgrade to CS 5 if this is an issue.

Similar Messages

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!

Converting CYMK to spot color?

Alright, i just read the 'how to get help quickly', and will attempt to not let my panic show through too much:
I designed graphics to go into my college's literary magazine. I used only two colors: brown and green (8dc63f and 603913). However, last week he informed us (the magazine production people) that RGB wasn't acceptable, since he was going to print in something called 'spot color'. Never heard of it before, but after reasearching, I think I have a vague grasp on it: basically instead of CYMK printing process, he's just going to have two plates, one with each color, and stamp them on the pages (like screen printing). That's fine, but I don't understand how it relates to my files. So we sent the psd files to the printer's "photoshop specialist" and then yesterday I was informed that there was no way to seperate the colors into pantone plates, and that either the book was now going to be blank (thankfully the cover is going to be printed seperately in CYMK so that's fine), or we could use clipart (!!thanks for discrediting a semester of my work), or I could learn to use illustrator and redesign the whole book by monday.
I panic, obviuosly, because after downloading the trial version of illustrator I realized that it's actually nothing like working in photoshop (where's my tablet sensitivity? this is NOTHING like 'illustrating'), and at the end of last night's terror, this is all i could produce: http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/2993/illustrator.jpg
Now for reference, the image I originally made in photoshop looks like this (when placed on a brown background to simulate paper): http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/7015/photoshopf.jpg
I am very confused, because I don't understand why the printing company can seperate the illustrator file into two color plates, but not the photoshop file. Both use the same colors (Pantone 375 and Pantone 161 C, I've learned). I have no clue how to save ANYTHING in 'spot format', the only difference between photoshop and illustrator is that I can click on the pantone swatch in illustrator.
Obviously I'm ignorant and confused, and I appologise for that, since it only makes this situation worse (who knows if I'm using the right terminology).
tl;dr:
I have a whole bunch of psd files that need to be converted to something called 'spot color format'
the images are graphics to be placed in an indesign file, not to be printed on their own, so really, they have to be in the spot color format.
Is there any way in reality to maintain the quality of these images and convert them into 'spot color format'?
I'm still trying to understand illustrator (I'm really a painter, not a designer -- wtf is a vector), but would love to convert the psd files I already have into something usable. the printer people didn't know how, I don't know how (or even understand the issue), but maybe you will?

I tried this with the image you posted, so I can describe in detail the steps.
From the image menu choose Duplicate to keep the original for reference.
From the Image menu choose Mode > CMYK Color.
In the Channels palette, delete (by dragging to the trash there) all channels except the Yellow and Black channels.
Double click the icon of the Black channel and in the window that opens click on the color swatch, then in the next window that opens click the Color Libraries button, and when the next window opens type quickly on your keyboard 161, make sure the desired color is picked and press OK on this and previous window to apply.
Repeat the same for the Yellow channel but choose 375.
Select the 161 channel (former Black) and press Ctrl + L to open Levels. Drag the middle arrow of Input Levels referring to the original to get similar darkness (to me around 0.30 looks similar shade). Press OK to apply and close.
Hold Ctrl and click on the icon of the 375 (former Yellow) channel to load its shading as a selection, and press Ctrl + Shift + I to invert the selection.
Make sure the 161 (former Black) channel is selected and press Ctrl + L to open Levels again. Move the right (white) arrow of the Output Levels (at the bottom) until the background matches in brightness the background of the original (to me 150 looks similar).
That's basically it based on my quick try with your image. This example should help you understand the basic idea and from there if you like, you can further play with the image if you feel you can make it any better with these two colors.
Regarding Spot colors, the idea is that a printing press uses 4 color plates (in Photoshop represented as the four CMYK channels when the image is in CMYK color mode) to print all possible process colors by mixing these four colors (inks). Spot colors are pure inks in cans and each spot color (ink) requires its own plate. Sometimes people print 4 process color plus an additional spot color for achieving a special effect like gold ink or pure corporate color to ensure color consistency which may not be as good when using the four colors mix. But very often, spot colors are used for printing with less than 4 plates to save money and sometimes for artistic effect with special inks.
Following the above example converts the CMYK document to Multichannel Color mode and you have only a few file formats available for saving in the Save As options. From these, practical ones are DCS and PSD files. Both are OK for printing but you may want to confirm with your printer. However if you want to place Multichannel image in programs like Illustrator or inDesign you have to use DCS.

Issue with Gaussian Blur and Spot Colors

Wondering if anyone has a solution to this issue.
Setup: We are using CS4 + CS5 Illustrator on Mac OS 10.5.X and 10.6.X
We created a spot color radial gradient filled circle over a background of the same spot color. The gradient went from 100% of the color down to 2%. We then applied a gaussian blur set to 50 pixels so that we had a nice smooth transition from the circle blurring outwards over the background with the blur blending into the spot color background.
The problem arises when we select "Retain Spot Colors" on the blur. It fills the gradient circle with 100% solid color (but at the 2% range of the gradient so it appears white) and deletes the blur effect. If we don't select "Retain Spot Colors", it converts the blur to process and we get a banding on our printouts where the spot background and CMYK gaussian meet.
We tried the gaussian blur set at 5 pixels all the way up to 55 in 10 pixel increments but nothing worked. We tried different spot colors, same issue. We know we can do the background in Photoshop and import it into Illustrator as a workaround, but we are constantly editing and changing files and would like to keep everything in Illustrator.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to solve this or if there is even a solution. We have not tried Illustrator 5.5 and do not want to invest the money in the upgrade yet. We would prefer to stay with both CS4 and CS5.
Thank you for any input.

Hi Mike,
Okay, I have some new information that changes things. I misunderstood what the issue was from the designer. My apologies in advance for the confusion. There are actually two issues but they are somewhat related.
Issue 1:
We are concerned with banding on the outside of a spot color gradient with a gaussian blur over a patterned background of the same spot color. We do not know if this is becasue of the number of pixels on the blur, the version of Illustrator, the blending of the blur into the patterned background, etc... While the banding looks slight on screen it is more pronounced when printed. There are many variables and we have tried everything we can think of to create a smooth transition but we keep getting some banding.
The first image shows what happens when the Preserve Spot Colors in the Raster Effects Settings (found under the Effect menu) is unchecked. We believe that the spot color is being treated as CMYK and causing the blur to be a slightly different color than the spot color background thus causing the banding.
The second image shows what happens when we select Preserve Spot Colors. We lose the blur.
The third image is what we are trying to achieve over a over a patterned background of the same spot color. This was achieved with the Preserve Spot Colors unchecked and also unchecking Overprint Preview in the Separations Preview Palette. However, this brings us right back to the issue with the Preserve Spot Color being unchecked.
Issue 2:
The issue is that we want to print a spot color gradient with a gaussian blur (over 50 pixels). In order to preview the blur effect correctly we have to uncheck the Preserve Spot Colors in the Raster Effects Settings (found under the Effect menu). However, we have recently found out that this will not work with the software our printers use to do separations. If we check the Preserve Spot Color for the separator, it turns the blur into a large square of color (see screensnap below). We have played around with the Add: x Around Object setting in Raster Effects but it has not helped.
3. If we do not select "Preserve Spot Color", the blur looks correct but it is no longer a spot color but CMYK when separated.
I hope that isn't too confusing and makes sense. Again, apologies for the mixup on my part originally. Thanks again for any help.

Spot colors now missing in PDF!

Issue: spot color channel not showing up in Photoshop generated PDFs. Worked previously, this just started last week.
Workflow: receive PDF ads from client via email. Open file, usually Jpg, Tiff or PDF, in photoshop CS4. save as PSD, with new name, grayscale, 300 dpi for newspaper printing.
some ads get spot/PMS color added. add spot channel. move art from grayscale layer to spot color layer. save file as PSD with spot colors. (for import to InDesign.) Photoshop file looks fine on screen.
for Client proof, Save As "ad proof", turn OFF photoshop editing, so client does not change ad. Turn ON "as a copy", "spot color" and "view PDF".
It worked fine for the past year, now, NOT. The PMS spot channel is not showing on the photoshop generated PDF, If I import the psd file into Indesign, and generate the PDF 1x version, same thing.
Spent 7 hours on phone with tech support, they did not have a clue as to why or what was going on. I have uninstalled, deleted everything Adobe, and spent 7 hours reinstalling CS4.
Newly installed Photoshop not working, same issue. Print to PDF using PDF 9.0 "printer" not working.
HELP!

I just had a very similar problem using CS5 Master Suite.
I had a CMYK job (a business card) that needed converting into a spot colour job.
There was a logo in CMYK that was red, blue and black, so I created 3 new channels in Photoshop and separated the colours into each specific channel. I saved the logo as a Tiff file and imported the logo file into Indesign. On-screen it looked fine (black, red, blue) and I could see the new spot colours had imported into the swatches correctly. However, when I exported the Indesign file as a PDF, one of the spot colours was missing (the red one).
So I changed the logo file (Tiff) into a Photoshop file hoping it would fix the bug, but no such luck.
Out of interest, I duplicated the Red channel and repeated my procedure, this time when I made the PDF the blue channel that was there previously disappeared!!!
When I checked the forum and heard that the poor person spent 7 hours with tech support, I thought bugger that, I just saved each channel as a separate Tiff file, dropped the black file onto the logo so that it was in place, then did a Step&Repeat (ie copied a duplicate of the logo ontop of itself), then dropped the new Tiff file on top of that and changed its colour to Red in the Swatches, and did the same with the blue file.
Now I have a PDF file that shows all the different spot colours and I can go home on time tonight.
I could do all this stuff on CS1. The only 'improvements' I have found in CS5 so far is that my beloved 'Variations' option in Photoshop has now disappeared because they couldn't be bothered to create this feature in 64 bit.

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.

Action written in CS4 won't run correctly in Elements 11 - specif. the "selective color" layer

I created an action using Adobe Photoshop CS4, and it runs correctly in CS4. When I save and load the action into Elements 11, there is a problem with the selective color layer. The selective color layer shows up in the layer stack along with the expected message that it can't be edited b/c it was created in the full version of Photoshop. However, the layer itself does not have any color/changes in it.
In Photoshop, the selective color layer makes the photo look pink. When I run the action in Elements11,the selective color layer does absolutely nothing to the photo. I do have the eye turned "on" to view the layer, and it's set at the correct blending options & opacity (normal, 100%).
If I run the action in Photoshop, save the file with all the action-created layers, and reopen the file in Elements 11, THEN the selective color layer shows its correct pink color. But when I run the action as a stand-alone action in Elements11, it does not.
Can anyone offer help as to why this is happening? Is there something special I need to do to make the action work correctly in Elements 11? My understanding was that it should RUN and create the layers correctly, although some of them will not be editable in Elements11. However, as it stands, it is not creating them with the correct color.
Thanks in advance for your help!

You probaly need to record the action in a little different way in photoshop cs4 to get the selective color adjustment layer to work.
Try something like this:
1. In photoshop cs4 add an selective color adjustment layer, but don't do any adjustments and stop recording the action.
2. Undo the selective color adjustment layer and then double click on on the selective color adjustment layer step in the actions panel
and when the dialog opens set your adjustments and click ok.
Now it should work in pse 11:

How do I select a color range like in Photoshop OR copy/move a layer into the mask of another layer?

Hi there,
I'm trialling Photoshop Elements and wanting to use a black and white (grey scale) layer that I've made as a mask in another layer and don't know how to do it in Elements. In Photoshop, I'd do this (there maybe a better way in PS to do it, but I haven't discovered it yet)...
Click the layer i've created that I intend to use as a mask
Select All
Copy
select layer that I want the mask to be applied to
click the Add Layer Mask button (at the bottom of the Layers window)
click the mask icon so it is highlighted (and the image isn't)
switch to Channels view
highlith the Layer Mask beneath the R,G,B layers and make it visible
Paste
make it invisible again
switch back to layers.
This works and retains the full range of transparency for semi transparency and soft edges of the mask etc.
Alternatively, I can select a Color Range, but that doesn't seem to be available in PS Elements.
So, how do I achieve the same result in PS Elements?
Thanks for your help
Jonno

Perfect! Thanks very much R_Kelly. That does exactly what I was hoping to do.
Cheers
Jonno

After saving a PDF with a Spot UV layer, all of the highlights and detail under the spot color are flattened in Overprint Preview. What am I missing here?

I'm attempting to print some business cards with a Spot UV coating. I have a layer above the artwork with a spot color (set to green per the printer's request). Underneath is a logo, essentially a red circle with some highlights and depth. My issue is that, after exporting a PDF, all of the highlights and detail on the red circle disappear in Overprint Preview (it's there when I hide the Spot UV layer, but missing when I hide the Spot Color). What can I do to retain that information?
Thanks!

Let me know if you need different screen grabs. Thanks in advance.

How to create a selection or mask from a Selective Color layer

Hi. I was wondering if it is possible to get a selection/mask out of a Selective Color Layer.
For instance lets say I have a complicated photo and I put a Selective Color layer on. I then pick Red and start adjusting. I can see the effect and how it changes the red and how it falls off in the photo. Is it at all possible to create a selection or a mask based off of that effect?
Thank you

You can try this. Once you get your selective color adjustment layer the way you like it, change it's blending mode to difference. Add a B&W adjustment layer above that then a curves or levels adjustment layer above that. Use the curves or levels adjustment layer to give the image more contrast by adjusting the top white values. This will produce an image that you can then make a selection from from the channel pallet.

Making a spot color channel of a selection

I want to make a spot color channel out of the current selection.
How can I use the seletion to make the new channel?
tell application "Adobe Photoshop CS6"
    activate
    set useropacity to 50
    set teller to 1
    set userchannelname to "kleur " & teller
    set kleur to foreground color
    tell current document
        make new channel with properties {kind:spot color channel, name:userchannelname, channel color:kleur, opacity:useropacity}
    end tell
end tell
Maurits Brock

tell application "Adobe Photoshop CS5"
activate
          set useropacity to 50
          set teller to 1
          set userchannelname to "kleur " & teller
          set kleur to foreground color
          tell current document
copy
clear
make new channel with properties ¬
                              {kind:spot color channel, name:userchannelname, channel color:kleur, opacity:useropacity}
paste
invert selection
clear
          end tell
end tell

Move a Spot color to a layer

I am very new to this, but am excited to unlock the power of scripting Adobe products. I have search through the forum for a similar issue but couldn't quite find the answer. This is my problem:
I am trying to grab specific spot colors and move them to separate layers for our cutting software. In this case I am trying to grab "perimeter cut" and move it to a layer called "tc 1"
I get the following error when I try to run the script.
#target Illustrator
var idoc = app.activeDocument;
var ipath = idoc.pathItems;
    if (ipath.typename == "SpotColor") {
        if (ipath.spot.name == "perimeter cut") {
                    ipath.move(tc 1, ElementPlacement.PLACEATBEGINNING).

Sure, try this alternative (sorry for not checking the previous script before posting):
#target Illustrator
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var paths = doc.pathItems;
var destLayer = doc.layers.getByName ("tc 1");
var spotItems = new Array();
for (var g=0; g<paths.length;g++){
    if (paths[g].fillColor.typename == "SpotColor" && paths[g].fillColor.spot.name == "perimeter cut") {
        spotItems.push(paths[g]);
for (g=0; g<spotItems.length;g++){
     spotItems[g].move(destLayer, ElementPlacement.PLACEATBEGINNING);

HELP ! why doesn't color picker select specific color ? i make secondary layer and use the tool but no colors are selected and the gray out menu shows nothing !

HELP ! why doesn't color picker select specific color ? i make secondary layer and use the tool but no colors are selected and the gray out menu shows nothing !
what am i missing ??!!

Please add you system info and SpeedGrade version and build number if you actually want help.

Selecting color layer should select its mask

In older versions of Photoshop (at least until CS3), clicking on a solid color, gradient or pattern layer in the layer palette selected its mask. In CS5, it doesn't select the mask anymore.
This is inconsistent with the adjustment layer behavior, where the mask is automatically selected, and does not make sense since there is no "image" area that can be edited like normal layers.
It's a little thing but you can't believe how many time I got the "this layer must be rasterized" dialog box since moving to CS5.

OK. I see your point about the eyedropper. I guess I'll have to aim better.
The double border should appear around the Fill layer icon to indicate that it is selected. That would make it consistent with normal layers.
Personally, I would prefer if, when you click on the layer name in the Layers panel, the option that was previously selected for that layer would be selected again (layer color, layer mask or vector mask). If you want to change it, click on the appropriate icon.
On a related note, is there a way to add a vector mask without first adding a layer mask?

Script that selects specific color coded layer?

Hi Guys, does anybody knows how to find a layer in the layers palette using its color coding ?
I've did this action for Photoshop for stacking layers on top of each other,basically it aligns one
layer to another regardless of their position and size.Here is a demo how it works: http://vimeo.com/13713886
The action searches for the target layer via its specific name, using a simple .jsx script.This way the layer order in your document doesn't matter.However I don't want the action to rely on layer name either and was thinking that It can find the layer via its color coding
I would be really glad if someone can write a script that searches trough all the layers in the layers palette and selects the color coded one.
Thank you.

This should do it...
selectAllLayers();
var selectedLayers = getSelectedLayersIdx();
for(var a=0;a< selectedLayers.length;a++){
    makeActiveByIndex( selectedLayers[a], false );
    if(colourMarkedLayer()) break;
function selectAllLayers() {
activeDocument.activeLayer = activeDocument.layers[activeDocument.layers.length-1];
if(activeDocument.activeLayer.isBackgroundLayer)
activeDocument.activeLayer = activeDocument.layers[activeDocument.layers.length-2];
var BL = activeDocument.activeLayer.name;
activeDocument.activeLayer = activeDocument.layers[0];
    var desc5 = new ActionDescriptor();
        var ref3 = new ActionReference();
        ref3.putName( charIDToTypeID('Lyr '), BL);
    desc5.putReference( charIDToTypeID('null'), ref3 );
    desc5.putEnumerated( stringIDToTypeID('selectionModifier'), stringIDToTypeID('selectionModifierType'), stringIDToTypeID('addToSelectionContinuous') );
    desc5.putBoolean( charIDToTypeID('MkVs'), false );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID('slct'), desc5, DialogModes.NO );
function getSelectedLayersIdx(){
      var selectedLayers = new Array;
      var ref = new ActionReference();
      ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("Dcmn"), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
      var desc = executeActionGet(ref);
      if( desc.hasKey( stringIDToTypeID( 'targetLayers' ) ) ){
         desc = desc.getList( stringIDToTypeID( 'targetLayers' ));
          var c = desc.count
          var selectedLayers = new Array();
          for(var i=0;i<c;i++){
            try{
               activeDocument.backgroundLayer;
               selectedLayers.push( desc.getReference( i ).getIndex() );
            }catch(e){
               selectedLayers.push( desc.getReference( i ).getIndex()+1 );
       }else{
         var ref = new ActionReference();
         ref.putProperty( charIDToTypeID("Prpr") , charIDToTypeID( "ItmI" ));
         ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("Lyr "), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
         try{
            activeDocument.backgroundLayer;
            selectedLayers.push( executeActionGet(ref).getInteger(charIDToTypeID( "ItmI" ))-1);
         }catch(e){
            selectedLayers.push( executeActionGet(ref).getInteger(charIDToTypeID( "ItmI" )));
      return selectedLayers;
function makeActiveByIndex( idx, visible ){
    var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
      var ref = new ActionReference();
      ref.putIndex(charIDToTypeID( "Lyr " ), idx)
      desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID( "null" ), ref );
      desc.putBoolean( charIDToTypeID( "MkVs" ), visible );
   executeAction( charIDToTypeID( "slct" ), desc, DialogModes.NO );
function colourMarkedLayer(){
   var ref = new ActionReference();
   ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("Lyr "), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
   var appDesc = executeActionGet(ref);
   if(appDesc.getEnumerationValue(stringIDToTypeID('color')) != 1315925605) return true;
   return false;

IMPOSSIBLE TO SELECT SPOT COLOR LAYER AS I DID WITH CS2

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