View Spot Color Separations in Reader

Is there any way to view the spot color separations in reader?

No. That requires the Pro version of Acrobat.

Similar Messages

  • Sending spot color separated art to DPM, can 1 color be sent lighter?

    I have a two spot color PDF (black and a PMS green).  The photos are grayscale and look fine on the screen but when I send it to our DPM and look at the preview there, the photos are super dark.  The text is in 100% green so I really dont want that to lighten but was hoping that somehow when sending it over, the blacks are sent at a lighter shade or more screened or something.  There are some options in the Ink Manager when going through the print dialogues that I am not too sure what they do.  One is called "Neutral Density" that sounds like it might be something like this but I cant tell where it does anything.  Is there anything I can do to make what appears on the DPM looks more acceptable and not overly dark?

    IMO, you won't get this answered in the Acrobat forum.
    Without discussing embedded profiles in the images...if you're hesitatnt about photo's because they print to dark, your wasting the functionality of that DPM. Any decent daylight camera will print line copy at half the materials cost...
    I would suggest you have a tech spend a day in the pressroom to calibrate the DPM. We brought one in for 30 days and sent it back, I get better results through a small imagesetter (which is really all your DPM is with the addition of a RIP and material cutter)
    You will probably get the best answers here
    http://printplanet.com/forums/prepress-workflow-discussion/
    In short, there are some test files stored hopefully on the RIP's internal drive - test patterns. Pull one up, plate it, run it on job stock at normal ink levels. Measure the screen values. Input these values into the RIP's calibration sets.
    If you were to create your own - Create twenty .5" x 4" frames, fill them with tints of black from 5% thru 100%, plate it run it...I'm guesiing that everything over 75% is filled solid

  • Print Spot Color Separations

    OK.  I had Pagemaker, CS2 and now have CS4 on an XPP machine.  I print to plate.  When I want to print separations, the area is grayed out = I can't select any color to print separately.  Plus, up above, I can not choose Separations to print, it's also grayed out and not available.  Just RGB and gray.  I print to a HP LJ5000 PCL & PS printer and need (prefer) to print in non-PS mode (PCL driver).  Pagemaker could do this; and I tweeked something in InD CS2 to make it work.  Can't make it work here in CS4.  HELP!  Is it true that ONLY the PS driver will work to print separations???  The PS driver does not work well for me or for plate production.   Is there a way around this???  TIA.

    Oh, no!  So you are remarking that I should print to the PDF driver and then print the PDF.  Two (big) step process?  Yeah, I guess that's a good work-around.  Isn't there another way, tho'?  Please!  I thought there was some sort of Color Management setting that might allow this for the job.  Yes?   Can someone also tell me Why separations are only allowed for a Post Script printer driver?  (That may be too much to ask.)  Thanks.

  • 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!

  • Color Separations in InDesign and Illustrator

    I am trying to print spot color separations. In both InDesign and Illustrator the "separations" is gray. I can only print RGB and grayscale.
    My colors are set up as spot. I even tried to print from Acrobat and "separations" is gray there also. Do I need to re-install my drivers or the programs.
    I am trying to print to postscript printers but neither one lets me select separations.
    I am using CS3
    Microsoft Windows XP
    Professional
    Version 2002
    Service Pack 2
    Intel(R) Core (TM)2CPU
    6600 @ 2.40 GHz
    2.93 GB RAM
    Thanks in advance for your help.
    Cindy

    I’m not familiar with those models. Are the PostSCript compatible? If so, then you should get the most recent drivers from the manufacturers’ websites. It’s been ages since I needed to worry about printer drivers in Windows, but maybe you need a PostScript printer utility or printer driver from Adobe, too.

  • InDesign / Color Separations / BW Laser printer

    In the past, I have always used an old HP Laserjet 4MV/PS for our spot color separations from Pagemaker. Most InDesign (CS2 & CS3 / PC) files are too big for it to handle, so we create pdfs and output that way. The 4MV has now died and we want something that outputs a better quality dot pattern and separations to paper for grayscales/shading. I don't need high volume, but do need at least 11 X 17 and only need it to output black. What printer will handle large graphic files and provide a good dot pattern?

    The printer in question, the Brother HL-4570CDW, is a fairly inexpensive SOHO laser printer typically used to print “office” documents. As such, it doesn't offer direct options either on the front panel or via the driver to match typical commercial print conditions such as SWOP. Most content sent to such a device is sent as RGB from printer drivers.
    (For your convenience, I have attached a copy of both the specification sheet and the manual for this device!)
    Some ideas:
    (1)  Don't expect reasonable CMYK colors if you are using what Brother describes as the “Windows(r) printer driver (the most suitable printer driver for this product)” and what is apparently installed by default (see page 26 of manual). It invokes an emulation of HP PCL5C, pure RGB, which is a real problem from InDesign. Install their “BR-Script printer driver” and turn off the option for RGB vivid color and try that instead. BR-Script is Brother's emulation of PostScript 3 - definitely not Adobe PostScript 3, but it possibly will give you better results than their emulation of PCL5C!
    (2)  Assuming you are printing BR-Script and the colors are still very problematic, try recalibrating the printer via the printer's front panel. See page 82 of their manual!
    (3)  Export PDF as PDF/X-4 and try printing the PDF/X-4 file from Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader, again using the BR-Script driver. This might improve things.
    If you still can't get decent color and the printer is still “new,” I'd try to return the unit as defective. You can get much better printers for comparable prices from Xerox that have Adobe PostScript 3 and have reasonably good color. Otherwise, if still under warranty, I'd contact Brother and see if they have solutions other than blaming Adobe somehow! 
              - Dov
    PS: This isn't the first report I've heard of serious problems with Brother CloneScript devices.

  • Gradients -- Spot Colors -- Illustrator CC

    I have created a gradient in Illustrator CC
    Using percentages of a single spot color, applied to a bar graph.
    The gradient definition is clearly in the pantone color
    When the bar chart is imported into InDesign CC, it separates as cmyk.
    When attempting to find a solution, i have seen references to a "Separation Setup Dialogue Box".
    http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/apply-or-edit-gradient.html
    And I recall having used this in earlier versions of Illustrator.
    But I cannot find that dialogue box in Illustrator CC, or any other function that would preserve the spot color separation.
    Any guidance would be appreciated.
    Thank you!

    After having done some tests, I believe that the problem MAY have to do with saving up from earlier versions.
    i leave this information with thaks to Monika (as well as Mike) in hopes that it may help someone else dealing with the same problem.
    1) The gradients were created by
    -- loading pantone swatches
    -- using gradient tool, then assigning the pantone color to the pointers on the gradient tools, and assigning percentages via the "greyscale-type" styler
    2) The files were saved in .ai format.
    3) Placed, not pasted into Indesign
    4) My current method of checking the colors is both using InDesign's Window > Output > Separations preview... as well as outputting separations to my laser printer.
    WHAT I LEARNED WAS THIS.
    The files that began in earlier versions of AI and were saved separated into CMYK (but curiously also created pantone plate) so they were in fact 5 color builds
    When I started from scratch with a brand new Illustrator CC file, the gradients otherwise created by the same method remained in the pantone color when placed in InDesign.
    There are so many variables here that I am not entirely CERTAIN that attributing this to the change in version is accurate.
    But at this point, that is what I believe.
    Thanks again to all who helped and good luck to all lost digital pilgrims who wind up in this thread.

  • My Spot Colors are not appearing in the Separations

    Hello everyone!
    I'm having a problem here. I've designed a piece with spot colors, but I can't figure out why they don't appear in the separations and don't export as separate plates. My exported files end up as all process colors.
    In my searches on this problem, the most common solution is that the option in the Ink Manager to convert Spot Colors to Process is checked, but as I've shown in the below screen shot, it's not. It's grey out, which is even more confusing to me.
    I'm stumped. Help?

    If they're the same number, they'd better be the same color, right?
    Actually they are not the same at all.
    2905UP is a CMYK mode color and its Color Type is process, 2905U is a Lab mode color and its Color Type is Spot.
    2905UP is a CMYK simulation of the 2905U solid ink color and it may or may not match depending on the press conditions. Some solid ink colors can't be matched using process colors under any conditions because they are not in the CMYK color gamut.
    On screen they can also look different because the solid color's Lab definition is unaffected by the document's CMYK profile, while the bridge version is because it is a CMYK color.
    Here's the solid version on the left and the bridge version on the right with with US Web Uncoated and US Newsprint profiles. The Bridge version is a terrible match under either of those press conditions.

  • Can placed black eps graphics be separated as spot color in ID?

    I have a 400 plus page catalog that has all kinds of product images in it. Most are bitmaps or tifs that already have a spot color assigned to them. However there are several placed eps graphics that have been created in Illustrator and are black. I would like to make these black eps graphics print with the other spot items. Is there a way to mark them in ID for this, or do I have to make a spot color version of each one an re-place them?

    If your graphics are all on separate layers from the text, you selectively toggle layers for print.
    Alternatively, you could create a new black swatch for your text and change all the text in a few clicks (if your using paragraph styles).

  • Why would my spot colors not show up under my separations preview?

    I just sent a job back to press that has 2 spot colors. I let the rip do the separations and I got 3 plates. Black and my 2 spot colors. There is no black that I'm aware of in the document but when I previewed it at the rip, it showed stuff on the black plate.
    So, back at the computer, I checked my elements and they look like they are colored correctly so I was going to do a separations preview in ID. Neither of my spot colors are showing up in there. Any thoughts?
    IDCS2

    Perhaps add the swatch icon to the sep preview, and use a combo icon, the process sq with the spot circle in the middle. But the swatch would out of necessity be unselectable and grayed, so perhaps that would be sufficent. And then there would be the problem of using with more than 10 spots (not unusual for me, BTW), when the preview would be all grayed.
    It would be a great idea to have the indication.
    Rats, if I hadn't had such a busy day I could of nipped Bob on this one, which I had figured before I finished the first post (six hours late!). I do a of of packaging with eight spots (we're going to start using a ten unit press soon, that should be fun), and perhaps it helped that I use the ink manager frequently just for this, because a job with eight printing spots could also have another three or four spots related to substrate and construction details, so I keep those converted to process until it's time to send off the printer's file.
    Yours
    Vern

  • Using 'Screen' effect overtop of a spot color

    Hi there,
    This forum has been great to me so far and I hope it continues. I have a line drawing that I have set at 100% black (0,0,0,100). I have placed it overtop of a spot color and added the 'Screen' 100% effect to it. Unfortunately when view it in overprint preview and save a pdf print file the effect doesn't show and the entire line drawing dissapears? Looking for answers. Thank you.

    As long as it's white I don't think it'll be a problem - but the screen effect probably won't do that much anyway in this case.
    Preparing for press printing with spotcolors mixed with other colors needs planning accordingly to ensure good results - and I'm not sure where this one is ending up.
    I this case to ensure correct separation, I would just tint the spotcolor until target reached.
    Torben.

  • Need help with color separation

    Hi
    I just sent my pages document to a printer to make copies. It will be printed by an off set printer. They called back and said that I need to convert my CMYK file into a spot color for color separation to use pantone inks. Can this be done and how??? I have pages 1.0.2.
    thanks

    I was hoping to use this program for layout work (thats what I thought it was for, if a printer can't use it, what's the point!Why do they have all those brochure templates if they can't be printed, or am I using the wrong type of printer?).
    Pages can output CMYK files just fine, which is what most brochures and similar documents would use (many of which, as lo_tech suggests, would be printed digitally). But Pages is simply not a high-end, professional page layout tool suitable for doing more complex things like using Pantone spot colours in separations. That really is the domain of specialized pro products like Quark XPress and Adobe InDesign.
    That said, I would think your printer should be able to do a four-colour separation of the file you've provided. I may not be clear on what their objection is, but it sounds like they simply don't want to produce four plates for the print job, and instead want to only do two. I suppose that's understandable from a cost point of view, but even if the file has a narow colour range, it should still be possible (even if a bit more expensive) to do a CMYK separation.
    The other option is as lo_tech suggested, and print it digitally. For short runs this will be cheaper than offset by quite a bit, although offset really benefits from economies of scale, unlike digital printing.
    PowerMac G5   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

  • Help converting to 2 spot colors

    Hello All,
    I am ashamed to say I am a teacher in a vocational high school that doesn't know much about
    computer programs.  I am an old camera/stripper person. I have been teaching 24 years and am well
    versed in PageMaker, In=Design and Photoshop.
    What I am trying to do is the following.
    I am trying to convert a vector image into 2 spot colors.
    For example:  I have a wreath and bow    I would like to print the wreath in a
    PMS 348 and the bow in 185 Red.
    I can of course do this with process colors, but often the job does not warrant
    using process so I would like to be able to print using solid PMS colors.
    I think that is it in a nutshell.  I have tried to work in Photoshop but have had no luck.
    My questions are:
    1. - I am using a Vector image from an artbook CD. - Is this good?
    2. - Can I convert a picture downloaded from the internet?
    3. - How can i learn to do this? - I have looked for online help and the school will not pay
    for me to take a course.
    Lastly, I understand layers well but have little to no knowledge of Channels
    I sure would like to be able to show the students how to do this.  Does anyone know how to do this
    or where I can view  tutorial on this matter.
    I sure would appreciate any help.   Thanks   Print Dad

    You don’t say what version of Illustrator, but regardless if you already have vector art I’d stay away from converting a rasterized image to vector.  There are relatively easy ways of doing what you want with a vector image with the merge swatch feature, but that depends on what sort of vector image you have.  Presumably the vector wreath you are working with is made up of a number of rgb or cmyk values.
    1         OK, so you are starting with a vector image, that’s a good start.  Are you positive it is vector?  In Illustrator can you see all the points when you select the object, and not just one big square?
    2         You could convert a picture from the internet, but that would not work nearly as well.
    3  See below:
    Delete all the swatches from you pallet.  Drag a 185 & 348 swatch from the pantone pallet to your swatch pallet.
    Set the Magic Wand to a useful value (double click on the wand to bring up the dialog box).  The lower the value the more work you’ll have to do, but you’ll wind up with more shades of red and green).
    Click on the most saturated area of red with the Magic Wand Tool.  Click on your 185 red swatch.  Hide the newly minted resulting 185 red (Ctrl-3).
    Click on the next most saturated area of red with the Magic Want Tool.  Click on your 185 red swatch.  On your color pallet, reduce the pantone 185 red to less than 100% to taste.  Hide the result with the Ctrl-3 command again. 
    Keep going until there is no red remaining visible, and then do the same with the green.
    When you can see no more remaining parts of the wreath, you should be almost there.  Just to be sure, do Ctrl-A and make sure nothing gets selected (for instance white objects) when you do so.  If nothing gets selected, you should have only the items you have colored.  Use the command Ctrl-Alt-3 to reveal all the items you have hid.  (The hide and unhide are under the OBJECT menu, but the shortcuts are a bit quicker).  If you do have white objects, you can still use the pantone red/green and set the color percentage to 0%.
    Select the print command and print to a postscript device.  (A .pdf output will work if you are not hooked up to a postscript printer).  In the resulting print dialog box click on the “Output” command in the upper left corner.  Under the Mode select “Separations” Hopefully if all went well, under the Document Ink Colors only 185 Red and 348 Green will have a little printer icon next to them.
    No need to concern yourself with channels.

  • 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.

  • Dear Spot Color Printing Gods......... Please Help Me!

    Ok so here is my story...
    I have been doing graphic design and 3D work for about 7 years. I have NEVER worked in print before, and no NOTHING of color separation or spot color, etc... I am learning all this right now on the fly for my new job, and its not going well.  I was hired and expected to hit the ground running, even though I made it clear I did not have any screen printing experience. (I was mainly hired to help with web design) I have had some mistakes doing the color separation (not 4 color) and its costing the printer money to see if I did it wrong or not.  The printer has no experience with the software (and only speaks English fairly well), nor does my boss know the software, but they both know how its SUPPOSED to look, and they are getting impatient.. Needless to say, I have to turn to the internet for help, so please be gentle with me not knowing much...
    SO....Im a PC user working on a Mac & Illustrator Cs3(I know Mac fairly well).  I have learned the basics pretty fast for screen printing.  The printer is using spot colors only.  After I get the Illustrator file (yes its vector), I delete all swatches except the "Pantone Solid Coated" colors used in the art - or I have to add them from the Solid Coated color book.  After that, I would separate the colors by 1) Duplicating the image however many times that there are colors. (So a splat of soup has 3 colors, I duplicate it 3 times with register marks)  2) I remove all the color except the one Im trying to show. (Im showing the green peas, so I remove the red and yellow colors from the other objects) 3) then I make what the printer calls the "Flash" (the white undertone that the paint adheres to on the garment)  I make this by taking the art, and reducing the size to 1pt smaller.  Once all the colors are seperated, I make each color 100% black, convert the image to grayscale and THEN Im done.  Problems I have been running into have been registration marks somehow not lining up and some colors do not end up 100% spot tones.. One other wierd thing is when I convert to grayscale on the Mac, the art work retains its color on the screen.  When I tried to do that at home on my PC, the artwork turns gray????
    WHEW!  So what I am asking for is a fast, simple way to color seperate a vector file and then create the flash.  And/or how to create a template that I can reuse, that is ready for me to just drop artwork into for spot color seperation.   I have included an image to show you a project I am working on.  Its an  ice cream spill on a shirt.  I have tried to start a template with reg. marks, and that is what you will see here.  There are 5 colors that I have to specify.  The printer actually told me that I do not need to split up the art work the way I have been, nor do I need to change it to black, and all that I have to do is specify all the colors,(spot colors/100% only) and then the printer does the seperation on the clear film. (it only prints in black)  I was also curious why my PC would change the artwork gray and the Mac does not when converting to grayscale.  I thank you VERY MUCH for even reading this maddness that is my life right now, and hope you can give me some helpful wisdom to assist and lead me on my journey.  The job pays well, and I need the money badly!  Thank you very much for any and all help you can give me!
    ~LiQ

    Some misconceptions evidenced in your post.
    You don't have to use a Pantone library to create spot colors. Pantone is just one brand of spot color definitions and inks intended for offset lithography; not screen printing. You can define any color you want as a Swatch and then specify it as Spot. A Spot color is simply a color that represents an individual ink that will be physically used in the printing process. Therefore, if you want to please your boss:
    1. Get the color chip brochure for the particular brand(s) of screen ink your operation uses.
    2. Open Illustrator. New CMYK document. Delete all the Swatches that can be deleted.
    3. In the Swatches palette, for each color of your screen inks, create a new Swatch. Use the CMYK sliders to make its color match the ink as best you can. Name the swatch according to the name of the actual screen ink (ex: Nazdar_BrilliantBlue). In fact, the ink manufacturer(s) you use may already provide a ready-made Illustrator Swatch Library for their various series of inks. Check their websites to see.
    4. After creating the swatches, save the Library, and/or save the file as a tempate file. Now you'll always have your Spot colors available for new projects.
    Now just draw your design and apply the spot colors to the paths as fills and/or strokes. When you print the file as separations, you'll get a separate print for each spot color used. One of the simplest ways to "proof" (test) this is to "print" as separations to the Adobe PDF virtual printer. That will result in a PDF file that has one grayscale page for each ink in your design. That way, you can check what overprints and what knocks out on screen without wasting time or materials. Once confident everything is right, you can then use the PDF to print the actual film positives.
    One of your swatches should be a spot white for your underprint. ( "Flash" is not actually an ink color. It's a production step in which a dryer semi-dries an imprinted ink before overprinting it with another. You usually flash a white underprint, but you just as often flash any color with significant density that needs to be overprinted with a following color.) Understand, you don't have to make this swatch actually appear white. For example, I often make it a pale magenta just so I can see it on screen when working with it.
    Just because the white underprint is going to be printed underneath the other colors, doesn't mean it has to be layered under your other colors in your Illustrator document. Remember, each ink is going to be printed to its own plate anyway. So it's simpler to just put your white underprint objects on a Layer above the rest of the artwork, and set it to overprint, so that it doesn't knock out the rest of the artwork on layers below it in the stacking order.
    Assuming the white underprint has to underprint all the other colors, creating the white underprint should be the near-last step. It's simply a matter of duplicating the colored artwork objects, moving them to the Underprint layer, filling/stroking them with the spot white color and (for efficiency) merging them into as few paths as possible. The Merge or Union Pathfinder commands are typically used for that.
    JET

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