Adobe Photoshop CS2 On Demand [Electronic resources]

Preparing an Image for the Press

Images saved for press are in another world. For example, images displayed on a monitor use the RGB (additive) color space, while images sent to press use the CMYK (subtractive) color space. The format of choice is the DCS (Digital Color Separation) format. The DCS format is a version of the standard EPS format that lets you save color separations of CMYK images. DCS comes in two flavors, DCS 1.0 and DCS 2.0. Both create five separate files: one each for the four color plates, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, and one for a combined, or composite image. However, the DCS 2.0 format allows you to save alpha and spot-color channels, as well as giving you the option of saving the five separate files under one combined file name. You can also use DCS 2.0 format to export images containing spot channels. It's important to understand that the only device that can print a DCS file is a PostScript printer. As with anything related to press operations, always contact your friendly press operator and ask what format to use.

Prepare an Image for the Press

Open a document.

Click the

File menu, and then click

Save As .

IMPORTANT

Images saved in the

DCS

format must be in the

CMYK

color mode.

Enter a name for the file in the Save As box.

Click the

Where (Mac) or

Save In (Win) list arrow, and then select a location to save the file.

Click the

Format list arrow, and then click

Photoshop

DCS

2.0 .

Click

Save .

Select from the following DCS 2.0 Format options:

• Preview. Click the list arrow, and then select what type of low-resolution image to use in the layout application.

• DCS. Click the list arrow, and then select how you want the color plate information saved.

• Encoding. Click the list arrow, and then select how the image data is encoded for delivery to the output device (contact your service bureau).

• Include Halftone Screen. Select the check box to include any halftone screens.

• Include Transfer Function. Used with high-end commercial production jobs.

• Include Vector Data. Select the check box to include any vector data contained within the active image.

• Image Interpolation. Select the check box to create an anti-aliased version of the Preview image (does not impact printing).

Click

OK .

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