Scodix Application Note

Transcription

1 Scodix Application Note AN Number: AN-3018 Date: March, 2014 Revision: 00 Rev. description: New Application Note System: All Scodix Digital Presses Subject: Scodix Quick Separation Photoshop Actions Purpose To demonstrate Scodix Quick Separation Photoshop Actions for creating Scodix image separations. Background Photoshop actions are simply pre-recorded tasks, saved in an.atn file for future reuse. They allow you to automate Photoshop steps, and make your workflow more efficient. Once loaded, the Scodix Photoshop Actions can be launched by the click of a button from the Photoshop Actions window, or by using keyboard shortcuts. Using one of the Scodix Photoshop Actions is easy to apply to a CMYK image, and speeds up the time to produce Scodix image separations. Scodix has collected some of the most popular Photoshop actions used to produce Scodix image separations, and we are making these productivity tools available to all Scodix customers, free of charge. All you need to do is downloaded from the Scodix web site, as described in this Application Note. Prerequisites Adobe Photoshop Download the relevant Photoshop Actions from the Scodix web site ( For Photoshop CS4 and up: Scodix Quick Separation Photoshop Actions CS4 and up.zip For Photoshop CS3 and down: Scodix Quick Separation Photoshop Actions CS3 and down.zip Unzip the Photoshop Actions file, and save it somewhere on your computer. Contents Procedure... 2 Importing Scodix Actions into Photoshop (Actions script)... 2 Applying a Scodix Photoshop Action to an image... 3 Appendix - Examples... 6 Appendix - Sample effects of Scodix Quick Separation Photoshop Actions... 7 Effects of the Scodix Actions applied to a sample image... 8 Appendix - Using the Scodix print image in Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign... 9 Automatic recognition of the Scodix Swatch Color as a Spot Color... 9 Placing the Scodix print image (.EPS file) into Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign... 9 Adjusting the density of the Scodix print image (.EPS file) in Adobe Illustrator Page 1 of 10

2 Procedure Importing Scodix Actions into Photoshop (Actions script) 1. Open Photoshop, and click Window > Actions. 2. Click the Open list icon, and click Load Actions. 3. Browse to the Photoshop Action file (*.atn), which you downloaded earlier, and load it. Your Scodix Actions are ready to use! Page 2 of 10

3 Applying a Scodix Photoshop Action to an image 1. Open an image in Photoshop. Scodix Photoshop Actions can be applied to any PDF, bitmap, or raster image (Jpeg, TIF, PNG, GIF, etc.). 2. If the image contains layers, merge them by clicking Layer > Merge Layers, and click Merge. 3. Click Window > Actions to open the Actions window. 4. Click Expand list, to view the Scodix 10 filters (Scodix Photoshop Actions). Page 3 of 10

4 5. To apply a Scodix Photoshop Action to your image, either: Select the action from the Actions window, and click the Play button. See example below. Figure 1: Example - # 2 General - type 2 Or, use the Photoshop Shortcut keys: Figure 2: Example - # 2 General - type 2 Shortcut keys Scodix Photoshop Action Shift + F2 General filter type 1 Shift + F3 General filter type 2 Shift + F4 Landscape/Texture type 1 Shift + F5 Landscape/Texture type 2 Shift + F6 Texture type 3 Shift + F7 Texture type 4 Shift + F8 Bright/Gloss type 1 Shift + F9 Bright/Gloss type 2 Shift + F10 Bright/Gloss type 3 Shift + F11 Bright/Gloss type 4 Page 4 of 10

5 6. Click File > Save As, and save the image as a EPS file, select the following options: Format: Photoshop DCS 2.0 (*.EPS) 7. Click Save. 8. Enter the following parameters: DCS 2.0 Format: Preview: Encoding: Tiff (8 bits/pixel) ASCII Page 5 of 10

6 Appendix - Examples Figure 3: Example Before applying the # 2 General - type 2 to the to the Channel window Figure 4: Example After applying the # 2 General - type 2 action to the Scodix Spot Color Channel Page 6 of 10

7 Figure 5: Example After applying # 6 Texture type 4 Appendix - Sample effects of Scodix Quick Separation Photoshop Actions There are no restrictions on which Scodix Photoshop Action to use with a particular type of image, but here are some general guidelines that will help you get started: General actions: For busy images with many scattered areas that need to be highlighted. Landscape actions: For medium contrast, low density highlighting. Texture actions: For medium to high contrast, where you want to highlight all elements with texture. Bright actions: For high contrast, such as night scenes or reflections. The following sample image was used to show the effects of each Scodix Action (see next page): Page 7 of 10

8 Effects of the Scodix Actions applied to a sample image Scodix Action Sample Scodix Action Sample General 1 Texture type 4 Sharpness: Rough Sharpness: Medium Medium Medium General 2 Bright/Gloss type 1 High Medium Sharpness: High Sharpness: Medium Fine Fine High Medium Landscape Texture 1 Bright/Gloss type 2 Medium Sharpness: Medium Fine Medium Sharpness: Rough Landscape Texture 2 Bright/Gloss type 3 Sharpness: Sharpness: Medium Medium Rough Texture type 3 Bright/Gloss type 4 Medium High Sharpness: Medium Sharpness: High Rough Fine High Page 8 of 10

9 Appendix - Using the Scodix print image in Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign The Scodix print image (.EPS file), that you created using the Photoshop Actions, can be placed directly into Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign. Automatic recognition of the Scodix Swatch Color as a Spot Color When importing the Scodix print image (.EPS file) into Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign, the Scodix Swatch Color is automatically recognized as a Spot Color. Figure 6: Swatch Options window showing the Scodix Swatch Color as a Spot Color Placing the Scodix print image (.EPS file) into Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign Open the CMYK file in an In Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign layer, create another layer, and place the Scodix print image (.EPS file) into it. Figure 7: Scodix print image (.EPS file) in its own Adobe Illustrator / Adobe InDesign layer Page 9 of 10

10 Adjusting the density of the Scodix print image (.EPS file) in Adobe Illustrator To adjust the Scodix print image density in Adobe Illustrator, increase / decrease either the: Opacity (located in the Adobe Illustrator top tool bar) Opacity (located in the Transparency window) Figure 8: Adjusting the Spot Color Opacity in Adobe Illustrator We hope that you found this Application Note useful. For feedback, send mail to Rony Guez - rony.g@scodix.com. Page 10 of 10