Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 7/21/2008

Question
Hey there. I am designing a two spot color project. I created a piece of it in
photoshop (using one of the colors), then placed that into Illustrator to finish
the project with the other color. I need to send this to the printer, but he says
it is CMYK format and it needs to be changed. I can't find an option to change
it anywhere. All I have found are CMYK and RGB, neither of which are spot-
color options. Correct?
I am stumped because i am certain I only used these two colors for every part
of the project, so how does the printer get it in the correct format?
Please advise.  

Answer
Hi J,

There is no spot mode in AI. You just set up your file with the appropriate spot colors, and when the printer outputs the file, it only spits out the spot plates. You can preflight this easier by placing it in InDesign and checking the preflight panels.

My thought is that your PS file is not a true multichannel file format (DCS 2.0) and it is interfering with your file. That could be where the problem is. Double check your outputs but printing to your printer with the host-based separations turned on in the print window (output) and see what prints. If your PS file comes out on the CMYK plates, you will need to fix that.


Thanks

Kevin