Expert: Amy - 10/30/2009

Question
Hi Amy,

I need to create a logo that consists of two CMYK colors into a 2 spot color for printing- printing an envelope- but I do not know how to do that? Well I did try to play with the channels but it does not work.

The logo and envelope design is created in photoshop- is there a way to do this in photoshop?
OR...can I then open the image in illustrator and do it there?

Also...and this is a stupid question probably...if the logo consists of say 6 colours and I need to convert the cmyk to 2 spot colors...does this mean only two colors are printed and I have to say bye to the other four?


Answer
Hi Lillien,

You are going to have to create another version of your logo for use in spot color work.

You can do this in PhotoShop using channels, manually, using your best judgement and your art skills.

You open your original logo file in CMYK mode, display all your channels, create a new spot channel. Then, looking at all the other channels, you select, copy and paste CM or Y content into the black channel and/or the spot color channel until you've got an image that uses only those two channels. Get rid of the other channels, change to a grayscale or multichannel mode image, and save as DCS EPS.

When you do something like this, it's really about being a print artist. You have to play with the content of the channels until the light and dark tones represent your logo as well as they can using your limited colors.

If you would like, I can take a quick look at it and let you know what I would do. You can mail files to me at AmyLynPace@yahoo.com

-A