Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 1/9/2008

Question
I have a cymk photo that I need to change into a one color photo using one pms color for a two color job going to the printers. I have photoshop cs2, what is the easiest way to do this? Thanks I need all the help I can get!!!

Answer
Hi Tricia,

This has to happen in two parts. First you have to convert this to a grayscale image under Image>Mode>Grayscale. Next you have to go to Image>Mode>Duotone. Once in the duotone menu, choose "monotone" under the pulldown. Then click the color swatch for the first color (it is normally black). Then you can choose your pantone color. This will convert your photo to a pantone color.

But you are not done yet! A duotone file cannot be placed into another program or printed without this next step.

Next, go to Image>Mode>Multichannel. This will give you a pantone channel only. You can now save this out as a Photoshop DCS 2.0. (This is an .eps file that carries over the pantone information). For the options when saving, I like to save this out as a composite with a preview.

You should be all set.

Kevin