Specifying SPOT WHITE within your artwork
in
Adobe Photoshop
Creating Your Shape
We are going to end up with 2 files:
No white ink
1. The original photo that will be used for color printing.
2. A bitmap image that will be used to specify white ink.
Where we
want white ink
only where the
skyline is.
For this skyline photo of NYC, we want to add a
dramatic effect by having white ink printed only
behind the city skyline and not within the sky. This
will make the color of the city deep and vibrant,
while making the sky slightly faded.
1. Create a selection of your photo where you
want the white in to be printed. You can create
this selection using your preferred tool/method.
In this example, we used the PEN TOOL (P) and
created a selection of the pen stroke.
This guide will instruct you on creating the bitmap image for
your photo and creating the final print file using Adobe Indesign.
* Be sure to keep a copy of your original photo that we
will need for printing.
2. With your selection still
highlighted, create a new layer in
your LAYERS pallete.
3. On your new layer, fill your selection
with a color fill (Option/Alt + DELETE will
fill the selection with the current color.)
We chose black for high contrast.
Preparing Your File
4. DELETE your background layer (or the
main photo) in the LAYERS pallete, so that
you are just left with the filled shape.
4. Convert your image to
GRAYSCALE by going to
IMAGE > MODE > GRAYSCALE...
CONTINUED
6. Next, convert your image to BITMAP
by going to IMAGE > MODE > BITMAP...
Specifying SPOT WHITE within your artwork
in
Adobe Photoshop
Preparing Your File (cont.)
7. Choose OK to flatten layers and be
sure your Bitmap resolution is set to
300 with DIFFUSION DITHER as the
Method, click OK.
9. Save your file as a NEW file and in
Photoshop format. Save this in a relative
location that you can access later.
8. Your artwork should now be ready
to save. Choose FILE > SAVE AS...
Placing Your File into
10. Open
Indesign,
and create a NEW DOCUMENT with the
final size of your printed photo. BE SURE
THAT YOUR DOCUMENT HAS BLEEDS.
11. Choose FILE > PLACE... to
and choose the ORIGINAL photo
CONTINUED
Indesign
12. Place your photo within your document
using the size and cropping that you’d like.
BE SURE THAT YOUR PHOTO EXTENDS
INTO YOUR DOCUMENT BLEEDS.
Specifying SPOT WHITE within your artwork
in
Adobe Photoshop
Setting Up Spot White
13. We now need to duplicate the original photo. With the
photo selected, choose EDIT > STEP AND REPEAT. Use the
same settings within the above image. This should create a
duplicate of the original photo in the exact same location.
14. With your duplicate photo selected, open your LINKS
pallete and choose menu > Relink...
16. Using the DIRECT SELECT tool, click ONCE on
the bitmap overlay to select the fill color. Be sure the
FILL is highlighted in your toolbar.
15. Now, choose your NEW bitmap PSD that
we created earlier. from the RELINK dialog box.
This will replace the photo with the bitmap in the
same exact placement, so the white ink will print
in the correct location.
18. The new swatch needs the following
specifications to work properly:
17. With your shape selected, choose
NEW COLOR SWATCH... from the dropdown
menu within the swatches palette.
(CASE SENSATIVE)
Swatch Name: White
Color Type: Spot Color
Color Mode: CMYK
* Swatch can be any color.
Specifying SPOT WHITE within your artwork
in
Adobe Photoshop
Final Color Setup
19. With the shape selected and the fill set to the new White
swatch, check mark Overprint Fill within the Attributes pallete.
* This option MUST be check marked or your file will NOT print correctly.
Be sure your final
artwork has a proper
cut path in place and is
named correctly.
Toggle the Attributes
pallete by going to
Window > Output >
Attributes.
Final Product
Printed on brushed aluminum composite panel
Check out our other
HOW-TO guides for
complete instructions.