Color of graphics for Printers

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I’ve been asked and have created graphics for stationery and print pieces. The printer company often asks if it is 4 color or to provide a file with color separation. How do I determine this in Photodraw and how do I prepare a file for color separation. Also, if I use a photograph to create a logo for letterhead, how would I determine whether it is 4 color?

I’m very challenged in this area, so any help/reference you can give me would be oh so great!

TIA Kate

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Kate,

I did a little research in PhotoDraw and did not find anything directly related to “4 colors/four colors.” So, I went the the web and found these sites on color.

The “four color process” is the best site I have found and it appears that the term four color does not relate to the image that you are providing, it relates to how the image is printed (duplicated). If I am wrong in this determination, I am willing to be corrected.

“Four-color process printing is the most demanding. The four basic colors used to create the exact color
specified are generally referenced as CMYK. “C” represents Cyan or blue, “M” represents magenta or
red, “Y” represents yellow, and “K” represents black.”
Located at: http://www.bob-weber.com/faq9.htm.

A very technical article “Color FAQ” is specific about color and can be located at:
http://www.inforamp.net/~poynton/notes/col…a/ColorFAQ.html

This last article has some interesting information and is located at:
http://www.allthesky.com/articles/imagecolor.html.

Ryan

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Hi Ryan:

Thanks for your input…now I know I’m not going crazy! This is about what I expected…a real delima for people needing to create pics for the printer who wants to know if it was created in four color.

I’ve read some of the technical stuff on it and frankly it’s a little above me. I’m thinking the only way to get around this is to purchase one of these programs. Isn’t it strange that MicroSoft didn’t include such an important feature.

Thanks again

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Kate,

The difference is “Quality”!

Something that Microsoft forgot about years ago in their quest for world domination.

Have you considered using a conversion/converter program? It might be free or considerable less than puchasing and ENTIRE program for the few pictures you want printed.

Ryan

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Kate,

I did a little searching on “cymk converter” / “cmyk converter” and came across some freeware/trialware applications listed in ZDNet. I have not tried the products, so I do not have an opinion.

– Color Expert from the Company: Abitom Software runs on 95/98/Nt/2000/Me.
– PhotoGraf requires Windows 95/98

Remember, freeware/trialware is not always safe. You might want to investigate more for something with a reasonable cost from a reliable/trusted source.

Ryan

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Kate,

I’ve corrected myself…
You have to manually set the color mode/scheme to CYMK or four color and THEN save as something like a TIFF file. The following is a list of programs that can and cannot render the file types you seek. Unfortunatly, PhotoDraw cannot facilitate CYMK. You may be able to find an image file converter to take an image that is RGB to CYMK.

Programs for 4-colour process printing
Preferred:
QuarkXPress (all versions)
Adobe PageMaker (all versions)
Adobe Photoshop (all versions)
Adobe Illustrator (all versions)
CorelDRAW (all versions)

Unusable:
Microsoft “anything”
Corel Office Suite
Corel WordPerfect

Good Luck!

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