Skip to main content
A
Anonymous
August 18, 2021
Answered

Black & White color mode?

  • August 18, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 4704 views

I have an .eps file from a client that is a vector drawing in black and white. I want to send to a service bureau to have a printing plate made. I'm confused because there dosen't seem to be a black & white color mode anymore. The only option I see is Greyscale with saturation turned all the way up to black. That dosen't sound like what I want. When I send that it looks like a bitmap but it dosen't tell me a dpi or any other info so I don't know if it would have an exceptable resolution. I think I remember I used to save files as .eps and it would give options for dpi, etc., but I don't see any of that any more. Has Adobe changed the way this works?

How do I retain the high resolution of my black & white vector image when I output and send to a service bureau?

Thank you, Bruce

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Ton Frederiks

Are you talking about Illustrator?

Where do you see the greyscale color mode? Illustrator has only RGB or CMYK color modes for a document.

If you want black and white for print, create a CMYK document and only use black and white.

3 replies

L
Community Expert
LaubenderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 18, 2021

"I seem to remember that there used to be a Black & White mode, no?"

 

Hi Bruce,

this was, and still is, a feature of PhotoShop and not of Illustrator.

You could render your EPS file in PhotoShop or first distill to PDF and then render the PDF to pixels in PhotoShop with a very high resolution. Then change PhotoShop's color mode to Grayscale and finally, with an extra step to Bitmap 1-Bit.

 

That's the "Black & White mode".

 

Saving that to TIFF compressed will get you a super-small highres bitmap image file.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

    A
    Anonymous
    August 18, 2021

    OK I haven't done this in a while. When creating a document now there are several options under color mode, CMYK, Greyscale, RGB. I seem to remember that there used to be a Black & White mode, no? 

    If I create my document/image in CMYK and send it to the service bureau, they show me 4 images. I can decline the C, M, Y and accept the K but, the K image is a bitmap that I can see the dots along any curve but I don't know the resolution.

    Also, I don't understand why I need to convert my document to greyscale or CMYK at all. That seems wrong. Why can't I save it as Black & White? 

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    August 18, 2021

    Are you talking about Illustrator?

    Where do you see the greyscale color mode? Illustrator has only RGB or CMYK color modes for a document.

    If you want black and white for print, create a CMYK document and only use black and white.

    A
    Anonymous
    August 18, 2021

    Thank you for your replies. 

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 18, 2021

    Vector files are resolution independend.

    Please explain what you mean by " I'm confused because there dosen't seem to be a black & white color mode anymore."

     

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices