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Known Participant
October 29, 2021
Question

Paint greyscale image with Pantone color

  • October 29, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 2167 views

I use InDesign to create a newsletter that prints with black ink and one spot Pantone color [not rbr or cmyk]. I would like to be able to "paint" or highlight with that Pantone color on grey scale images. So, for example, I have a greyscale illustration of a rose. I would like to color the petals with 711C Pantone red, my selected spot Pantone color for that issue.

After hours with Adobe support in both the PS and IDD divisions, I was told it was just not posible. Whatever we tried, when the newsletter was exported to PFD for the printer, the color was no longer Pantone and therefore would not conform to the printing demand of black ink and one spot Pantone color. Anyone got a workaround?

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3 replies

Community Expert
October 29, 2021

Hi tellenvt,

what did you try in InDesign?
What did you try in PhotoShop?

 

Of course it's possible to have ink [Black] plus one Spot ink in one image.

With PhotoShop see into feature MultiChannnel.

 

In InDesign one can do this if the grayscale image is especially prepared with one background layer and one additional layer that is punching free the spots that should be colorized.

 

Example grayscale image opened in PhotoShop.

A Background layer plus a layer with a "punch whole".

 

 

Used in InDesign like that: The same image with two different object layer settings stacked.

The one with the background layer can be colorized. Just apply a spot color swatch to the selected image.

 

 

Maybe this is easier:

Or you are using two different grayscale images stacked where you define overprint for the top one:

 

 

 

In this case you could even use two different spot colors if you want.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

Dave Creamer of IDEAS
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2021

You will need to do the coloring in Photoshop as a spot color channel. Start by making a standard saved channel in PS, then convert the channel to a spot color channel. Note that these channels overprint the image, so you may have to adjust the image area. Place in ID as a PSD file.

Print with spot colors from Photoshop (adobe.com)

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
tallenvtAuthor
Known Participant
October 29, 2021

Correction in subject: Meant GREYSCALE, of course