I need help with adding a cut path to a photoshop pdf file

[artlizzard]

I am a medium knowledgable photoshop and illustrator user.  I have a design with a transparent background that I made inside of a circle, in photo shop.  I saved it as a photoshop pdf (vector file) and sent it to be printed and cut out, as a circle.  The print shop informed me that the vector file does not have a cut path around the circle and I need to add one, or it will be cut as a square.  I thought sending it as a vector file (pdf) with a transparent background was all that I needed to do, but apparently that is not the case.  I cannot seem to find instructions on how to add a cut path around this circle while keeping the integrity of the graphics inside of the circle.  I also cannot send this file, opened in illustrator, to my cutting master 4 program, in effort to cut it out of vinyl.  I thought that using image trace feature would work, but it makes the circle imperfect and super overly full of ancor points. The adjust threshold slider does not seem to be available anymore??  Or is it just not opening up because of something that I have done?  Plus I dont want the actual image to be an image traced image.  I want to print the image at high quality and just have a cut path only around the circle.  This should be easy but im friggen stumped. Can anyone help me please, I imagine that it is super simple and I just missed a step. 

thanks - Liz 

[Stephen Marsh]

I'm guessing that the service provider wishes a vector path in a spot colour, which you would ideally use Adobe Illustrator (or InDesign) for, Photoshop can't do the spot colour on a path, only as a channel.

[artlizzard]

I am going to have to ask them tomorrow exactly what they are looking for.  I think that they want a vector path, but its unclear.  

[Conrad_C]

Can you find out, or does the print shop publish on their web site, the requirements for graphics to be cut out? It’s difficult to know exactly what to advise until more details are known about the handoff requirements. There are multiple ways to set up a file for a cutting machine, so it depends on what kind of machine it is.

For example:

• A JPEG file can include a vector clipping path, but if the print shop specifically said cut path, maybe that’s something else? 
• Stephen mentioned a vector path assigned to a spot color, which requires Adobe Illustrator and probably Adobe Illustrator format? 
• Did the print shop require PDF as the format, and if so, do they have instructions on how a cut path is to be set up in the PDF? 
• Doing a quick search, it looks like some people do it as a spot color in Photoshop?

That’s four different possibilities, and I’m not an expert on this so there may be more. But that illustrates how more information is needed from the print shop about exactly which format they require, and exactly how they need the cut line saved in it (vector path? vector path on spot color channel? pixel spot color channel? clipping path?).

[artlizzard]

They do not have anything on the web site, however I wil call them in the morning and ask.  She requested a vector file,  which I sent, but it was not the right type of vector file.  My guess is that she wants an illustrator file with a primary color line on the outer edge.  thanks for your help.

[Priyanka019]

I can help you with that. Here are the steps on how to add a cut path to a Photoshop PDF file:

1. Open the Photoshop PDF file.
2. Select the layer that you want to add the cut path to.
3. Go to the Paths panel.
4. Click on the Create New Path button.
5. Use the Pen tool to draw a path around the area that you want to cut.
6. Once you have finished drawing the path, click on the Create button.
7. Go to the File menu and select Save As.
8. In the Save As dialog box, select Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) from the Save as type drop-down list.
9. Click on the Save button.

The cut path will be added to the PDF file. When you open the PDF file in a PDF viewer, the cut path will be visible as a dotted line.

Here are some additional tips for adding a cut path to a Photoshop PDF file:

• You can use the Pen tool to draw a freehand path, or you can use the Rectangle Tool to draw a rectangular path.
• If you need to add multiple cut paths to the same layer, you can repeat steps 4-7 for each path.
• To delete a cut path, select the path in the Paths panel and click on the Delete Path button.

[artlizzard]

ok, thank you, I will try this

-Liz

[artlizzard]

ok, I will try this.  I hope it works with the elipse tool or elipse marquee - drawing a perfect circle is not something I am capable of.  Thank you for your help. 

[Trevor.Dennis]

Just a thought, but the file on this page is a PNG and not a PDF.  See if this works? 

You need to expand the image, right click and save it.  Copy and pasting doesn't work.

[artlizzard]

Thanks!!!

Elizabeth Leonard

[Stephen Marsh]

Also discussed in the following topic with a solution for Photoshop + Illustrator, also with a Photoshop only option from a different developer/vendor for "LightningPlugins - LightingCutlines" which is a Photoshop plugin allowing the direct export of spot colour vector cut paths from Photoshop:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/cutcontour-with-photoshop/m-p/1159002...