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deborahg18594168
Participant
October 13, 2019
Question

Is it possible to copy an individual CMYK channel from one document to another?

  • October 13, 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 1486 views

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm trying to do something a little unconventional; I've searched high and low, but can find no information (perhaps because it's not possible to do?). 

I would like to copy a single CMYK channel from one document to another empty document, and then copy another channel from another document and place it into the document with the other copied channel, and so on till there are a number of channels that form an abstract compostion. Can anybody shed some light on whether this is at all possible, or whether there is some roundabout way of achieving the same end?

Many thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated.

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

Bojan Živković11378569
Community Expert
Bojan Živković11378569Community Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2019

Of course you can ask as many further question as you may have.

Bojan Živković11378569
Community Expert
Bojan Živković11378569Community Expert
Community Expert
October 14, 2019

"I tried the sequence both on the channel menu box and also on the image area."

Can you explain further sentence above? After copying content just switch to another image tab/winow and paste, it will paste new layer with normal, usual configuration in your file. 

Perhaps something s preventing you from using clipboard?

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deborahg18594168Author
Participant
October 14, 2019
Hi Bojan. "I tried the sequence both on the channel menu box and also on the image area." Apologies for the confusion, I just meant that I clicked my cursor in those two areas so as to determine where to select all and copy. But anyway, please ignore that sentence as I have seen your gif and followed your actions and it works! I was pressing both ctrl AND cmd! How foolish of me! Thank you very much for going to the trouble of creating the GIF, it's very kind of you. I have to leave now as I have an appointment. Please may I further ask for your help tomorrow, if you are around, regarding those pasted channels? Thank you again Bojan.
    Semaphoric
    Community Expert
    SemaphoricCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 14, 2019

    The destination image doesn't even have to be the same size as the source, although if it is smaller, there will be some cropping. Until you save the doc, you can use the Move tool to position the pastings using the entire extent of the source, but once you save it, the channels will be clipped to the extent of the saved image.

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    deborahg18594168Author
    Participant
    October 14, 2019
    Many thanks for your reply Semaphoric, your help is very much appreciated.
    Bojan Živković11378569
    Community Expert
    Bojan Živković11378569Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 14, 2019

    If I can understand what you exactly want then to the following - assuming that you have two documents with the same dimensions open:

    • Click on any single channel beside CMYK in the Channels panel. That channel will be visible with eyeball on the left side visible while other channels will become hiden.
    • Press Ctrl/Cmd + A to select all.
    • Press Ctrl/Cmd + C to copy.
    • Switch to another document.
    • Press Ctrl/Cmd + V to paste what will paste new grayscale layer.
    • Switch back to previous document and click on some other channel beside CMYK.
    • Repeat the steps.
    • When you are done click on CMYK channel in the document from which you are copying channels and you are done.

     

    If this is not solution please provide more details. Do you want channels in the Channels panel or in the Layers panel for what you have explanation above.

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    deborahg18594168Author
    Participant
    October 14, 2019
    Hello Bojan. Many thanks for your detailed reply, really appreciate it. Ok, so I followed your steps carefully, however when it came to the select all, copy and paste commands, I wasn't able to do this for some reason. I tried the sequence both on the channel menu box and also on the image area. Am I missing something? In answer to your question; I am trying to copy a channel, (a colour separation of one image [either C, M, Y or K]). Hope this is clear. Thank you Bojan.
    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 13, 2019

    Sure it is possible, presuming that all files have exactly the same pixel dimensions I would use the Apply Image command, however targeting the source document target channel, select all - copy, target the destination document target channel and paste should also work.

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    deborahg18594168Author
    Participant
    October 14, 2019

    Hi Stephen, thanks very much for your reply. However, please excuse me, but I am not very proficient with Photoshop, just the basics I'm afraid, so I don't readily understand your explanation, but I did find the command and tried to figure it out. Firstly I don't see any other target (assuming this is the document that the selected channel will be copied to... ), it only shows the document/image I am trying to copy from. The source is the same. If I may clarify; I am trying to copy one channel (either C, M, Y or K) from one document to a new one, so that that channel, when copied over will in effect become a layer, I suppose? I would then like to repeat this process but copying other channels from other documents into that new one to create an image of transparent layers/channels that form an abstract composition that I can then convert into a CMYK image. Hope this is clearer. Thanks again for your help.

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