Viewing
channels
You
can use the palette to view any combination of individual channels. For
example, you can view an alpha channel and the composite channel together to
see how changes made in the alpha channel relate to the entire image. By
default, individual channels are displayed in grayscale.
Changing
the display of the palette
You
can show the individual color channels in color (rather than grayscale) in the
Channels palette and specify the size of the thumbnails. Using thumbnails is
the most convenient way of tracking channel contents; however, turning off the
display of thumbnails can improve performance.
Adding
spot colors.
Spot
colors are special premixed inks used instead of, or
in addition to, the process color (CMYK) inks. Each spot color requires its own
plate on the press. (Because a varnish requires a separate plate, it is
considered a spot color, too.) For information on printing spot color plates,
see “Printing color separations”
To change
a spot channel’s options:
1 - Do
one of the following:
- Double-click
the spot channel name in the Channels palette.
- Select
the spot channel in the Channels palette, and choose Channel Options from the
palette menu.
2 - Click the color box, and choose a
color. For more information, see “Using the Adobe Color Picker” in online Help.
By selecting a custom color, your print service can more easily provide the
proper ink to reproduce the image. For more information, see “Choosing custom
colors (Photoshop)” in online Help.
3 - For Solidity, enter a value between 0%
and 100%. This option lets you simulate on-screen the solidity of the printed
spot color. A value of 100% simulates an ink that completely covers the inks beneath
(such as a metallic ink).
Using the
Calculations command
The
Calculations command lets you blend two individual channels from one or more
source images. You can then apply the results to a new image or to a new
channel or selection in the active image. You cannot apply the Calculations
command to composite channels.
To load a
saved selection into an image:
- Choose
Select > Load Selection. For Document, the active filename is selected.
- For
Channel, choose the channel containing the selection you want to load.
- Click
Invert to make the nonselected areas selected and vice versa.
- If
the destination image already has a selection, indicate how to combine the
selections. (For information on these options, see “Saving a mask selection”
- Click
OK.
To load a
selection from another image (Photoshop):
- Open
the two images you want to use. Note: The images must have
identical pixel dimensions.
- Make
the destination image active, and choose Select > Load Selection.
- For
Document, choose the source image.
- For
Channel, choose the channel containing the selection you want to use as a mask.
- Click
Invert if you want to make the nonselected areas selected and vice versa.
- If
the destination image already has a selection, indicate how to combine the
selections. (For information on these options, see “Saving a mask selection”
- Click
OK.
Merging
channels
Multiple
grayscale images can be combined into a single image. Some grayscale scanners
let you scan a color image through a red filter, a green filter, and a blue
filter to generate red, green, and blue images. Merging lets you combine the
separate scans into a single, color image.
Splitting
channels into separate images
You
can split the channels of a flattened image into separate images. The original
file is closed, and the individual channels appear in separate grayscale image
windows. The title bars in the new windows show the original filename plus the
channel abbreviation (Windows) or full name (Mac OS). Any changes since the
last save are retained in the new images and lost in the original.
Mixing
color channels
The
Channel Mixer command lets you modify a color channel using a mix of the
current color channels. With this command, you can do the following:
- Make
creative color adjustments not easily done with the other color adjustment
tools.
- Create
high-quality grayscale images by choosing the percentage contribution from each
color channel.
- Create
high-quality sepia-tone or other tinted images.
- Convert
images to and from some alternative color spaces, such as YCbCr.
- Swap
or duplicate channels.