Preserving PMS Color

I have a two color document using black & 1 PMS. How do I create the pdf preserving the PMS color? I am currently trying out the latest version of pitstop, as our company wants to convert to a pdf workflow.

thank you for any help possible! :lol:

[mattbeals]

Well, we would need more information from you about where the file is coming from, what application, methodology used to create PDF, etc. before we can help.

The original file is sadly from MS Publisher. The PC I am using to open it is running Acrobat 5. The G5 System I am nornally on is using Acrobat CS2 (7). I want to take the created .pdf file from the PC to my G5 and send it to our Harliquin Rip via Acrobat. I have it spected out using K & PMS 485, I would like to preserve the colors and send it out as a two color piece. I hope this information will help to answer the questions.

thank you

[mattbeals]

Well, since it came from Publisher that's going to be a bit, how should I say..., messy. Publisher (at least the versions I'm familiar with) canNOT output a composite PDF that preserves spot colors. Your best bet would be to map what ever color elements you have to a process color like Magenta. That's the least messy way to deal with it.

Once you tell the PMS color that it is Magenta do you send it as a Composit or as seperations? When I tried it as a composit it put the magenta through the pic that are in Black, so it basicly mix and doutoned the pics.

MS Punisher make everything more difficult.

regards

[mattbeals]

Sending composite or as seps is dependant on your workflow. If you have magenta showing up in the pictures, then that means that they are RGB also. So you will have to convert those to grayscale first.

I made sure all images are grayscale and the magenta still mixes in with the black. Would it be easier to do if the PC was using acrobat 7? Is it possible that I cannot do it because of the native doc is MS Publisher?

PS I read that you teach enfocus what are the rates for that service?

regards

[seetomtype]

We have a client that I have to do this exact thing for. They have a 2/2
3 sig (12 8.5 x 11 pages) booklet that we do every quarter for them. I take
the Publisher file and convert everything to the spec'ed spot color (the other is black), pdf it, paginate it, then proof it. All of this is a comp. When they approve it I go back to my working Publisher file and change everything to Magenta that's the spot color. Then I pdf it, paginate it, place it in InDesign CS/CS2 as a comp and rip it. It works like a charm (except for the Publisher part at the beginning). I can't get it to hold a true spot as a comp.

Hope this helps in some way... Matt is the resident workflow man though.

Edit- Matt is right. I left out the part about changing all of the photos to greyscale using Acrobat's edit image, opening in Photoshop and resaving back into the pdf from there.

[DCurry]

Originally Posted by mattbeals

Publisher (at least the versions I'm familiar with) canNOT output a composite PDF that preserves spot colors.

Not true, Matt! Pub 2003 can handle it!

First order of business is to go under Commercial Printing Tools to Color Setup (my verbiage may be wrong - not at work right now) and choose Black+Spot.

Then, in the Print Dialog, choose Composite CMYK under Advanced Options. Make a postscript (I use Acrobat Distiller as the printer/ppd and click on Prin To File radio button) and then distill it and it will be a composite hi-res PDF with spot + black.

Publisher 2003 was a huge leap forward for this application - I find it pretty easy to deal with since then. We get a handful of jobs in Publisher that we will not turn away, so I am speaking from experience.

RSM3688 - I'd be happy to take a look at your Publisher file and explain in better detail how you can get this to work. Like I said earlier, the key is to make sure you are using Publisher 2003.

[seetomtype]

I didn't mention that I use Publisher 2K. Sorry about that ops:


What a gem Publisher 2003 sounds like, DCurry! I must be using up my
9 lives, because I've never seen one of those.