[RideOutWear]

hey guys i have already asked this question three times with three seperate images. this time i do not want someone to do it for me. here is the problem, i am having troubleseperating the colors on images so i can print seperate films. even on the simple images. i created this image in illustrator. i just need to seperate the black outline and the blue fill i have no clue what to do to even start. i have tried the wand tool to select the black to create a new layer with just the black in it but the wand will not select anything. someone please help just a few steps would help i am not totally dumb when it comes to illustrator just hardly ever do multi color.

 

[bindercrazy]

Re: tired of asking this lol

​

PhotoShop plug in t-seps 2.0 I watched a video on YouTube and the plug in looks impressive and very easy. But very pricey. I watched another video on YouTube about using PhotoShop to separate colors. I hope this helps. I haven't don't it either yet so I hope you get lots of info

 

[Luke T]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Put one of these alignment crosshairs on both sides of your design and align them. Copy/paste your art so you have two versions on screen. On one of them, turn your blue part white, leaving the black underneath. That's your black positive. On the other copy, select the black part and get rid of it. Turn your blue on this copy to black. You're done!

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Put one of these alignment crosshairs on both sides of your design and align them. Copy/paste your art so you have two versions on screen. On one of them, turn your blue part white, leaving the black underneath. That's your black positive. On the other copy, select the black part and get rid of it. Turn your blue on this copy to black. You're done!

i have the reg marks but thats exactly what i was trying to do using the wand tool. but the wand will not select anything

 

[Luke T]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Is the black outline a solid shape or strokes added? Use your select tool and grab the blue. Go to Select>Next object below. That should grab the black.

 

[PositiveDave]

Re: tired of asking this lol

If you have a RIP (or have installed Ghostscript), just print to the Postscript File Printer in AI to create a ps file on disc. Then open in Ghostview and print. If you want it to be 2 colour just use spot colours in the design.

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Is the black outline a solid shape or strokes added? Use your select tool and grab the blue. Go to Select>Next object below. That should grab the black.

stroke i added to the letters

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

i have no rip software only accurip. luke i did what u said and it does nothing

 

[Luke T]

Re: tired of asking this lol

OK, make sure design is ungrouped and just grab the blue with the select tool (black arrow, not the wand), and go to select > next object below.

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

it does nothing..lol i am doing exactly as u say. i am clicking the r and doing what u r saying and it does nothing. do i need to flatten or rastersize it. it is text and i just added an outline to it

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

Re: tired of asking this lol

I dont know much about AI but if the object is ungrouped you should be able under edit to....select/same fill color and group the individual colors by themselves.

 

[aplusbowling]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Make sure the object is expanded. "Object -> Expand Appearance". Then you can ungroup it.

 

[JeridHill]

Re: tired of asking this lol

I typically use Feehand. I could do this in about 20 seconds. The problem with Illustrator in this situation is you cannot apply a trap to an element with a fill and stroke, unless it's two objects. So you have a black outline and a blue fill, but that is considered one object.

Since it's a single object, the best method is to manually create the trap. This is the only method I know and would appreciate better insight into quicker methods.

1. Choose the object and write down the size of the stroke, let's say it's 7
2. Change the stroke to 0
3. Go to Edit > Copy, then Edit > Paste in Back, Do not deselect the file
4. Go to Effect > Path > Offset Path > Click on Preview
5. Enter half of the point mentioned above. 1 point is .01389 inches, so 3.5 would be .048615 > Click Ok
6. Go to Object > Expand Appearance
7. Change the fill color to black, which will be your outline
8. Select the front object which is blue
9. Go to Effect > Path > Offset Path > Click on Preview
10. Enter a negative half of the point mentioned above. or -.048615 > Click Ok
11. Go to Object > Expand Appearance
12. Change the fill color to white
13. Copy the white object and paste in front
14. Fill it blue and add a black .5 to 1 point stroke
15. File > Print
16. Click on the Output tab and choose Separations (Host Based)
17. Turn off any colors you don't want and Check Overprint Black and hit ok

This will print separations with trap

 

[DavidRobison]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Argh, Asking for color sep instructions in a forum is like asking someone to tell you how to draw a picture. There are so many ways to do it right. You really should find someone locally who can teach you and show you, otherwise your going to get a lot of confusion. I actually started to write uot instructions and stopped myself. It would take so long and your output device is critical, your output media is critical and your final use is critical. What do you have to work with first? Have you ever used the program before?

 

[aplusbowling]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Jerid is on the right track, but here's the way I do it...

- Use the selection tool (black pointer) and select your object
- Go to Object -> Expand (If your letters are still set as text, you'll have to do this step twice. Once to expand the text and once to expand the outline)
- Now switch to the direct selection tool (white pointer) and select the blue letter only. Go to Edit -> Cut
- Create a new layer below and go to Edit -> Paste in front
- Now your black outline and blue letter should be on their own layer. Black on top, Blue on bottom

Here's a tip about Illustrator. By default, all strokes added to objects are set to straddle the outline of the object. If you select the blue text, you'll see how the edge of the object is in the middle of the outline. You can change it in the Stroke pallet to have the stroke either to the inside, center, or outside of the object.

- Now, you'll need to adjust the path offset of the blue letter
- As Jerid mentioned, select the blue text with the selection tool (black pointer) and go to Object -> Path -> Offset Path
- Click the "Preview" box and type in a small negative number
- You'll have to turn the preview on and off to see the changes
- You should see another outline of your text next to the original. Click "OK" when you've created the amount of trap that you want. Your newly created path should stay selected.
- Go to Edit -> Cut
- Create a new layer below the second layer. Edit -> Paste in front. Now delete the second layer.
- If you zoom in and click on the blue text, you'll notice that the black outline now overlaps (traps) the blue by just a little bit.

Once you do this a few times, it becomes very simple. As Jerid said, takes about 20 seconds.

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Argh, Asking for color sep instructions in a forum is like asking someone to tell you how to draw a picture. There are so many ways to do it right. You really should find someone locally who can teach you and show you, otherwise your going to get a lot of confusion. I actually started to write uot instructions and stopped myself. It would take so long and your output device is critical, your output media is critical and your final use is critical. What do you have to work with first? Have you ever used the program before?

yes i have used illustrator lots just never to sperate colors. i have illustrator cs4, accurip and an epson 1400. also have photoshop cs4

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

i am gonna try all the differant ways and see what i get

 

[RideOutWear]

Re: tired of asking this lol

has to be an easier way lol i kinda got it but the offsetting got me. i have seen it done a couple time and it was done with the wand tool. does anyone do it that way?

 

[Mstevens_design]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Argh, Asking for color sep instructions in a forum is like asking someone to tell you how to draw a picture. There are so many ways to do it right. You really should find someone locally who can teach you and show you, otherwise your going to get a lot of confusion. I actually started to write uot instructions and stopped myself. It would take so long and your output device is critical, your output media is critical and your final use is critical. What do you have to work with first? Have you ever used the program before?

I have to completely agree... No offense to the original poster, but if you have asked on 3 separate occasions to have someone teach you and it hasnt happened, there is probably a good reason for it.

It also seems that you have very little knowledge of Illustrator, which makes the problem even harder to deal with. Again no offense, but you are asking a very specific thing on the forums and this is how most of us make our money. Its like asking your mechanic how to take out your transmission... if you have to ask, you should probably just pay someone to do it before you break something

 

[GSDIESEL300]

Re: tired of asking this lol

Simple. In Illustrator just click the image copy it and paste in front. Make the back layer have black stroke no fill and make the front layer blue fill no stroke. Done. Hope this helps.