Creating half tones with channel masks?

[gdot]

Joined this site today - keep hitting a wall in Photoshop!

I am trying to re-create a graphic that my company printed for a client, but we did not design the original file. I have the native photoshop file, but am having some trouble reverse-engineering it. The images below illustrate the effect I am trying to create - 2 color half tones. I have looked up many half tone tutorials for photoshop and none lead me to a solid conclusion OR produce results that are similar to what is shown below.

I think I am on the right track by using masks with channels - but feel I am missing something important. Can anyone look at these images and possibly tell by the layers/channels to see what steps were taken? Or has anyone done similar work?

Thanks for reading my post and let me know if more info is needed!

 

[Tom Mann]

It's very hard to figure out what's going on from the screen shots, exactly what you given to work with, exactly what you added, etc.

Is there any chance you could post the original PSD file that you were given to work with. If that can't be done, could you at least post a cropped version that would make the file useless to anyone else, except for the purpose of getting help.

Tom M

 

[gdot]

The images shown are from the original psd file. I am trying to replicate this effect on a different image. Seems to be a different process or set of actions used to create this - the tutorials I have seen don't produce as fine of results as this AND my layers look different. Let me know if more specific images would be helpful?

 

[IamSam]

How about the original PSD?

 

[gdot]

How about the original PSD?

See previous comment.

The images shown are from the original psd file.

 

[IamSam]

Images only have some info that we can gather, the PSD will be much more revealing.

But I certainly understand if you don't want to post it.

 

[Tom Mann]

What about my suggestion to severely crop the original PSD (so it can't be used for any other purpose or identified), but leave all the layers & settings as they were when the file was given to u, and post that?

T

 

[gdot]

Sorry, misunderstood what you meant. I don't mind at all if it helps! The original size was about 110"x120" so I made it much smaller to be uploaded.

 

[Tom Mann]

To generate the PSD file that you posted, did you crop the much larger file, or did you resize it (ie, with resampling)?

Tom

 

[gdot]

Resized it. Image > image size > made dimensions smaller.

 

[Tom Mann]

That's what I thought. Please crop, not resize. Doing the latter will muck up the LPI so whatever we wind up suggesting for the half tone won't be appropriate for the large version.

When you crop it, pick an area that includes a wide range of tones from black all the way to white, some color, some B&W, some textured areas, some flat areas. An area around his upper arm, including a bit of the net looks pretty good. Maybe something like this...

Tnx,

Tom

 

[gdot]

Hope this helps.

 

[Tom Mann]

It looks great. Thanks. Cropping instead of resizing got rid of all the loss of resolution, Moire artifacts, etc. that previously made it impossible to see exactly what was going on. Now, I think I understand what you want, but let me check.

I think you are looking for a general procedure to will take a normal, continuous tone image, and turn it into a PSD that is in exactly this form (ie, same layers, same use of masks, etc.). Is that correct?

Next, I have to ask why you think you need it in this particular form, as there may be better options if all you are doing with it is sending it out to an offset printer for production.

If the latter is the case, may I also ask why the printer isn't doing the half-tone screening for you. In my experience, many printers prefer to do this step themselves.

Tom

 

[gdot]

I think you are looking for a general procedure to will take a normal, continuous tone image, and turn it into a PSD that is in exactly this form (ie, same layers, same use of masks, etc.). Is that correct?

Correct. I have been reading half tone tutorials online and none have achieved these results. The layers always look different.

Next, I have to ask why you think you need it in this particular form, as there may be better options if all you are doing with it is sending it out to an offset printer for production.

This image is part of a series of images - all with the same effect. I am trying to replicate it as close as possible for consistency. So I was wondering what process OR steps were taken to create this effect.

 

[gdot]

why the printer isn't doing the half-tone screening

The psd file was created before being sent to the printer - not entirely sure I can answer your question. The design work and printing were both farmed out to separate companies. Now the task in on me to recreate the the effect for a different image.

 

[gdot]

This post is to confirm I have found a solution to my problem - wanted to thank everyone who read and contributed to this post. Figured it out with the help of some other designers at work. Listed below are the steps from the original designer. Thanks again to the guru community!!

File Template
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Create image at full size (including bleed) @ 20-25DPI.
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Mask all Maize elements.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Blue Layer[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Grayscale.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Bitmap — Halftone image with Maize elements masked back about 10-20%.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Output 300DPI[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Round[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]10LPI[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]45º[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Grayscale.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Resize to 150DPI with Resample Bicubic Sharper (reduction) selected.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Select all and copy Channel.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Open new Document in CMYK with a white background.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Enter Quick Mask and paste. Exit Quick Mask.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Create solid blue (PMS 282) layer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Maize Layer[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Mask image so only the Maize elements are visible.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Grayscale.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Bitmap[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Output 300DPI[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Round[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]10LPI[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]0º[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Grayscale.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Resize to 150DPI with Resample Bicubic Sharper (reduction) selected.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Select all and copy Channel.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Go back to new document.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Enter Quick Mask and paste. Exit Quick Mask.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Create solid Maize (PMS 116) layer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,sans-serif]Convert to Multiply layer.[/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

[Tom Mann]

First, I apologize for not following up on this thread, but after your last post, we took a short trip, and by the time we got back home, this thread had rolled off the bottom of the "daily posts" listing, and to be honest, I forgot that the question was still unresolved.

Anyway, thank you for coming back and letting us know that the problem was solved. That's great! There is nothing as good as having a copy of the exact steps used by the original designer to get the effect.

For example, I would never have seen any need to put the very weak mask on the folder labeled "90% White Fill". To me, this appears to be more of a small, final tweak, particular to this one particular image, rather than a necessity for all images that you might want to use this technique on.

Similar to the previous element, I understand why one might start at 300 dpi and down rez to 150, but I would never have seen this as a critical step in exactly duplicating the original look.

Again, congrats on a "Problem Solved"!

If you get a chance, do come back again and participate in the discussions.

Regards,

Tom M

 

[rajap]

channnels are really awesome