Custom Black 2
Custom Black is a white generator script for Adobe Photoshop®. Custom Black is a component of the YRGBK script, but the stand alone version allows a Black channel and Gray Channels to be generated in the working document, or in a new document, as needed.
Install
Find the read-me txt file in the download for complete installation instructions. The Script should be installed in Adobe Photoshop’s® Scripts folder for best results. Copy the entire pspscripts folder, containing the CustomBlack.jsx file, to the applications scripts folder:
~ /Adobe Photoshop/presets/scripts
Settings
Before beginning it is best to configure Adobe Photoshop’s color settings. In the applications menu go to Edit/Color Settings. In the color settings menu set the working spaces RGB profile to Adobe RGB.
Set the Gray working space and the Spot working space to the same values. For screen printing on textiles a Dot Gain setting of 30% to 40% is recommended, depending on your materials. To set a value above 30%, select the Spot or Gray drop down and choose Custom. In the window that opens, enter a value in the 50% box. For a Dot Gain of 35%, for example, set 50% to 85%.
Processing a file
Start with an Adobe Photoshop document, in RGB mode, containing a single layer on a transparent background. It is best, for generating a white highlight and Base white, if transparency surrounds the entire image. Merge all layers but do not flatten, and save this as a new document. In the Applications menu select:
File/Scripts/PSP CustomBlack2
When the script is selected in the script menu a dialog will open displaying the scripts options.
Custom Black
The main dialog displays the options for creating a black channel.
• Custom Black Check box – Displays the Black Generator window.
• The Custom Black Slider – determines how far into the colors the Black prints. The Higher the number the more black is generated.
• Gray Channel check box – Generates a gray channel within the separation and opens the Gray options dialog window. The Gray channel pixel values are removed from the Black channel.
• The Gray channel slider – determines how far into the colors the Gray prints. Higher values increase the amount of Gray in the colors..
• Gray Component check box – Generates a Gray Component channel and opens the Gray options dialog. The Gray Component channel contains Black and Gray values lighter then a certain threshold. The Gray component threshold, or Gray Ramp, can be adjusted in the Gray options dialog. The Gray Component channel pixel values are removed from the Black channel. If The Gray check box is also selected, Gray values are removed from the Gray component channel.
Dot Gain
The Bottom panel displays the dot gain option as well as the option to adjust the color settings while running the script.
• Use Gray Profile – Uses the Working Gray profile in the color settings dialog to adjust the channels for dot gain.
• Edit Color Settings – Opens the Color Settings dialog.
• Save Saturation Mask – Saves the Saturation mask channel. The Saturation mask channel is useful for making custom edits to a color separation
• Substrate Channel – Generates a blank channel named Substrate
• New document – Creates a new document with the Black and gray channels channels. Unchecked, the Black and Gray channels are place in the original document.
Black Generator – The Custom Black option displays the Black Generator, allowing changes to be made to how the Black channel is created. The left panel displays the Saturation Mask options and a brightness adjustment, while the right panel allows specific color adjustments and customization.
Saturation Mask – Where the Custom Black Slider in the Main menu determines how much masking is applied, the Saturation mask options determine how the mask is generated.
• Yellow/Green and Red/Blue – Adjusts the mask density in the corresponding color ranges. The higher the number, the more black is removed from the colors.
• Tint, Tone and Shadow – These sliders allow changes to be made to the masking in specific value ranges. These adjustments only affect the image where there is a hue. The higher the number the more black is reduced in the value range.
• Brightness – The Brightness adjustment reduces the amount of black printing in the shadows. This is a global adjustment and modifies the black in neutral values as well as hues.
Remove Black – The right panel options modify the amount of black printing into each color.
• The Color Sliders – The colors sliders reduce the amount of black printing in the assigned color. The higher the number the more black is removed.
• Equalize – runs a script that balances the Black channel based on the values of the ink colors
•Show Dialog – displays the Adobe Photoshop dialogs available for the Black generator.
Gray Ramp and Gray Component – Determines the Gray values
• Gray Ramp slider – The Gray slider adjusts the amount of black which is handled by the Gray channel. Higher values increase the amount of gray generated.
• Gray Component slider – The Gray Component slider adjusts the amount of black which is handled by the Gray component channel. Higher values increase the amount of Gray Component generated.
Success – When the script has completed it will display the Success dialog. Checking the about box displays information about the script.
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