CMYK to pantone color conversion in Photoshop
Posted by: emalik on: February 7, 2008
hi visitors some days i come across a project in which my client ask me to convert their logo in Pantone colors. So i thought why not to add a tutorial on how to do that in photoshop.
1- First open your image, if its in psd format then you should flat it.
2- Convert it to CMYK if it is not.
3- Duplicate your image and rename it, in my case its “design_pantone”
4- Go to its channel palette, you should see four channels there named as Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black there.
5- Select Cyan,Magenta and yellow channel and delete them individually.There should only black channel left there.
6- Now Click on the new channel button as shown in the image below , a new channel named as alpha1 should be there.
7- Double Click on it and a channel option dialog box should appear.
8- Select the spot color from the option and Click the color to assign the new color.
Now For CMYK, we first select the Global value of Cyan color which is #00FFFF and then find the nearest pantone match of that color.
9- So enter the value #00FFFF in the dialog box
then click the color library button to access the nearest pantone color match, Photoshop will automatically select nearest pantone color.I use the same as photoshop selects but you can change that if you want.Click OK when you are done.
10- Now you should see the pantone color in the name field, click OK again.
There should be a cyan tone over all the picture now.
11- Make sure you selected the current pantone color channel, now go to image menu and then select the apply image.
Apply image dialog box appears.
12- In source drop down select the orignal image in CMYK, in my case that was design.
In layer there should be background
In Channel field select the Cyan channel.
blending should be set to normal.Opacity 100%
Click OK when you are done!.
Now you mapped the Cyan color to pantone, next you would repeat steps from 6-12 for mapping both the Magenta and then the yellow.
The Hex value for magenta is #FF00FF and Yellow is #FFFF00.
When you mapped all channels to Pantone…..You are done!
If you see big difference in the colors double click the channels and change pantone spot colors until you are satisfied from the result.
Save the file as PSD or DCS 2.0(eps)
At the end i want to say that this is just the one way i done my work because it gives you quite a control over the colors so you can adjust them by your self..
Thanks, Have a GOOD DAY !
33 Responses to "CMYK to pantone color conversion in Photoshop"
August 20, 2008 at 1:29 pm
actually i got Hex value of Cyan Magenta yellow from Wikipedia, this i did to get the right tone of that color. otherwise you can use your own tone.
August 21, 2008 at 11:33 am
Hi
I followed all the steps but the channels remained black instead of changing to the selected Pantone colours 
Any ideas?
August 22, 2008 at 5:15 am
Hi Maria please make sure you done step 12, as i mentioned, if it still does not make good then send file over here i can help you in that hey its freeeee offer.
December 30, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Hey,
its really helpfull tutorial. But i have quastion:
i followed all steps.. and on the end it looked fine, i saved file as .eps and then tryed to open it in Illustator. The programm said “DCS EPS files can not be oppened or embedded. Please plac e this file using the Link option” fine.. so i did, Placed image was black and white and looked like it has too low resolution.
Please Help! Im stock
January 23, 2009 at 11:47 am
Hi,
I’ve tried all the steps, however, at the end I had the same problem as Leska.
I think I’ve spotted what has gone wrong though. In the “apply image” dialog box, I can’t choose the original image within the drop down, it only gives me the option to choose the “design_pantone” image, which is the image I am current working on.
Can you please advise?
Many thanks. This will be of great help once it works!
All the best
January 26, 2009 at 8:18 am
Ohhh i figured out why u guys having issue its because by duplicate the image i means to duplicate the window not the layer, right click on the opened image and then click the duplicate, give it a name and u r done…. please tell me if that solved the problem or not…. ????
January 28, 2009 at 4:37 am
anybody please reply me……did above solution solved the problem
January 30, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Hi emalik,
I was excited, thanks for your tutorial… but I have a question, therefore. Will be pantone colors remain after combining them in to a CMYK? If the C, M, Y chanels are in Pantone colors, after merging there is a mix, not Pantone colors at all. Any ideas?
February 24, 2009 at 10:50 am
what is this my dear its very easy stup plz make some dificult stup
March 3, 2009 at 5:14 pm
for step 9 my colour library button is not an option. any ideas?
March 5, 2009 at 6:22 am
For Sadaf ….. What does you means to make it difficult……. 
Anyways thankssss a lot and be touch… and if possible just suggest me any good topic on which i can write any good tutorial …
March 5, 2009 at 6:24 am
For Tracey .. which version of photoshop you are using … this tut was written on photoshop cs3
March 5, 2009 at 6:28 am
for Ulotrixx… Actually when you save it as DSC(2.0) it saves channels in pantone colors… these are print ready colors… Just import it to InDesign or which ever application you want channels would be there in pantone…
March 16, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Are you making 4 different documents and then merging them together? I have not been doing that but just working with the one. When I follow the directions by pulling the different channels off, it pulls off some of the graphics. I am starting from RGB, converting and flattening to CMYK, pulling channels off – following your directions to the tee and I get a channel that has a solid cyan color over it, a channel with sold magenta, etc. I can only see the graphics through it if I make sure the eye is active on the black channel (the only channel originally left.) Can you tell by this what glaring mistake I am making. I have spent hours trying to figure out what I am doing wrong. I have a whole book that I have created (139 pages) completed in Photoshop CS3 RGB that I have to make CMYK printer ready. Help!!!! . . . .
April 22, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Interesting tutorial. This isn’t quite what I was looking for, so I didn’t actually follow along in Photoshop, but …
… it appears to me that you’re setting up spot channels that simply mimic cyan, magenta, and yellow. Okay, you can change them to different and interesting variations, but you’ve deleted the original color information and just kept the black channel–how does this help identify the Pantone equivalent from the original color?
In essence, this seems to be a quick tutorial about creating a spot-color image, and from a single-color image at that. This can be very handy when printing spot-color work, but I think your title is a little misleading, which might be why some of your readers are confused.
Best regards,
Jeremy
August 13, 2009 at 9:58 pm
To jeremy… this is so simple when you use Apply image command you’ll map the original colors from the original file into new face (called spot color) in duplicate file. if you still have problem simply use this new method:
1. in channel palette, duplicate each of the 3 channels (CMY)
or any of channel you want to change to spot colors by dragging the channel or channels on “new channel” icon. usually we have to keep the Black channel because this channel naturally is for cast and color shadows.
2. then delete all 3 original channels.
3. now you can double click on each new channels (this channel converted to alpha channels) and use spot color option and … you can see this is almost like first method.
The point of this process is selecting right pantone color because you’ll lose some of the midtones in your image.
In the other hand if you have a big big money and you want most accurate results, buy “Ink tools for PS” from the package “ESKO Deskpack”.
Good luck
August 13, 2009 at 11:04 pm
@ Amir: your response led me to re-read the original post.
I think I missed the part about duplicating the image, and just focused on deleting all channels except the black. Shoot – I’m a ninny!
Your method also sounds easy. I rarely have a need to use more than 1 or 2 spot colors, but nice addition.
August 14, 2009 at 12:10 am
To Jeremy… i think you’re not ninny but hasty. in fact this issue i mean converting process colors to pms in PS is perfect for using in illustration artworks not for photographs. you need so much exercises and test for using this method on photos but it’s possible. i’m a packaging graphist for Gravure and Flexo machines and this issue always was a big challenge for me. i hope you to find what you looking for.
Best wishes
Amir
June 18, 2009 at 1:18 pm
HEY THANX
ITS THE BEST WAY I HAVE SEEN AS FAR…
EVERYTHING OK WITH FLATTEN IMAGES… BUT WHAT IF I WANT TO HAVE AN ALFA CHANNEL (TRANSPARENT)?, I CANT UNLOCK THE BACKGROUND LAYER OR DUPLICATE IT…
August 13, 2009 at 11:04 pm
@ Lora – Double-clicking on the background layer should allow you to rename it (the default is “Layer 0″), and then mess with alpha channels…
-Jeremy
August 18, 2009 at 10:56 am
OMG…. So much happning here…… sorry guys, as you know the job of a CG Artist is just a HECK… so cant follow on the blog, but anyways thanks a lot to all to keep this thread active, specially AMIR n JEREMY…
Well you guys figured a lot of thing by yourself but if still need any help please let me know i am now active .. Atleast i will try to be
August 18, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hey emalik,
nice timing as I just read this huh?
My company has an adobe membership on order for me and I was wondering about applying the new channels to the image.
After deleting all of the channels, except for black, and creating a new one with a C, M, or Y mimic in pantone, how does this prevent the image from becoming a blob of a single color with different shades?
It seems like to me each shade would color the whole image in the shades it would describe….
as far as the question about making a file linked instead of embedded check out this blog http://forums.creativecow.net/archivethread/58/781821 the same question is answered near the end of it
August 18, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Once I get the package I am going to try this, I just wanted to clear some things up
August 19, 2009 at 5:11 am
Hi Gonzo Yeh actually i miss too much of it in writing the tutorial as it was a quick tip, i will try to make a video tut for you guys soon may b in couple of days, i think that will help to sort out many problem regarding channels.
August 19, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Don’t do a video – just touch up that bit of writing, and you’re set. I see I’m not the only one who got a little confused
I think a couple of slight edits to the text would prevent the confusion.
I’d recommend just calling out step 3 (duplicate the image) w/ bold text/strong emphasis, and then rewriting this bit -
12- In source drop down select the orignal image in CMYK, in my case that was design.
- to this -
12- In source drop down select the *original image in CMYK*. (in my case this was design – you _are_ doing this on the duplicate image, right?)
- where asterisks are bolding, and the underscores indicate italics.
….
Then I think this tip would be perfect, no need to produce a video.
I do think it’s interesting that the two commenters who seemed confused weren’t actually playing along. So maybe it’s just us stirring up trouble but clear instructions are always a good thing.
Great blog, in general.
-Jeremy
October 9, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Hi emalik,
Probably a stupid question on my part, but I am finding that when I delete the CYMK channels, photoshop asks “flatten visible layers and discard hidden layers?” If I click OK then of course my duplicate layers are merged into one background and I effectively loose the information in the original image. Thus, when it comes time to apply the new panatone colours to the image the program does not source the original colours and I get something very strange indeed.
I can’t see any way to disable this and I suspect that I’m missing something in the “duplicate image/layers” portion of your tutorial.
Any suggestions? Anyone?
October 9, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Ohhhhhh….I see. “Duplicate image” from the duplicate drop down menu. Well that makes sense.
Nice tutorial man! Thanks for this!
Leave a Reply
- CMYK to pantone color conversion in Photoshop
- An Islamic Wallpaper
- How to reduce the Polygons of an object in 3ds max easily
- Target Welding Two Different Objects in 3DS MAX
- An islamic wallpapers
- Distributed Rendering
- Tip, Removing noise from audio in Adobe Premiere Pro
- Creating a glossy button in Flash MX 2004
- Converting a selection to Vector based Shape
- Tips for small size Icon design in Photoshop
- faiz ahmad khan: dunya har kameyabi ke peche ka pahela harf hai
- Silenus: Hi there, for me it doesn t work. When I instal port explorer next time system crashed, stoped working during startup. I had to deinstal port expl
- Silenus: Hi there, for it doesn t work. When I instal port explorer next time system start up crashed. But, when I add 3Dmax in NOD32 as program that would
August 19, 2008 at 8:08 pm
In step #8, where do I go to select the global value? That step doesn’t seem as clear as it could be. I get that far and then I get confused.