T-shirt color separations as DCS files with Adobe Photoshop for output with Adobe Illustrator

With the release of Photoshop CS5, Adobe has removed the screens button from within the application’s print functions. Why? Well, for whatever reason, Adobe feels that it is simply not necessary to print color separations directly from Photoshop. For most users, it is not a big problem. However, for those within the T-shirt screen printing industry, eliminating this vital function presents a major problem.

Therefore, since it is no longer possible to apply halftone settings directly in Photoshop CS5, CS5.5, and probably all versions in the future, those who need to generate color separations, especially the type used in the industry of T-shirt screen printing, they will need to save the Photoshop document as a DCS 2.0 file followed by inserting the DCS file into Adobe Illustrator to print the color separation on film.

The initials “DCS” stands for “Desktop Color Separation” and is a format based on the .EPS file format developed by Quark in the early 1990s. Simply put, a DCS 2.0 file is an .EPS file that has the unique ability to also contain spot color channels, such as Photoshop generated color separations.

As I have found that much of the information on the Internet related to storing, placing, importing and printing DCS 2.0 files is somewhat inaccurate or confusing, we will try to clarify the process here using a step-by-step process.

Step 1) When the separation of colors is completed, either by doing them manually or using a high-quality Photoshop plug-in / action to render, it is important to remove the RGB channels along with any color channels that are not required for the movie output. It is also advisable to rename the Black Channel to “Black Ink” or something other than “Black”. This will help avoid confusion with process black when the DCS 2.0 file is placed in Adobe Illustrator.

Step 2) Once the file is in the correct format as above, choose “Save As” from Photoshop’s File menu.

Step 3) When the Save As dialog box appears, select “Photoshop DCS 2.0 (* EPS). Make sure to check the” Spot Color Box “and then click Save.

Step 4) When the DCS 2.0 format box opens, enter the following settings and then click OK.

Preview: TIFF (8 bit / pixel)

DCS: single file with color composite (72 pixels / inch)

Encoding: binary

The file is now saved in DCS 2.0 format and will be assigned an .EPS icon. We will then place the file in Adobe Illustrator for output.

Step # 5) Launch Adobe Illustrator and create a new document using RGB color mode along with a suitable page size to contain the physical dimensions of the color separation.

Step # 6) Select “Place” from Illustrator’s File menu. When the Drop dialog opens, browse for the DCS file and click “Drop.” The DCS file has now been inserted into the Illustrator document and is now visible on your page. Don’t be alarmed by its appearance! The image may look washed out compared to the Photoshop preview. This is normal, it is just a poor quality screen preview and the color separations will print as expected.

Step # 7) Within Adobe Illustrator, select Print and choose your printer. Set the correct page size and then select “Output”. Under “Mode”, select “Separations (host-based)”. All spot channel color channels from the original Photoshop-generated separation should now appear and be selected in the Adobe Illustrator Document Ink Options box.

Step # 8) Change the frequency, angle, and dot shape of each channel to output to the movie. The settings that work well for most T-shirt color separations are to set each channel to 55 lpi, 26 degrees with an elliptical dot shape. Once configured, the file is ready to be sent to your printer.

Registration marks can also be added using the standard Illustrator marks, or create your own custom vector registration mark, which is a great idea. Just design a registration mark within Illustrator using the color called “Registration”. The mark can then be duplicated and placed exactly where you would like them to be printed on each channel. Save the registration mark created for use on all files printed from Illustrator.

Hopefully, this article removed some of the mystery associated with using DCS 2.0 files. Especially for those in the world of T-shirt screen printing.