User manual SCOTT FRESENER FASTFILMS FOR PHOTOSHOP 5.0 HIGHER REFERENCE MANUAL

[. . . ] REFERENCE MANUAL FOR PHOTOSHOP 5. 0 OR HIGHER PUSH BUTTON SEPARATIONS © 19982007 Scott Fresener & U. S. Screen Printing Institute Tempe, AZ USA ­ All Rights Reserved See the FastFilmsTM website on the internet!www. FastFilms. com Revised 01. 31. 07 Welcome to FastFilms TM You have purchased the most powerful separation software available for Tshirt printers. With just the push of a button you will be able to do industry specific separations for simulated process color on light and dark shirts, index color on light and dark shirts, real process color, basic spot color, and sepiatone. [. . . ] You can do this by pressing the Reset Menus button at the top of the FastFilmsTM action list. When you stop a routine in before it is finished, it's action button will turn red. 6. 3 Work File Formats Other than the Special Edge Effects, Image Adjustments, and Optional Flesh and Browns, all other routines start with the image CLOSED. Many of the support calls received from new users of the program are because the files are in CMYK mode or have unflattened layers. 34 6. 4 About The Work Files As you know from Section 5 ­ Original Art and Photoshop® Adjustments, if the final films need to work on both light and dark shirts you will need TWO working files. One version needs to have a white canvas around the design and the other needs a black canvas. If the image is only going on a light shirt (where you don't need an Underbase or Highlight white) then a version with a white canvas is all you need. This is covered in Section 5 ­ Original Art and Photoshop® Adjustments. For FastFilmsTM to run correctly the image MUST be at the final resolution and be adjusted for optimum quality (sharpness, good tonal range, etc. ). If the image is dark in the midtones and shadows, apply Tone Curve adjustments. 6. 5 Opening the Working Files When you press a Run button, the separation routine starts and a help message screen will tell you that you need to load the masked version first. 35 The program will take you to the Open File screen of Photoshop® and you simply select the correct file. After the masked version of the file is loaded, the program creates the Underbase and Highlight white channels. You will again be taken to the Open File screen and simply select the proper file. FastFilmsTM will now separate the individual colors, place them in the correct print sequence, place the color name and Pantone® number on each channel, adjust for dot gain and ink interaction, adjust for the opacity of each color, adjust for shirt color, and do hundreds of other behindthescenes calculations. 6. 6 Previewing Images on Screen After you have run a specific routine, you will need to preview the image to see how it will look on a shirt. Photoshop® allows you to see a channel by placing the eye in the small box next to the thumbnail of each channel. If only one channel has the eye next to it, the image will be in black and white grayscale on the monitor. If more than one channel has the eye, Photoshop® will display the image in the correct color. Photoshop® versions 5. 0 ­ 9. 0 (CS2) display the preview image much more accurately than Photoshop® 4. 0 and earlier. (Note: Photoshop 7. 0 and later have the ability to show the channel thumbnails in color ­ but the default setting is to show them in grayscale. ) 36 6. 7 Working With Channels You can also preview a single channel by placing just one eye next to the channel (making it visible) and removing the eyes from the others. If you want to adjust a specific channel it will need to be selected. Don't confuse SELECTING a channel with placing an EYE next to it and PREVIEWING it. You can have channels set for preview (with eyes) and have only one selected for adjustment. [. . . ] Once the program is installed on the computer correctly, you will receive a series of words called a Challenge when opening Photoshop or running a routine. If you have the full version of FastFilmsTM, it needs to be unlocked within 20 days. We do not accept the Challenge words verbally over the phone because these words are very specific and there are usually errors in understanding them, not to mention the time it takes to transfer them all verbally. When you get the Challenge words, there is a button marked "Copy Challenge" in this window. [. . . ]