Hello,
This is my first post - I am new to Corel. I have been working hard trying to learn the software but can't figure out to auto seperate colors into different layers - I have been selecting each curve, text, etc. and moving them into their layer manually :-(
Any suggested books or dvds to help me master corel would be great too.
thanks
Colour separation is normally done using the print diaglgue, i.e. CMYK.
You need to have a Postscript driver installed.
If you are looking for selecting the same colour, I suggest Woxxom Tools from Macromonster.com.
Are you doing separations for a press?
If that is the case, I also suggest that you look for the PPD for the Imagesetter/CTP that will be used.
Monochrome bitmaps can be a problem also. Spot colors a disadvantage.
Be careful of RGB images and fills. That is the downfall of most commercial printers.
You give the impression that you have limited knowledge of colours. I suggest that you a search on the forums about this topic?
You should also describe what industry you are in, Vinyl, Clothing, Offset print, etc.
Gary, as Adrian suggested, we need to know exactly what you need the color separations for.
I do color seps/artwork for screenprinters.
If that's what you want, the process is totally different than seps for printing brochures, manuals, etc.
Give us a starting point and I'm sure someone here will be able to help.
Sorry about that. I am a silk screener and need to separate colors into different layers for my screens.
Thanks for the responses.
Could someone post what are the frequency's and angles that screen printers use for CYMK? TIA
Most screen printers I know are using the separations command in the dialog.
Gary Coulier said:need to separate colors into different layers
Hi Gary, I don't think there is any such thing to separate colours onto layers, you can print to .ps file and import it back if you like in draw. If there is a commercial plugin for this thing than I don't know.
You could separate the colors used into separate layers but Corel Draw automatically separates for you and, provided your artwork does not contain a bitmap or a tone of a color (e.g. graident, transparency), you can print to film right from Corel Draw. Simply click Print Separations on the Separations Tab in the Print Dialog. If the artwork does contain a bit map or tone and you are not printing to a postscript printer, then you will need a RIP to translate those items into arrays of dots that can be captured when exposing a screen. - Scotty
Okay Gary, seps for screenprinting...............
Next BIG question, what kind of artwork are you dealing with?
Since you mentioned curves, I'm going to assume you have vector art, not rasters.
Let's start simple and see if this helps.
If you're new to all of this, again I'm guessing that what you really want is each color of your design printed on it's own page. So you have a page for black, a page for red, etc. No need for you to create layers.
Try this:
[1] Draw a circle or any shape.
[2] Type your name with the Artistic text tool.
If you're a beginner, again I'm guessing you only want to do is simple Spot color seps.
OPEN A PANTONE PALETTE.
Now color your circle/shape with one of those Pantone colors.
Color the text with a different Pantone color.
From there go to Print/Separation Tab.
Check the box that says Print separations.
Listed below you should see the 2 colors that you used to create your sample.
If you see more than the 2 listed then you used more colors by accident. (Check the outlines...........newbies often forget to change the outline default color)
When you select Print Preview, Corel will automatically put each Pantone (Spot) color on a separate page (plate.)
This is a very simplified example, just to get you started.
Go back and add a few more elements to your art using either the same colors you already used or any other ones for that same Pantone Palette.
In all cases, as long as you stick with that Pantone palette, Corel will automatically separate (layer, as you say) them for you.
Hope this helps.
From this point on, things get more complicated especially if you want to add bitmaps and/or halftones to the mix.
First things first.