[Tom C]

I need to make some black-and-white halftones of some color photographs for a flyer on which I'm working. Nothing fancy...just a straightforward, ordinary halftone so that my flyer is camera-ready when I take it to the print shop. I'm looking for a reasonably low-cost solution, because this is something that I won't need to do often.

What program/plug-in should I use? I have GraphicConverter, so I could use Photoshop plug-ins if a good one is out there. Does Photoshop Elements come with halftone filters, or do I need the full version of Photoshop to do that?

Thanks in advance.

[almaink]

If you are doing this at a print shop they will make the halftne when they output the film or to plate. I ask my customers to just insert 300DPI RGB scans and I do the conversion to greyscale or 4/c. You have no idea what the presses at the shop can do so it's better to leave the conversion to the prepress person who does.
almaink

[godzookie2k]

Yeah I'd say just let your pressguys do it, as line screens and all that crap differ from press to press. But if you must, you can set up the dotscreen in quark if thats the final destination, I don't think (THINK) ps elements has it, but you never know. Its not a plug in, its defined in the printer settings before you print. this is straight from photoshops help file cause I just can't string together good sentences today.

Halftone screens with process ink at different screen angles; correctly registered dots form rosettes

In traditional print production, a halftone is produced by placing a halftone screen between a piece of film and the image and then exposing the film. In Photoshop, you specify the halftone screen attributes just before producing the film or paper output. For best results, your output device (a PostScript imagesetter, for example) should be set to the correct density limit, and your processor should be properly calibrated; otherwise, results can be unpredictable.

Before creating your halftone screens, check with your print shop for preferred frequency, angle, and dot settings. (Use the default angle settings unless your print shop specifies changes.)

To define the screen attributes:

1. Choose File > Print with Preview.
2. Select Show More Options, choose Output from the pop-up menu, and click Screen.
3. In the Halftone Screens dialog box, choose whether to generate your own screen settings:
* Deselect Use Printer's Default Screens to choose your own screen settings.
* Select Use Printer's Default Screens to use the default halftone screen built into the printer. Photoshop then ignores the specifications in the Halftone Screens dialog box when it generates the halftone screens.
4. For a grayscale halftone, enter a screen frequency from 1 to 999.999, and choose a unit of measurement. Enter a screen angle from -180 to +180 degrees.
5. For a color separation, choose from the following options:
* To manually enter the screen frequency and angle, choose a color of the screen for Ink, and enter the frequency and angle; repeat for each color separation.
* To have Photoshop determine and enter the best frequencies and angles for each screen, click Auto. In the Auto Screens dialog box, enter the resolution of the output device and the screen frequency you intend to use, and click OK. Photoshop enters the values in the Halftone Screens dialog box. Changing these values may result in moiré patterns.
* If you are using a PostScript Level 2 (or higher) printer or an imagesetter equipped with an Emerald controller, make sure that the Use Accurate Screens option is selected in the Auto Screens dialog box (or in the Halftone Screens dialog box, if you're entering the values manually). The Use Accurate Screens option lets the program access the correct angles and halftone screen frequencies for high-resolution output. If your output device is not a PostScript Level 2 (or higher) printer or is not equipped with an Emerald controller, this option has no effect.
6. For Shape, choose the dot shape you want. If you want all four screens to have the same dot shape, select Use Same Shape For All Inks.

Choosing Custom from the Shape menu displays the Custom Spot Function dialog box. You can define your own dot shapes by entering PostScript commands--useful for printing with nonstandard halftone algorithms. For information about using PostScript language commands, see the PostScript Language Reference published by Addison-Wesley, or consult the imagesetter's manufacturer.

For optimal output on a PostScript printer, the image resolution should be 1.5 to 2 times the halftone screen frequency. If the resolution is more than 2.5 times the screen frequency, an alert message appears. (See Understanding image size and resolution.) If you are printing line art or printing to a non-PostScript printer, see your printer documentation for the appropriate image resolutions to use.
7. Click OK.

[buchrob]

Originally posted by Tom C:
I need to make some black-and-white halftones of some color photographs for a flyer on which I'm working. Nothing fancy...just a straightforward, ordinary halftone so that my flyer is camera-ready when I take it to the print shop. I'm looking for a reasonably low-cost solution, because this is something that I won't need to do often.

What program/plug-in should I use? I have GraphicConverter, so I could use Photoshop plug-ins if a good one is out there. Does Photoshop Elements come with halftone filters, or do I need the full version of Photoshop to do that?

Thanks in advance.

Make sure that you save the photos in some composite file format (CMYK, RGB, as eps or tiff and let the pre-press guys handle it. All the major programs will output good greyscale from color composite images when asked to do so. Just avoid the 5-file DCS format or you may end up with arguments over pixelized images.

It's not reasonable to expect that a designer is going to choose screen frequencies and refer to Postscript manuals for specific rips. That's what the pre-press guys get paid for, and they don't have to do it that often because as craftsmen, they already know what's best for their press set-up.

[andi*pandi]

It sounds like the guy is bringing the printshop a (searches memory) hard copy (couldn't remember) on a board, for them to make a paper plate from. You know, using a camera. No digital.

I'd still use godzookie's advice though.

(What the heck--ah, a mechanical. That's what that was called.)