Datasheet

CMYK
You can’t edit in this mode, but Elements does allow you to open a CMYK
color mode file that Elements converts upon opening to RGB mode so that
you can work with the image.
CMYK is the color mode used for traditional printing press reproduction of
color images. For example, this book was printed from CMYK-mode files.
Printing presses need to use four separate ink plates to reproduce full color
images on paper. The press plate colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black,
so it’s called CMYK mode. (Black is abbreviated K because, a long time ago,
people were afraid that using B for black might be confused with blue.)
CMYK supports embedded color profiles. (We talk about color profiles in
detail in Chapter 4.)
Converting Color Modes
In some situations, you need or want to convert one image mode to another.
You may need to convert a grayscale or bitmap file to RGB so you can col-
orize, paint, or tint the image for output to a color printer. If your file’s in
bitmap mode, you must convert first to grayscale and then to RGB mode. You
can make these conversions by selecting Image
➪Mode and then selecting a
color mode from choices in the submenu that appears.
In other situations, you may need to convert from RGB mode to index color
mode for Web use. Sometimes, you need to make a mode conversion from
index color to RGB so you can edit the file for color or tone, before convert-
ing it back to index color mode.
Follow these tips when you make image mode conversions for editing:
 To allow full editing capabilities for an index color file, convert the file to
RGB mode, edit it, and convert it back to index color mode.
 If you plan to create multiple images for use in index color mode, keep
your original files in RGB mode and convert duplicates. You can’t
recover the information you lose when you convert RGB mode to index
color mode.
 You have to convert bitmap mode to grayscale mode in order to edit the
tones of the image. You can convert back to bitmap when you finish edit-
ing in grayscale mode.
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Chapter 1: Understanding Color
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