CS3 How to find out the color in a duotone

[Tom_T...@adobeforums.com]

Hello,

I have some duotones that are black and some added color. I want to find out what that color is.

Using the Eyedropper tool only tells me what color a pixel or the average of pixels in a set area is. But since the color of course has different tones throughout the photo I can't rely upon this.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Tom

[Cindy_J...@adobeforums.com]

Go to Image>Mode>Duotone

[Tom_T...@adobeforums.com]

Cindy,
I tried that but Duotone is grayed out.

The problem is that the duotone is a .tif with CMYK colors.

Tom

[Ed Hannigan]

Best you can do is probably try to match it visually in a Pantone reference book.

[Tom_T...@adobeforums.com]

Ed,

I tried that. But because a duotone does not have any solid color it is pretty hard to get an accurate color ratio.

Tom

[Buko]

The problem is that the duotone is a .tif with CMYK colors.

So its really not a duotone. Best you can do is guesstimate as ed mentioned. the only other avenue is to ask the person who made it.

[Neil_...@adobeforums.com]

Some of the Pantone books offer CMYK color equivalents for each Pantone value. This might help here.

Neil

[J_Ma...@adobeforums.com]

Exactly. Are you trying to match a specific (corporate) "PMS" duotone? Or the look onscreen? Or a printed sample? Your answer will help determine how best to proceed. Eyeballing it for sure, but still with then end goal in mind...

[Ed Hannigan]

Here's an idea. Duplicate the file. Convert the dupe to grayscale, then to Duotone. Try the various preset colors. You may get lucky and get the same look.

No guarantees, though. There's no telling what Curves manipulations, etc. may have taken place.

[Tom_T...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I did try Ed's last idea here. It seems to me the only way to go.

Here's the situation: I have a .tif that is supposed to be a duotone of black and DS 5-5, but I suspect it is not. I suspect it is black and an earlier spot color, of which I know the CMYK values.

What I wanted to do was simply to analyze what it really is, which you can do if it is a PhotoShop duotone. But what I did do was duplicate it, make it grayscale, then add in DS 5-5 and compare it to the original. It is a different color, though another kink in all this is that the black in the duplicate is now lighter. Why I don't know, but if I darken the contrast so that both the new and the old look the same I can clearly see that the Pantone colors are different.

It's final fate is to be printed, though I have now only been looking at it on screen.

It appears that once you Save As a duotone to a .tif, the information about the non-black color gets destroyed. Then you have to guess using the above procedure.

Thanks everyone!

Tom

[Buko]

It appears that once you Save As a duotone to a .tif

why are you doing that just keep it as a PSD.