I am a newbie to the Hidden power tools but am impressed. I mananged to create a CMYK file that I am happy with. I copied the DCS file folder to my hard drive. I was doing fine with the procedure under "Printing with DCS EPS Files" until I got to step 6, opening the template file. Elements does not recognize the template files and cannot open them. What am I missing?

Keith

Somehow posted in the PE2 forum instead of this one. I'm a newbie to Hidden Power, but am impressed with it. I created a CMYK image that I want to save and started following the steps under "Printing with DCS EPS Files". I was doing fine until I got to step 6, "open corresponding template file". When I tried to open a template, Elements didn't recognize the file and couldn't open it. What am I missing?

Keith

I don't think elements supports cmyk

Photo678, many people think Elements doesn't support CMYK...I have been doing CMYK with it since Elements 1. It is a small part of what my book is all about: Elements is far more powerful than many want you to know.

Kjhelm, the template images have unusual extensions. You may have to change the extension on the template files to open them if you are on a PC. I haven't tried to do this with Elements 2 for a while and regretfully i do not have it installed on my PC at this point. If you can't get it working, I will find a way to help you out. Please let me know.

Thank you both for replying to my question. Richard, thank you for your Hidden Power books. I assumed that the book would just be an instruction manual for the power tools. It turned out to be one of the most comprehensive books on theory and practice that I have seen for any program in some time.

I am actually working in Elements 3, I just posted to the HP 2 forum by mistake and re-posted to the HP 3 forum. I will try changing the extensions (this thought occurred to me as I was waking up this morning). Once I have saved these files successfully, will I be able to send the folder to a professional printer with expectations that they will know what to do with it?

Keith

To some extent the book is a user guide to the tools, but the idea was to give users a wholistic approach to imaging problems. I guess the theory percolated through...I don't believe you can use the tools well unless you understand them. I am glad the appraoch works for you.

If you create the files as described in the book, a 5 part DCS file is a commonly accepted means of CMYK separation submission. It is a somewhat older style, but certainly a viable one. A technician should be able to handle the files easily--if not, you need a different technician. In this day, I am a little surprised people are asking for CMYK files unless you are doing separations for layout. Most photos that I send in for print go through an RGB workflow, as submitting CMYK sometimes results in the printer doing a CMYK>RGB>CMYK conversion. If they ASKED for CMYK, they shoud certainly know what to do with a DCS file.

Let me know how things turn out. I don't hear a lot from people using the CMYK conversion techniques. While I know *I* can make them work, I have little idea how results have turned out for others.