How do I get CMYK mode with PSE 8?

[pworkman]

I'm looking to convert RGB to CMYK mode within PhotoShop Elements 8. I'm told that I might need a plug-in to do this, can anyone recommend a good one?

[Tony W]

AFAIK PSE 8 will not allow you to convert and as you have established you will either need a plug in or way to overcome the application shortcomings.

Never used it but if you follow the link for Filtermeister it does appear to allow you to change Colour Space so may be usable FilterMeister . You will have to do some research to establish just what you need to get you started.

Doug made a post recently about using Channels in Elements - although written for RGB it may be possible to use for CMY but I am unsure how you would go about getting the black channel other than playing with high contrast image to mimic the K channel. http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sof...to-layers.html

An alternative maybe to download the Gimp software and CMYK plug in which is either freeware or shareware - just do a google search for The Gimp

[Doug Nelson]

You can pick up a copy of Richard Lynch's Hidden Power of Elements books on Amazon for 11 cents (plus shipping). They're a few versions old, and I doubt any of the actions will still work, but they have quite a lot of info about working with CMYK in Elements. You can read the Hidden Power support forums here for some tips.

But eventually you'll want Photoshop for CMYK. If you only have a one-shot need, get the 30-day trial version. If it comes up more than once, it will be worth the investment for the full version.

[andrewrodney]

If you happen to be on the Mac, it can do such conversions inside the ColorSync utility. Open the document there, at the bottom of the dialog showing the image are popup menus for conversion to an output space, including CMYK.

[Jimbo]

Hello pworkman,
A belated thank you for this thread, also thank you Andrew Rodney for the enlightenment regarding the ColorSync utility on the Mac. So much to learn for a 1931 vintage brain.
Regards
jimbo