EasyArt2 UserGuide Part1

EasyArt
Professional color separation and artwork creation system
www.wilflexeasyart.com
Introduction
EasyArt has been developed to make it easier for all screen printers to produce high quality professional artwork and color separations with a minimal amount of time and effort. By spending less time on the lengthy separation process it allows you more time for creating the design. With just a limited knowledge of Adobe Photoshop you can quickly and easily produce amazing results. To get the most from EasyArt we highly recommend you do all of the following tutorials as each one takes you step by step through the many different features and problem solving aspects of simulated process and spot color separation. If you do have any problems check the FAQ sheet to find answers to the most common questions. If you can't find the answer there you can e-mail us at info@wilflexeasyart.com all emails are answered within 24hrs. It is advisable to start experimenting with EasyArt as soon as you can, don't wait until you need it. As easy as it is to run you will still need a little practice before getting the best possible results. Try and experiment with the many different separation techniques as it is not always obvious which one will yield the best result. After having completed the Quick Start tutorial in the printed guide, you can continue by first watching all of the video tutorials on the EasyArt Video Tutor CD, you can run them from the user interface that starts up when you run the CD or alternatively you can run them directly from your video player of choice. You can find them in the Resorces/video folder on the CD. After watching all of the video print out this User Manual Start from the beginning, it has been structured in a way as to accommodate a gradual learning curve, if you get stuck go back and watch the corresponding video again. The most important part of the separation process is the Preparation stage - getting your image to it's best possible state ready for separation - Spend a little extra time here and you will get much better separations. The Yellow Action buttons are provided to help you improve the quality of your image before separation, but experienced Photoshop users may want to improve images manually. For further information, new products, the latest FAQ sheet, additional tutorials and design help check out our web site. www.wilflexeasyart.com
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Setting up Photoshop
It is important to set up your monitor so that what you are looking at on screen is the same as the image on your hard drive. There is an excellent section in the Adobe Photoshop manual about monitor calibration to help you do this. Color Settings for Adobe Photoshop On the menu bar at the top of your screen click on Edit" scroll down and select "Color Settings You can load the EasyArt settings file located in the Color Settings folder on the EasyArt CD, or alternatively you can manually apply these settings shown below, leave everything else as default.
Click on the CMYK drop down list in the Color Settings window and select Custom CMYK to open the Custom CMYK window shown below.
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The Working Space

The Photoshop working space can be setup to cater for your own personal likes and dislikes. We recommend you setup the best environment for your situation. Below is an example of a Photoshop setup geared towards screen printing separations and artwork. and maximizing the use of Wilflex EasyArt
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Getting Started
Preparation - Separation - Adjustment Making separations with EasyArt is a 3 step process, the actual separating of your image is only 30% of the job. Step 1 Yellow buttons Step 2 Blue buttons Step 3 Green buttons - image preparation - image separation - image adjustment
It is important to start your separating with the best possible image you can. An image that appears dull and flat will be separated as such and an image that is light bright with good contrast will yield the best results. Preparation (Yellow Buttons) The first section of the EasyArt actions list (Yellow buttons) is there to help you improve the quality of your image before you begin separating. Try experimenting with this section of actions to see how you can improve your chances of getting the best separations possible. Below are two examples of the same image. The image on the left has no adjustments it appears just as it did from the scanner, the image on the right has had color and contrast adjustments, both images can easily be separated with Easyart but the one on the right will give far superior separations and a much better T-Shirt print.
Not all images are the same and each image you want to separate will need some adjustment especially if you are scanning, practice on a duplicate image until you get it just right. The more time you spend preparing your image the less time you will have to spend trying to fix up bad separations. EasyArt doesnt care what you start with, it will separate anything, but a good image will yield good separations. As the saying goes if you start with rubbish you will just end up with separated rubbish.
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Separation (Blue Action Buttons) Although this is the most complex step we have made it easy, all of the separation routines are fully automatic, just select the separation routine you need, push the button sit back and watch. The type of image you want to separate will determine which particular routine to use, for example photographs are better separated using the simulated process routines whereas logos and art type images are better separated with the spot color or index separation routines. Dont be afraid to experiment, all of the routines are automatic and work very quickly so you have many options available, if one doesnt work so well just try another method. It is not always obvious which is the best routine to use to get the best result and with experimentation comes experience. Preparation - Separation - Adjustment Adjustment (Green Action Buttons) After the separation routine has completed there are always some adjustments to be made whether it's just deleting unwanted colors, combining channels or more. This is the area where you do all your post separation work, you can increase or decrease the strength of color in a channel or even just remove part of it. The green section of the EasyArt action buttons will help you achieve all the adjustments quickly and easily and it is well worth learning all of these actions. The best way to learn all the different adjustment possibilities is to complete all of the tutorials on the EasyArt CD. Easy Edges (Purple Action Buttons) The purple EasyArt buttons are for creating an artistic edge effect around any image. This is an ideal tool for quickly removing the background from your image, as the area behind the applied effect is transparent. This transparency is recognized by EasyArt and is excluded from the separations. The routines allow you to make a selection, in any shape or size around your image to which the effect is applied. The resolution of the image can also determine the amount of effect applied. There are 25 different edge effects to select from. Text Effects (Red Action Buttons) At the end of the EasyArt button list are an additional set of text effect buttons which will apply various effects to the selected text.
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Which routine to use on which image?

Selecting the correct separation method can make all the difference between getting good or very average separations. It is not always obvious which routine to use and we highly recommend you experiment. Because of the very automated nature of EasyArt it is very easy to try a few different options on the one image and try and think, not only in terms of color but also try thinking a little outside the box, think about tonal value and solid areas of the image regardless of color. For example, an area of your image may not have separated to exactly the right color, it separated the information but it displays incorrectly because, maybe its the wrong shade of blue. This doesnt really matter as you can easily change the ink color to match, the most important thing is that you have the separated information. Below are examples of which routine to use on which kind of image.
Separate this image with
Separate for Colored shirts
First Choice
3 Step Index Separations
Clipart image exported from Corel Draw. Exported as PSD (Photoshop) image, at actual print size 300 dpi RGB with preserve transparency.

Separate for Black shirts
First Choice
Image scanned at 400 dpi enlarged in Photoshop to print size then the resolution was dropped down to 200 for separating. If this image had text, the resolution would have been dropped down to 300 dpi. Separate this image with
3 Color Simulated Grayscale 5 Color Simulated Grayscale
First Choice
Image scanned at 400 dpi enlarged in Photoshop to print size then the resolution was dropped down to 200 for separating.
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Which routine to use on which image?

Separate for White shirts
3 Color Simulated Sepia 5 Color Simulated Sepia
First Choice
Image scanned at 400 dpi enlarged in Photoshop to print size then the resolution was dropped down to 200 for separating.

First Choice
Image scanned at 400 dpi enlarged in Photoshop to print size then the resolution was dropped down to 150 for Index separations then exported to Corel Draw to apply text. Separate this image with
Selective Color Separation
First Choice
Image exported from Illustrator as a tiff or PSD file at actual print size and 400 dpi resolution (to maintain sharp edges)

First Choice
Image was created from a photograph using the EasyArt routine Artist Impression
NOTE
There is a lot of debate over which method is better for separating color images, Simulated Process or Index separation. The differences are that simulated process uses halftone dots and Index uses a stochastic dot (square). Both methods work well. The index method has great color accuracy but requires more print colors, Simulated Process uses fewer colors but simulates a lot of colors. The general rule of thumb is if you are printing photographic reproductions use Simulated process and if your image is artistic (like tiger image above) try the Index method. You can of course use either method on any image then comes down to personal preference.
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EasyArt
Simulated Grayscale
Simulated Grayscale
The Simulated Grayscale routine will automatically separate any color or black and white image into a 4 or 5 color print, including a white base and highlight white. Separating an image into its tonal range from dark to light, automatically creating a light gray, medium gray, dark gray, black and white. Printing this tonal range with dedicated ink colors produces a very photorealistic screen print.
Tutorial
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The "Simulated Sepia Separation" routine operates in exactly the same way as the "Simulated Grayscale Separation" routine. This tutorial can also apply to Sepia-tone images.
Step 1 Preparation EasyArt yellow buttons In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and open the file Watch.psd. This RGB watch image looks ok but is actually quite dull and flat, EasyArt will still separate it as is, but if the image is improved before separating the resulting separations will be much better. To improve this image, first close any other images you have open, so you only have the watch image in your work space.
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To begin improving, go to the EasyArt Actions list and click on the yellow button "Improve image RGB". This will add color, contrast and sharpness.
Next click on the yellow button "Increase Brightness. Finally click on the yellow button "Increase Contrast".
The new and improved duplicate image appears much brighter with more contrast, which will produce much better separations. After comparing the two images close the original dull image.
Experienced Photoshop users may prefer to enhance their images manually before separation, but as you can see you can achieve excellent results just using a combination of the buttons provided. There are two options for creating Simulated Grayscale separations . - 3 Color Simulated Grayscale, which creates 2 whites 2 grays and a black channel. - 5 Color Simulated Grayscale, which creates 2 whites 3 grays and a black channel. The 5 color option will produce the most realistic screen print and is the routine we will use for this simulated grayscale tutorial.
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To separate this new improved image, scroll down the EasyArt button list and click on the blue button 5 Color Simulated Gray, read the message that opens and click continue.
After the routine is complete go to the channels list to view the separations, Window > Channels
These separations dont require any adjustments. You can view individual channels by turning the channel eye icon on and off
Some separations may require adjustment, making a channel lighter or darker or removing noise. Each image will be a little different and adjustments will become more obvious with experience. If you are spending a lot of time making channel adjustments after separating, it almost always because the original image has not been improved well enough, and you will probably get a better result if you go back to the original image, improve that, then separate again. It is important to understand exactly what the simulated grayscale is doing as it can be used on a variety of different images, and it may not always be obvious this is the routine to use. The simulated grayscale routine converts any design or photograph into a standard 256 grayscale image that it then automatically separates into 5 tonal values, light, medium, dark, black and white. The 3 shades of tone produce a gradual print range from dark to light, so instead of trying to produce a graduated tone with one color and different sized halftone dots you are actually printing the tonal range with different spot color ink. This translates into much greater control and consistency and best of all it is a lot easier to screen print. It is this printed tonal range that gives the smooth blend from one shade to the next, producing the photorealistic results. Printing out film Film Halftone settings: Print out the channels White Base, Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray and Highlight White all with the same settings. 55 Lpi 22.5 Screen Angle Elliptical dot shape For more information on printing out film read the tutorial Outputting separations to film, later in this user guide.
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Screen Printing Screen mesh
(onto a black shirt) 180 mesh (68 metric) for White Base 305 mesh (120 metric) for all other colors including Highlight White You can use a higher mesh count for the White Base if you are printing on an automatic press.
One of the main benefits of using the EasyArt system is the predetermined range of ink colors for you to screen print with. This eliminates all of the guesswork. When your image is separated by EasyArt, it separates to an actual ink color. You can find the recipe guide for all of the EasyArt colors later in this User Guide. Ink Screen print using the EasyArt predetermined ink colors White Base use Wilflex Bright Tiger EasyArt Light Gray EasyArt Medium Gray EasyArt Dark Gray Highlight White use Wilflex MX White
Screen print the colors in the same order that the image separated to. This is a guideline, if the image will print better if you change the print order then go ahead and do that. Print Order White Base (Flash) Medium Gray Light Gray Dark Gray Highlight White.
As mentioned before it is not always obvious which routine to use. The Matrix image to the right was separated using the 5 Color Simulated Gray routine (not one of the simulated process separation routines as you might first think). After the image separated into black, white and 3 shades of gray, the gray ink was replaced with 3 shades of green ink, producing the final green print. EasyArt gives you recipes for 3 shades of Gray, Sepia and Flesh color, any other colors you can mix to your own specific requirements, and record your own recipes for future use.
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EasyArt
Simulated Process
Special Note: There are several options for producing simulated process separations. The routines that automatically separate your image into a 5 color or 6 color prints, work well, and are very easy to use but that does translate to a less accurate reproduction. The Separate for Black shirts, White shirts and Colored shirts routines, do take longer to run and require a little more work after separation, but will produce more accurate prints, and in most cases can be manually reduced down to a 6 color print.
Simulated Process
This routine will separate an Image that can be printed onto any colored shirt. To achieve this the background of the image (i.e. the areas that will be the shirt color) must be transparent. This is important to remember when creating your designs. If your design is on a black or white background and is only being printed onto a black or white shirt you can simply use the separate for black shirts or the separate for white shirts routines, as they do not require the transparent background. You can of course use this routine as well, with separations for black and white shirts.
Tutorial
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In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and double click the image file "Classic Car.psd" to open it.
You will first notice this image has a blue background. For visual reference when creating an image it's always a good idea to have the background layer in the color of the shirt.
Go to the layers list (Window > Show Layers) you can see this image has been created on four different layers. Before separating this image you must first delete the blue background.
To delete the blue background layer, select it and drag it down to the bin icon at the bottom of the layers list. EasyArt can only separate one layer so the remaining three layers must be merged into one.
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click on the small arrow head in the top right hand corner of the layers, scroll down and click "merge visible", this combines the 3 layers and maintains the transparent background.
With the image now on a single layer and with a transparent background it is ready for some adjustment, to improve the overall color and sharpness.
Go to the Actions list (Window > Show Actions) scroll down and click on the yellow EasyArt button "Improve Image RGB". This will automatically intensify and sharpen the image.
Separation
7 8 9 Before inspecting the separations, change the default shirt color back to the blue the original image was on, so it will give a more accurate visual representation. To do this, scroll down to the blue EasyArt button "Change shirt color" and click. In the window that appears click on the blue box next to the word "color". In the color picker window, go to the RGB section and type in these values. R=75, G=106, B=157 then click OK.
Close the original image and separate the new improved duplicate.To separate scroll down and click on the blue EasyArt button "Separate for colored shirts".
When the routine completes, the separated image appears on a gray background, this is the default shirt color for this simulated process routine.
The separated image now appears on the same blue background as the original RGB image. To inspect the separations go to the channels list, you can see EasyArt has created 11 spot color channels including a white base and a highlight white.
With the simulated process separation routines, all of your images are separated into 11 colors including 2 whites, but after making a few channel adjustments (combining and deleting channels) almost all images can be reduced down to only 5, 6 or 7 colors..
NOTE
Adjustment
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By turning the channels eye icon on and off you can see if a particular color is required or not. Experiment turning the channels off and on to view different results.
To produce this image as an 8 color print, go to the channels list and turn off the Magenta, Green, and Grey channels to view what it will look like with only 8 colors.
To produce this design as a 6 color print, click the green EasyArt button "combine brown channel". This will create a simulated brown using the Red, Yellow and Light blue channels.
NOTE
You can produce simulated versions of the green, blue, brown and gray channels. Using simulated colors will help reduce the number of dedicated colors you need to print, but you must include in your separations the colors that are used to produce the third simulated color. For example if you want to use a simulated green you must include in your separations a yellow and a blue channel.
Go back to the channels list and turn off the Magenta, Green, Dark Brown, Grey and highlight white channels, leaving you with a 6 color print. What you are trying to do is eliminate having to print the brown channel, but instead of just leaving it out (then gaps may appear) you are making a simulated version of the brown, so that you get the same or similar effect without having to print a dedicated color.
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Printing out the Classic Car film

Film Halftone settings: Print out the channels White Base, Yellow, Red, Light Blue, Dark Blue and Black all with the same settings. 55 Lpi 22.5 Screen Angle Elliptical dot shape For more information on printing out film read the tutorial Outputting separations to film, later in this user guide. Screen Printing Screen mesh (onto a blue shirt) 180 mesh (68 metric) for White Base 305 mesh (120 metric) for all other colors You can use a higher mesh count for the White Base if you are printing on an automatic press. One of the main benefits of using the EasyArt system is the predetermined range of ink colors for you to screen print with. This eliminates all of the guesswork. When your image is separated by EasyArt, it separates to an actual ink color. You can find the recipe guide for all of the EasyArt colors later in this User Guide. Ink Screen print using the EasyArt predetermined ink colors White Base - use Wilflex Bright Tiger EasyArt Yellow EasyArt Red EasyArt Light Blue EasyArt Dark Blue Black - use Wilflex MX Black
Screen print the colors in the same order that the image separated to. Print Order White Base (Flash) Yellow Red Light Blue Dark Blue Black
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Adding realistic skin tone

One of the most difficult colors to reproduce in a screen print is realistic skin color. Usually the skin tone is created using a combination of red, yellow and brown ink. This simulated skin color can be as difficult to print as CMYK and often is over saturated and inconsistent. EasyArt has a specific routine for solving this problem. The EasyArt Add Flesh Tone routine automatically converts a selected area into shades of flesh tone so you can screen print with dedicated skin colored ink. This method produces very realistic skin tone and is much easier to print. A very powerful feature of EasyArt, this routine can be used to produce photorealistic tones on any part of the image.
Tutorial
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In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and double click the image file "Popcorn.psd" to open. The first task is to get your image looking as good as it can. 4
To add some contrast, color and sharpness click on the yellow EasyArt button Improve Image RGB. Close the original file leaving only the improved duplicate open. 5
Before separating we must tell EasyArt which part of the image is skin tone, this is done by creating a simple mask. To begin, click the blue EasyArt button Make a Mask. 6
Next select the pen tool. The Pen tool should be set to paths. Photoshop has many selection tools, but only use the pen tool for creating your EasyArt masks.
Zoom into the image so the face area fills the screen. With the pen tool begin clicking a series of dots tracing around the outside of the face. The closer together the dots the more accurate the mask.
The last point you click must be on the first dot you started the path with to close the path. Notice that the mouth and straw were left out of the mask, we dont want those areas flesh tone
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With the path closed, right click with your mouse scroll down the list and select fill Path.
Fill the path with 100% Black. Make sure Feather Radius is set to 0 and anti-aliased is unchecked. Click ok to continue.
Right click on your mouse, scroll down and click Delete Path. Next using the pen tool, trace around the eyes, then fill each path with 100% white to remove that area from the mask. 12
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After you have removed the eyes, complete the mask making routine by clicking on the EasyArt button Make a Mask, again which now appears red.
With the Mask created it is now time to separate. Click on the blue EasyArt button Separate for Black Shirts. When complete go to the channel list to view the separations.
This simulated process separation routine has created the flesh tones as simulated flesh using Yellow, Red and Brown. Click through those channels to view the simulated flesh.
NOTE
If there is not much flesh tone in your image, it may be easier to just use the default simulated flesh, as your image will require fewer print colors. EasyArt creates a very good simulated flesh but it is difficult to maintain the tonal range on larger areas of the print.
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In the EasyArt button list you will notice you have a choice of 1, 2 or 3 color flesh, the 3 color version requiring more colors to print but producing a more accurate, realistic result.
To apply the realistic skin tones, click on the blue EasyArt button Add 3 color Flesh Tone. When complete go to the channels list to view the added flesh colors.
EasyArt has automatically separated the area inside the flesh mask into 3 shades of flesh tone, light medium and dark. Turn the flesh channels off and on to view these separations only.
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You are now left with a 13 color print (not including black, you dont need to print black ink onto a black shirt). Obviously you wont want to print 13 colors so now you begin adjusting the channels to reduce 13 colors down to only 8 including 2 whites.
Printing with 2 white screens, a white base and a highlight white gives your image greater contrast and really makes the details stand out.
TIP
Adjustment
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The first adjustment is the green channel. To eliminate printing the green click on the green EasyArt button Combine Green Channel. This creates a simulated green that uses the yellow and blue channels. 19
Next combine the dark brown channel to the dark flesh channel. (they are very similar in ink color). To do this select the dark flesh channel then click on the green EasyArt button Add dark brown to.... 20
For this image you only need to print one blue so combine the dark blue to the light blue. Select the light blue channel then click on the green EasyArt button Add Dark Blue to...
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The final adjustment, is to create a simulated gray so you wont need to print the gray channel. To do this click on the green EasyArt button Combine Medium Gray Channel.
With all of those adjustments made turn on the channels Shirt Color, White Base, Yellow, Red, Light Blue, Light Flesh, Medium Flesh, Dark Flesh and Highlight White to see the final 8 color print as it will appear on the shirt.
You can save a separated image with all of the channels included (recommended) or to save disk space you can delete the unwanted channels by dragging them onto the bin icon at the bottom of the channels list.
Creating simulated colors is easy and a great way to reduce the number of colors in a print, but it is only recommended you use this technique if there isnt much of the color you are simulating in the print. For example if you are printing a picture of a tree with lots of green leaves on it, its better to print the large amount of green in the image with green ink, than to print a simulated green which will be determined by the yellow and blue you are using to create the green.
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Printing out the Flesh Tone image film After adding the flesh colors and combining the green and adding the brown channel to the Dark Flesh channel you are left with an 8 color print. Film Halftone settings: Print out the channels White Base, Yellow, Red, Light Blue, Light Flesh, Medium Flesh, Dark Flesh and Highlight White, all with the same settings. 55 Lpi 22.5 Screen Angle Elliptical dot shape For more information on printing out film read the tutorial Outputting separations to film, later in this user guide. Screen Printing Screen mesh (onto a black shirt) 180 mesh (68 metric) for White Base 305 mesh (120 metric) for all other colors You can use a higher mesh count for the White Base if you are printing on an automatic press. One of the main benefits of using the EasyArt system is the predetermined range of ink colors for you to screen print with. This eliminates all of the guesswork. When your image is separated by EasyArt, it separates to an actual ink color. You can find the recipe guide for all of the EasyArt colors later in this User Guide. Ink Screen print using the EasyArt predetermined ink colors White Base - use Wilflex Bright Tiger EasyArt Yellow EasyArt Red EasyArt Light Blue EasyArt Dark Blue EasyArt Light Flesh EasyArt Medium Flesh EasyArt Dark Flesh Highlight White - use Wilflex MX White
To maintain a bright print change the print order as below. Print Order White Base (Flash) Light Blue Dark Blue Red Yellow Medium Flesh Light Flesh Dark Flesh Highlight White
Adding realistic skin tone Part 2 (Advanced)

The EasyArt adding realistic flesh tone routines can be used to far greater effect, than just reproducing skin. This very powerful feature enables you to produce photorealistic tone on any part of your image. What EasyArt is really doing is analyzing a selected area of your image (the area inside your mask) and converting that area to 3 shades of grayscale, light medium and dark. EasyArt specifies the skin colors to display on your monitor as the default, but you can print 3 shades of any color. In the example below we will separate the hulk image using the flesh tone routines but will change the ink color to 3 shades of green.
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In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and double click the image file "Hulk.psd" to open
Go to the Channels List, you can see that the flesh mask for this image has already been created in exactly the same way as the flesh mask you created in the previous tutorial Adding realistic skin tone 5
Looking closer at the flesh mask, you will see that only the green areas in the image are included in the mask, the eyes, mouth and pants have all been left out.
Separate this image by clicking on the blue EasyArt button Separate for Black Shirts. When completed go to the channels list to view the separations.
This standard simulated process separation routine has separated all of the hulk green onto one green channel. This is ok, but, printing 3 shades of green will produce a more realistic, accurate result.
To create the 3 shades of green, click on the blue EasyArt button Add 3 Color Fleshtone. When the routine completes the hulk will look a little unusual having been separated into skin tones.
Although EasyArt displays the separations as flesh tone what it has really done is, separated the area inside the mask (in this case the Hulk) into 3 shades of grayscale, light gray, medium gray and dark gray, it then displays those shades of gray as skin color. You can change the skin colors to 3 shades of any color you want by just changing the ink color, the actual separated channels remain exactly the same. EasyArt gives you the ink recipes for the 3 shades of skin tone, it is up to you to create any other colors, as long as you create a light, medium and dark shade of that color.
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In the channels list turn off all of the channels except the 3 flesh channels. Double click on the medium flesh channel to bring up the Spot Channel Options window.
In the channel options window type in medium green for the name then click on the small brown box to open the color picker window.
In the color picker window that opens type in RGB values of R = 46, G = 221, B = 37. Then click ok, then ok again to return to the channels list.
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Do the same thing for the light flesh and dark flesh channels and type in these RGB values. Light green R=174, G=255, B=172 Dark green R=28, G=164, B=21 13
With the flesh ink colors changed the hulk now appears as he would if you use green ink. To further reduce the number of print colors combine the channels, Magenta, Light Blue and Dark Blue together. 14
To combine these channels together, select the magenta channel then click on the green EasyArt button Add light blue to... then click on the button Add Dark blue to...
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Together the Magenta, light blue and dark blue channels created purple colored shorts. Now all that information is on only one channel (Magenta) The magenta channel now needs to changed to purple.
To do this double click the magenta channel, in the spot color channels window click on the small magenta colored box. In the color picker window type in RGB values of, R=138 , G=0 , B=255 , then click ok
To see the final 5 color print turn on the channels Shirt color, White base, Magenta, medium green, light green and dark green.
The 3 shades of green and the purple colors are only a guess, you can match them accurately when you mix the ink colors. Being able to convert any part of your image into a tri-tone (3 shades of gray) gives you the tools to reproduce photo realistically any color in any image.
EasyArt
Line Draw and Artistic Impression
Convert a Photograph to a Line Drawing

EasyArt has been developed to do a lot more than just color separation. The Line Drawing routine will convert any good quality photograph into an image that looks like it was drawn by hand. Create a simple mask and automatically produce line art, especially good on images of cars, trucks, boats tools buildings etc. 300 dpi images work the best.
Tutorial
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In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and double click the image file "Merc.psd" to open. The first task is to get your image looking as good as it can. 4
First you must tell EasyArt which part of the image will be converted to a line drawing, in this case, just the car. This is done by creating a simple mask. To begin click on the EasyArt button Make a Mask 6
Next select the pen tool. The Pen tool should be set to paths. Photoshop has many selection tools, but only use the pen tool for creating your EasyArt masks.
Zoom into the image, then with the pen tool begin clicking a series of dots tracing around the outside of the car. The closer together the dots the more accurate the mask.
The last point you click must be on the first dot you started with, to close the path. Next fill the path.
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While you are zoomed into the image you can move it around by holding down the Space Bar on your keyboard and drag it around with your mouse pointer (which changes to the hand tool)
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With the path closed, right click with your mouse scroll down the list and select fill Path.
Right click on your mouse, scroll down and click Delete Path. Next using the pen tool, trace around the background area of the windows. 12
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This time fill the path with 100% white. This will remove that area from the mask. Go around the image removing all of the background in the windows.
With the mask now completed click on the EasyArt button Make a Mask again (which now appears red) to finish the mask making routine.
To convert this image into a line drawing click on the EasyArt blue button Convert to Line Drawing
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Good quality images will produce a better result. Look for images that are light in color with good contrast and definition. For example an image of a light blue or yellow car will produce a much better line drawing than an image of a black or Navy Blue car.
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After the routine has completed go to the channels list where you will see that EasyArt has automatically created a white ink and black ink version of a line drawing.
EasyArt will do 80% of the work for you. If you wish you can tidy up the image with any of the Photoshop tools adding fine detail and removing unwanted noise.
Text can be added directly to the separated channels, or you can export the channel to Corel Draw or Illustrator and add the text there. Read tutorial Exporting to Illustrator and Corel Draw
NOTE
The Line Drawing image that is created is still a Pixel image, not a vector image as you see created in programs like Illustrator and Corel Draw, so you if you enlarge the image you will get the same problems associated with enlarging any pixel based image ie: photographs and scans
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Artistic Impression
The Artistic impression routine will convert a photographic image into something more like a clipart image. The new more graphic image will appear on a transparent background, to which you can add additional text or logos. This routine works particularly well on automobile images, buildings, tools and most other images that have good detail and contrast. The quality of the original image will greatly affect the final result, the better the image the better the result.
Tutorial
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In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and double click the image file "Truck.psd" to open. The first task is to get your image looking as good as it can. 4
First you must tell EasyArt which part of the image will be converted to the artistic impression, in this case, just the truck. This is done by creating a mask. To begin click on the EasyArt button Make a mask 6
Read the message that pops up and click Stop then with the zoom tool zoom into the smoke stack on the top of the cab.
Select the pen tool, make sure you have the paths icon selected and start clicking a series of dots around the outside edge of the truck image.
The last point you click must be on the first dot you started the path with to close the path. Next fill the path.
TIP
While you are zoomed into the image you can move it around by holding down the Space Bar on your keyboard and drag it around with your mouse pointer (which changes to the hand tool)
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To fill the path you just created, right click with your mouse scroll down the list and select fill Path.
When you have finished, your image should look like this. Now right click with your mouse on the truck image scroll down the list that appears and select Delete Path. 12
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Click on the Make Mask button again which is now red, to complete the mask routine. To convert the image click on the Blue EasyArt button Artistic Impression
When the routine completes, you can see the photograph has been converted into a more graphic image, and the area outside the mask has been removed.
To separate click on the blue EasyArt button Separate for colored shirts. This will separate into the standard 11 EasyArt colors including 2 whites.
TIP
Good quality images will produce a better result. Look for images that are light in color with good contrast and definition. For example an image of a light blue or yellow car will produce a much better result than an image of a black or Navy Blue car.
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After the routine has completed go to the channels list where you will see that EasyArt has automatically separated this image into 11 different colors.
For this particular design you are only going to need the White Base, Red and black channels. Turn off all the other channels to view only these three.
Some of the tonal value in the gray channel adds some depth to the image, but rather than print another color you can add it to the black so it reproduces the gray areas as halftone.
NOTE
The Artistic Impression image that is created is still a Pixel image, not a vector image as you see created in programs like Illustrator and Corel Draw, so you if you enlarge the image you will get the same problems associated with enlarging any pixel based image ie: photographs and scans
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To add the Gray to the Black, select the black channel then click on the green EasyArt button Add 1 channel to another. Read the message that opens and click continue.
In the Apply Image window that opens click on the Channel dropdown list and select Medium Gray. Change the opacity setting to 25%. Click OK to continue.
Turn off all channels except the White Base, Red and Black channels leaving you with this 3 color print. You can add text in Photoshop or export to Illustrator or Corel Draw.
Printing out the film

Film Halftone settings: This image is more graphic requiring less detail, you can use the lower settings for film and screens and still achieve a very good print. If you use a lower Lpi halftone dot you can use a lower screen mesh. For example if you print your halftone out at 45 Lpi you can use the 110 screen mesh. Print out the channels White Base, Red and Black all with the same settings. 45 - 55 Lpi 22.5 Screen Angle Elliptical dot shape For more information on printing out film read the tutorial Outputting separations to film, later in this user guide. Screen Printing Screen mesh (onto any color shirt) 110 - 180 mesh (43 - 68 metric) for White Base 110 - 305 mesh (43 - 120 metric) for all other colors You can use a higher mesh count for the White Base if you are printing on an automatic press. Ink Screen print using the EasyArt predetermined ink colors White Base - use Wilflex Bright Tiger EasyArt Red Black - use Wilflex MX Black
Screen print the colors in the same order that the image separated to. Print Order White Base (Flash) Red Black
EasyArt
Index Separation
Index Separations (Stochastic)

Indexing an image is a process of converting an RGB image into a stochastic (dithered) pattern using a limited color pallette. This method is particularly good for more artistic type images. Indexing is the preferred method for many screen printers but in most cases does require the use of more print colors to accurately reproduce an image.
Tutorial
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In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorial Images folder on the EasyArt CD and double click the image file Lizard.psd" to open. The first task is to get your image looking as good as it can. 4
You can see this image is on two separate layers, the lizard image layer and the background layer which is white. Select the lizard layer named Layer1
To add some contrast, color and sharpness click on the yellow EasyArt button Improve Image RGB.
Go back to the layers list and select the layer Background and fill it with 100% black. (Edit > Fill > 100% Black). You will be separating this image for a black shirt.
Click on the small arrow head in the top right hand corner of the Layers list, scroll down and click Flatten Image. Your image is now on a single layer with a black background.
6 Before you begin converting the image to index colors it's a good idea to take some time and analyze the colors in the image. This is where you should be thinking about how many colors you will need to print, to most accurately reproduce the original. In this particular case you will be selecting 7 colors plus white and black which will be selected automatically. Correctly selecting a good range of colors will greatly affect how your image is reproduced.
TIP
Generally you will want to select mid tone colors for example a medium green or a medium blue. Every image will be different and the key to good indexing is selecting the correct colors.
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Before converting the image to index change the image resolution to 150 dpi. All index images should be somewhere between 150 - 200 dpi.
To begin zoom in so that you can see all of the different colors in the image. Next click on the blue EasyArt button Step 1- select index colors
Click ok on the select color 1 window that opens. When the Color Range window opens drag it to the bottom right hand corner of your screen so you can better select the colors.
NOTE
The size of the square dot you will be screen printing is determined by the resolution of your image at the time you convert to index. A 150 dpi image produces a larger square dot than a 200 dpi image.
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Move the mouse over the yellow area and select a bright yellow color, you will see the selection appear in the color range window., then click ok to continue
When prompted to select color 2, select the pink around the mouth area then click ok. You will notice each color you select appear in the foreground color box in the tools list. 14
When prompted to select color 3, select the purple behind the mouth area then click ok.
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When prompted to select color 4, select the bright orange behind the eye area then click ok.
When prompted to select color 5, select the dark brown in the eye then click ok.
When prompted to select color 6, select the medium khaki green from the back of the lizard then click ok.
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Finally when prompted to select color 7, select the bright green leaf on the tree trunk then click ok. When prompted to select color 8 click Stop.
Take a look at the color bar that has been created behind your lizard image, it should look something like the one above. You may have to move the lizard image to see it.
These are the colors for your index print and you must mix ink colors to match. Next write down the RGB values of these colors, you will need them later.
NOTE
When selecting colors from your image the more colors you can select the more accurate the print, but that translates to the more colors you will have to screen print. You dont need to select the black or white as they are selected automatically.
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To get RGB info open the info window (Window > Info). Hold your mouse pointer over each color square, the RGB value will display in the info window. Write down RGB value for each color.
With all of the 7 colors RGB values recorded select the Lizard image again (do not close color bar image) Next click on the EasyArt button Reset button to blue
Now click on the EasyArt button Step 2 - Convert image to index
NOTE
When recording your colors RGB values you can name the color anything you like, but make sure you write down the correct RGB value of your color bar. Your RGB values dont need to match mine exactly but they must correspond to the colors you have selected from your image.
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When the Index Color window opens do not change any settings just click on the OK button to continue.
After the routine has completed read the message and click continue. The image has been converted to an index image using the color palette you specified earlier.
To begin separating click on the blue EasyArt button Step 3 - Separate Index image.
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The routine will first ask you to confirm that the output resolution equals the input resolution. The default is 150 dpi so input and output are the same. Click OK to continue. 28
When prompted to select color 1 drag the message window to the right so you can see the color bar at the top of the lizard image, this is where you will be selecting the colors from. Click continue 29
The Color Range window will open. Click with your mouse on the first yellow square in the color bar at the top of the lizard image. Then click OK.
In the New Spot Channel window that opens type in yellow for the Name then click on the small gray box in the left hand corner.
In the Color Picker window that opens type in the RGB values for your yellow color you wrote down earlier, then click ok. My yellow RGB values were, R =255 G =224 B =33
30 When prompted to select color 2 click continue, click on the next colored square this time the pink then click ok. In the New Spot Channel window type in color name Pink click on the small gray box then enter the RGB values for your pink. Mine were, R =254 G =183 B =161.
When prompted to select color 3 click continue, click on the next colored square this time the purple then click ok. In the New Spot Channel window type in color name purple click on the small gray box then enter the RGB values for your purple then click ok. My Purple, R =107 G =90 B =150. Color 4 name orange, enter RGB values for your orange then click ok. My orange, R =240 G =151 B =0. Color 5 name brown, enter RGB values for your brown then click ok. My brown, R =77 G =10 B =25. Color 6 name Khaki, enter RGB values for your khaki then click ok. My Khaki, R =136 G =114 B =75 Color 7 name green, enter RGB values for your green then click ok. My green, R =194 G =193 B =20 31 32 33
When prompted to select color 8 click on the stop button. Next go to the channels list to view the separations.
You can see that EasyArt has automatically created the white base, black and highlight white channels.
You can print your film directly from these channels as is. You will have to mix ink colors to match the image colors as they display on your monitor.
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Index images are generally printed from dark to light colors. The correct print order will be. White Base, Black, Brown, Purple, Khaki, Green, Orange, Pink, Yellow and Highlight White. 37
You can crop the image to remove the top area where the color bar was added, and use the magic wand tool to select and remove the black background on the black channel.(fill 100%white) 38
You can change the channel color to display a Pantone color.. To do this double click the yellow channel to open the channel options window. Click on the small yellow box. 39
In the color picker window that opens click on Custom
In the Book dropdown list select Pantone Solid Coated, a nearest Pantone match to your color will be automatically selected, click ok.
You can do this to select a Pantone match for each color in your image.
NOTE
Your Pantone ink colors will only match your image colors if your monitor is accurate. Because the images colors are selected visually from your monitors reference use the Pantone matches as a guide only and dont be afraid to adjust the ink colors if it improves the screen print.
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Printing out the film

Printing out the Lizard film (Index Print) There are no Halftone settings for this image. When the image is converted to an Index print it is converted into a random square dot pattern, it is this dot pattern that replaces the halftone. The size of the square dot (similar to the Lpi in halftone) is determined by the resolution of the image when it is converted. A 150 dpi image at conversion will produce a good size dot that holds image quality and is easy to print. You can convert an image as high as 200 dpi which will produce a much smaller square dot, maintaining image quality and detail, but does require more accurate printing. For more information on printing out film read the tutorial Outputting separations to film, later in this user guide. Screen Printing Screen mesh (onto any colored shirt) 180 mesh (68 metric) for White Base 305 mesh (120 metric) for all other colors You can use a higher mesh count for the White Base if you are printing on an automatic press. Because you are selecting your own dedicated color range, specific to this one image, you will also have to mix those colors. The Wilflex MX mixing system makes this task very simple. After converting (in Photoshop) your separations into Pantone equivalents you can mix those Pantone colors together with the MX mixing system, recipe guide and the Free IMS software also on the EasyArt CD. Ink Screen print with Pantone colors. White Base - use Wilflex Bright Tiger Black - use Wilflex MX Black Pantone 7421 Brown Pantone 871 Khaki Pantone 667 Purple Pantone 142 Orange Pantone 611 Green Pantone 162 Pink Pantone 107 Yellow Highlight White - use Wilflex MX White
Print order same as above, from dark to light.
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Selective color separation

The Selective color routine is similar to the index separation routine in that you select each color in the image one at a time, only this routine does not convert to an index image, the selected colors can be printed out as halftone. This routine works well on logos and clipart, any image that has solid spot colors.
Tutorial
Step 1 Preparation EasyArt yellow buttons In Photoshop navigate your way to the Tutorials folder on the EasyArt CD and open the file Crush Logo.psd. This RGB logo image looks ok but is actually quite dull and flat, EasyArt will still separate it as is, but if the image is improved before separating the resulting separations will be much better and the individual colors will be easier to select. To improve this image, first close any other images you have open, so you only have the Crush Logo image in your work space.
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To begin improving, go to the EasyArt Actions list and click on the yellow button "Increase Contrast" then click it again. This will make the color stronger and easier to select.
Dont worry if the colors change too much from the logos original colors the most important thing is good contrast between the colors making them easy to select, you can always change the ink color after you have separated.
To begin separating click on the blue EasyArt button Selective Color Separation.
Read the message that pops up. In the Color Range window that opens move your mouse over the orange background area of the image and click (mouse pointer changes to an eyedropper). Then click OK to continue.
In the new spot channel window that opens type inorange for a name and then click on the small gray box.
In the color picker window that opens select an orange color similar to the background in the original image. It only needs to be a guess you can change to a Pantone color later, then click OK then Ok again to continue.
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Now you will be asked to select another color click continue. In the Color Range window click on the Green area and move the Fuzziness slider to 150, this will ensure selecting all of the green including the pixilated edge.
In the New Spot channel window type in Green for a name and click on the small gray box to open up the Color Picker window.
In the color picker window select a green similar to the green in the original image, once again you only need to guess, you can change to a more accurate color later.
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Now you will be asked to select another color click continue. This time in the Color Range window click on the Yellow area of the Crush Logo. You will see your selection appear in the Color Range preview window click OK
In the new spot channel window that opens type inYellow for a name and then click on the small gray box to open the color picker window.
In the color picker window select a yellow similar to the yellow in the original image, once again you only need to guess, you can change to a more accurate color later.
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Now you will be asked to select another color click continue. To select the last color click on the White area of the Crush Logo. You will see your selection appear in the Color Range preview window click OK
In the new spot channel window that opens type inHighlight White for a name and then click on the small gray box to open the color picker window.
In the color picker window select White then click OK then OK again. This time when you are asked to select another color click Stop. This completes the color selecting, now go to the channels list.
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In the channels list you can see that EasyArt has automatically created a spot channel for each color. The only channel not yet created is the White Base.
To create a White Base click on the blue EasyArt button Alternate White Base When the routine stops go to the channels list, select the new White underbase 2 channel and turn off all other channels.
You can see the White base is not quite dark enough especially in the orange area. To fix this click on the yellow EasyArt button Adjust Levels to open up the manual Levels Adjuster.
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Select the levels input slider just below the graph and move it towards the center until the number at the top reads 53 then move the slider on the right toward the center until the other number reads 185 then click OK.
If you are printing onto a very dark colored shirt you may want to add the green channel to the white base also. You can do that with the green button Add 1 channel to another
Turn on the orange, green and yellow channels only and zoom into the image. You can see there is a small gap between the colors you can fix this by adding Trap to the green and yellow channels.
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To add trap, select the green channel and then click on the EasyArt green button Add Trap to Channel. This adds a 1 pixel edge to all of the information in the green channel, if you need more trap just click it again.
Now select the yellow channel and click on the EasyArt green button Add Trap to Channel. You can see that the gaps have been filled in. You can if you wish click on the Change Shirt Color button to view on different shirts.
This print doesnt require any halftones so you can print out your film, as you would any standard spot color separations, best print quality with black ink only.
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EasyArt2 UserGuide Part1

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EasyArt

Professional color separation and artwork creation system

The Working Space

Which routine to use on which image?

3 Step Index Separations

Separate this image with

Separate for Colored shirts

3 Step Index Separations

Which routine to use on which image?

Separate for White shirts

Separate for Colored shirts

3 Color Simulated Sepia 5 Color Simulated Sepia

Separate this image with

Separate for Colored shirts

3 Step Index Separations

3 Step Index Separations

Separate this image with

3 Step Index Separations

Screen Printing Screen mesh

Printing out the Classic Car film

Adding realistic skin tone

Adding realistic skin tone Part 2 (Advanced)

Line Draw and Artistic Impression

Convert a Photograph to a Line Drawing

Printing out the film

Index Separations (Stochastic)

Now click on the EasyArt button Step 2 - Convert image to index

In the color picker window that opens click on Custom

Printing out the film

Print order same as above, from dark to light.

Selective color separation

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