Printing image clipping paths – Adobe Photoshop CS4 User Manual
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USING PHOTOSHOP CS4
Saving and exporting images
Last updated 1/10/2010
2
In the Paths panel, save the work path as a
path.
3
Choose Clipping Path from the Paths panel menu, set the following options, and click
OK:
•
For Path, choose the path you want to save.
•
For Flatness, leave the flatness value blank to print the image using the printer’s default value. If you experience
printing errors, enter a flatness value to determine how the PostScript interpreter approximates the curve. The
lower the flatness value, the greater the number of straight lines used to draw the curve and the more accurate
the curve. Values can range from 0.2 to 100. In general, a flatness setting from 8 to 10 is recommended for high-
resolution printing (1200 dpi to 2400 dpi), and a setting from 1 to 3 for low-resolution printing (300 dpi to 600 dpi).
4
If you plan to print the file using process colors, convert the file to CMYK mode.
5
Save the file by doing one of the following:
•
To print the file using a PostScript printer, save in Photoshop EPS, DCS, or PDF format.
•
To print the file using a non-PostScript printer, save in TIFF format and export to Adobe InDesign, or to Adobe
PageMaker® 5.0 or later.
More Help topics
Prepare images for page-layout programs
Convert an image to another color mode
Understanding shapes and paths
Printing image clipping paths
Sometimes an imagesetter cannot interpret image clipping paths, or an
image clipping path is too complex for a
printer, resulting in a Limitcheck error or a general PostScript error. Sometimes you can print a complex path on a
low-resolution printer without difficulty but run into problems when printing the same path on a high-resolution
printer. This is because the lower-resolution printer simplifies the path, using fewer line segments to describe curves
than the high-resolution printer does.
You can simplify an image clipping path in the following ways:
•
Manually reduce the number of anchor points on the path.
•
Increase the tolerance setting used to create the path. To do this, load the existing path as a selection, choose Make
Work Path from the Paths panel menu, and increase the tolerance setting (4
to 6 pixels is a good starting value).
Then re-create the image clipping path.
More Help topics