Countdown 2: Grayscale in a color book?

As Kristy Miller and I have visited schools and comic book conventions giving coloring demonstrations we find a large number of fans who have a need to produce grayscale comics.  Some are manga fans and want to create comics that resemble traditional Japanese comics including the grayscale patterns.  Others are indy creators who need their art to reproduce cleanly when photocopied.  Some want to make fliers for bands and night clubs yet all have told us the same story.  Adhesive halftone film supplies have dried-up and there isn’t a consistent and reliable way to achieve the same look in Adobe Photoshop.  Sure you can use the halftone filter or convert to bitmap using a halftone dot pattern but the results are not always predictable.  There is no way to see in real time what you will get at the end. With this feedback Kristy and I decided we would need to invent a reliable way to create grayscale halftone images in Adobe Photoshop.  Enter Click-A-Tone.

Click-A-Tone allows you to create stunning grayscale comics quickly and easily using a selection of pre-made halftone patterns.  Simply install the Click-A-Tone pattern set and action set, launch Photoshop and you are ready to create your own professional looking grayscale images.

Install the Click-A-Tone Action set and Pattern pack

Start with any black and white illustration.

One of the Olympians by artist Dave Bryant before Click-A-Tone

Play the Make Click-A-Tone action in Adobe Photoshop

Make Click-A-Tone action works with any Line-Art image

Follow the step-by-step tutorial found in the pages of Master Digital color to learn how easy it can be to add reliable halftone patterns to your images. You can start with a simple shade of gray dots…

30% Gray Tone added

… and add a variety of tones and values to your images.

Several More tones added

Click-A-Tone is the easiest best way to create print-ready halftone patterns in Adobe Photoshop.

Included on the Master Digital Color bonus disk is a special video tutorial making it easier than ever for you to learn how to quickly apply grayscale values to your artwork.

A Click-A-Tone video tutorial is included on the Master Digital Color bonus disc.

Plus Master Digital Color has created all new bonus video tutorial showing you how to make your own halftone patters that you can use with Click-A-Tone.  HueDoo.com & Master Digital Color have created Click-A-Tone.com where you can share your pattern sets with others and download the latest halftone patterns for use with Click-A-Tone.

One of the coolest features in Master Digital Color is a tutorial that shows you how to create grayscale images using the Click-A-Tone system for Adobe Photoshop.  I just received a preview copy from the publisher, Impact Books, and I was saddened to see moire patterns in some of the grayscale images.  As a proponent of digital tools I realize this sort of simple goof gives digital tools like Photoshop and Illustrator a bad name.  This proves that no matter how far our tools evolve you still need someone with skill and knowledge to ensure the final product is ready for print.  What exactly is a moire pattern and how do you avoid them?

A moire pattern is created when a halftone pattern (usually a series of dots) is passed through a halftone screen (via camera, imagesetter, or direct to plate device) and if the two patterns are not on the same frequency (85 lines per inch, 133lpi, 150lpi, etc.) the printed result will be slightly distorted.  Instead of an even shade such as 30% gray the area will have a sort of plaid or criss-cross pattern running through it.  This is the moire pattern.

A simulated moire pattern

How do you avoid a moire pattern?  The best and easiest way is to ensure you add the gray halftone patterns with the art at 100% of the size it will be printed and always demand a printed-on-paper proof before your project go to press.

So, what happened?  A combination of events could have caused the moire.  The first would be my fault.  Since Impact Books has their own layout and design dept. I was limited to sending in text and images.  I had no idea the final size or rotation of these images and had to rely on Impact to ensure everything was handled correctly.  I should have asked for more control over the process to ensure you received only the best looking images in the book.  The second step where things could go wrong is in the design and layout phase.  Most likely one of the designers involved with the book decided to reduce, enlarge, or rotate the position of the artwork on the page.  If the art is reduced, enlarged, or rotated it must be done so using a mathematical formula to ensure the new scale and position shares the same frequency as the output line screen.  Used to working exclusively with full color continuous tone images many designers are no longer aware of the rules when it comes to working with halftone images.  The third possibility could be the proof.  Most books are proofed electronically using PDF files which do not show the moire pattern because it doesn’t exist until film or plates are output.  A printed-on-paper proof would have revealed the fault and it could have been fixed before going to press.  Sometimes the old ways are best.  The final possibility?  Even if everything was done to specifications, including a printed proof, the company handling the printing could simply choose a different line-screen than specified and poof!  Everyone’s hard work is gone.

Final image reduced... notice the slight moire pattern?

The irony? In the tutorial text we state your artwork should be sized at 100% of final print size before applying the gray tones.  I suppose this becomes a case of do as the book says and avoid the pitfalls and embarrassment of seeing your images with moire patterns on them.  And next time, I’ll demand that printed-on-paper proof because PDF proofs while fast and convenient never tell the whole story.