# Solved: Newspaper Photo



## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I know someone who wants to make a B/W photo look like a newspaper photo .. and put it on a coffee cup ?
He says the newspaper produces the grayscale by changing the size of the Black dots and it looks like hes right.

Anyway .. He wants to know how to do this .. possibly in Photoshop.
Anyone know what hes talking about .. or how to do it ????


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## Guyzer (Jul 3, 2004)

One of the effects I have in PSPX allows one to change a pic to old newspaper effect. Besides the greyscale effect it also yellows it some. This is how it ended up without me fooling around with it.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Thanks .. But that may not be applicable to PS CS2

Been Googling .. and if I understand what I've been reading, This is called a halftone effect.
http://www.lunareclipse.net/halftone.htm

Looks like it's built into CS2 ... But I'll be darned if I can get it to work - so far.

Also .. looks like Harry's Filters plugins has a filter to do this .. 
but again .. I'll be darned if I can figure out which one.

Maybe another Cup of Coffee is required.
Does PSPX accept Photoshop Plugins


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## Guyzer (Jul 3, 2004)

Noyb said:


> Does PSPX accept 8BF filters ?


I have no idea. I don't usually fool around with that stuff. I just remembered it was there.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I liked your Photo .. Just had to tinker with it a bit.
Doesn't the Barkerville Hotel serve anything stronger than Root Beer ??


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

howdy

CS2... Image>adjustments>Desaturate... then... filter>noise>add noise...


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

this is with a little Sepia photo filter added


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## Guyzer (Jul 3, 2004)

The Sepia filter adds the required yellowing effect cuz thats what happens to an old newspaper.

As far as something stronger than a Root Beer... nope. The bar is in a historic town called Barkerville in B.C. T'was the the gateway to the goldrush.
http://www.barkerville.ca/newindex/index03.html

That was an old pic I took about 25 years ago and scanned.


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

These use three halftone filters from Photoshop. The filters are grayscale to bitmap halftone, Sketch > halftone and Pixelate > halftone. You can have the halftone effect as strong or weak as you prefer and of course the halftone with any colors  I just grabbed a tan at random.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Slipe .. Thanks ... But I don't think that's what he's looking for.
Something like this is what he described ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halftone
Where the gray scale is determined by the "duty cycle" of the black dots.

I think he wants to have these cups professionally printed ... 
I'm wondering if the Print shop could do it.

He's making a new Color photo look B/W old (newspaperish) ... But he only has Elements 3.0

I've collected Harry's filters and a few others ... but haven't had time to play with them.
Google said Harry could do it ... But I don't see it.

It's yet to be determined if he knows what he's talking about ..


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

Hi slipe

I tried that first... Looks like a bunch of dots/checkerboard on my monitor

buck


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

Hi NOYB

How about posting a sample of what you/he are looking for instead of making everyone guess...

I did look at the link you posted... looks like poke a dots to me... nothing like a newspaper effect...

buck


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

OK ..
A good sample is a little hard to show ..
but see how the size of the black dots changes size (small to large)
to determine the amount of black seen ?

The ink used is only black opaque ...
It's the size of the dot that controls the amount of (Apparent) gray.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Noyb said:


> Thanks .. But that may not be applicable to PS CS2
> 
> Been Googling .. and if I understand what I've been reading, This is called a halftone effect.
> http://www.lunareclipse.net/halftone.htm
> ...


I am using a real old version of PS (5.0 LE) and here is how I did the attached conversion ...

Switch to Grayscale Image mode
AutoAdjust (get full grayscale range)
Switch to Bit mapped mode
Select Halftone Screen ...
Accept default output resolution for now
Accept default Frequency for now
Change Shape to Round

Experiment with output resolution and frequency for best picture quality that the mug company can print.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Noyb said:


> OK ..
> A good sample is a little hard to show ..
> but see how the size of the black dots changes size (small to large)
> to determine the amount of black seen ?
> ...


Looks like you figured it out while I was trying to write up a quick how-to.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I cheated and scanned a newspaper at 1200 dpi

That looks like it .. give me a chance to try your procedures.
Got to Email some friends in Florida .. to see if their still there or got blown away.


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

Sorry

I would not have guessed you were looking for anything that crappy...

The newspapers I look at, look nothing like that... 

buck


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I blew it up so that I could show it here as it would look thru a magnifying glass.
In the paper it looks "normal" as long as you don't get too close...newsprint on you nose 

cwwozniak .. Seems I don't have the exact tools you mentioned in PS5.
Been paying with ... Filter > Pixelate > Halftone .. but having trouble getting the "dots" a descent size.

Using Wimpy's color original .. this is as close as I can get right now.


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

Noyb said:


> I blew it up so that I could show it here as it would look thru a magnifying glass.


Just curious... who will look at it like that...?

Why not show it as it will be viewed... ?


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Noyb said:


> Using Wimpy's color original .. this is as close as I can get right now.


It looks like it is still working in color. I can see color dots instead of just black. Try converting to b&w / grayscale before applying any filters.


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

buck52 said:


> Hi slipe
> 
> I tried that first... Looks like a bunch of dots/checkerboard on my monitor
> 
> buck


It was a learning experience for me that I got what you describe. Display is a little different from resample, but the principal is the same. It is a good example of why you should stick with 200%, 50%, 25% etc in a resample.

These are screenshots of the first method (grayscale/bitmap conversion) displayed at 52.2% and 60.7%. You cant see the effect properly except at 100% or 50%.

None of the Photoshop methods give a true halftone. I messed with a freeware plug-in that was useless. There are some plug-ins you purchase that appear to come a little closer to a true halftone than any of the Photoshop methods. Paint Shop Pro has a halftone filter that looks different from anything I can get in Photoshop, but it still isnt anywhere near a true halftone.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Noyb said:


> Using Wimpy's color original .. this is as close as I can get right now.


I also started with Wimpy's original, then ...

Image Mode: RGB -> Grayscale

Image Mode: Grayscale -> Bit Mapped

-- Bit mapped settings:
Output Resolution: 200 pixels per inch (same as input)
Halftone screen ...
------ Halftone Screen Settings:
Frequency 600 lines per inch
Angle 45 degrees
Shape: Round

Save as GIF

I'll see if Google can help me find information on doing the same with more modern version of PhotoShop.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

This is some kind of a "trophy" gift for the robotics club he is in charge of.
He's searching for ideas ... Don't know if this is a printers requirement.
We were in a meeting and I couldn't ask too many questions, 
Especially since I didn't know what he was talking about.

cwwozniak..
The color arrived after (again) I halftoned the B/W ... should have removed the color again.
Too many tweaking choices ... not sure I'm on the right track.
Don't have some of the tools you mentioned.
I see nothing about this in my CS2 training vids.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I&#8217;m going to mark this one Solved.
I have the hunch, what he wants is not possible or even needed... and not worth the trouble.
I&#8217;m guessing the final newspaper halftoning is done by their final print to paper process and not required for the original Image.... Probably used for high speed printing requirements.

In my Genealogy travels .. I have collected some new and old newspaper and magazine articles.
I also have some copies of the original photos that were provided for these articles&#8230;.
They weren&#8217;t halftoned .. Kodak film didn&#8217;t have this option back in the pre-computers era.

If he just wants to make his photo look old ...
I guess I can think in Reverse and do this&#8230; and maybe use the PSCS2 (pseudo) Halftoning ... As Slipe used.

Many Thanks for the input Ya&#8217;ll.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

More information.
He wants this photo silk screened to the coffee cups in Black n White only .. to save money
There's a logo that will be added to this photo later.

He's under the impression he has to Halftone it since the screeners only use black ink and he wants to preserve the shades of Gray.

I'm thinking the Screeners know what they're doing and only need a good photo.

Any input ???


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## slipe (Jun 27, 2000)

Since true halftone isn&#8217;t generally available to most people the company that makes the silkscreen would surely have the ability to convert a normal photo to halftone if that is required.

Any ersatz halftone would probably interfere with the process by creating moiré between the pseudo and true halftones.

If they don&#8217;t halftone I don&#8217;t think the pseudo halftone would help much in giving good grayscale. Your friend should probably check with the people doing the cup.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

He was having trouble going the Email route with the screeners ... They weren't too helpful.
I told him you can send a normal photo to the newspapers and they'd print it in Halftone ...
Why can't the screeners do it ?

After I explained what I thought ... He was going to look and call locally.

He was in too big of a hurry to get back to work for me to tell him they Silk Screen where he works ....
Or at least they did when I worked there .. before GM sold it ... and it went bankrupt.


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Noyb said:


> He was going to look and call locally.


Has he considered an on-line service like CafePress for the mugs? They even do color.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Color = Money ... Prevents the color choice for his application.

Online was his problem ... Couldn't get a straight answer via Email.
Poor guy is being worked to death .. I suspect this has prevented him from doing more research.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

You can do things like that in easy in XnView.

Get the "XnView v1.90.2 Complete version (Some Plugins/Addons & NConvert)"
And get the "Zip file (Multi-language) (7.5Mb)" and you can just unzip it and use it without a install. 
Then open the image and go to the top menu... Image, convert to Binary... or convert to gray... or covert to color... 
Your see more options under each of those 3. 
http://perso.orange.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Being able to run Xnview without installing is interesting.
And so is the Halftone effect it produces.

I don't think he needs to do the Halftone effect to send it to the screeners ...
this would probably just mess them up.

But YES ... this looks like what he's been asking for.

I like Irfanview as my default viewer/editor ... But I think I'll keep Xnview for special occasions.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

It is nice to have just to do the effects that it does that other programs I have don't and to open and or covert what other program don't so I keep a version of Xnview on the PC.


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