CMYK in Photoshop Elements 4.0

[Catherine]

Hi All,
I'm new to Photoshop Elements. I want to design some simple print items such as post cards and business cards. I can't seem to find a CMYK option on Photoshop Elements 4.0. Looks like I only have RGB, Grayscale, and Bitmap. Am I missing something? Or do I need to upgrade to 6.0 to get the CMYK option?
Thanks!

[Chuck Engels]

I don't see the option in version 5 either but Steve or Barb will know for sure, they should be around in the morning sometime.
You may also find the answer at http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com

[Bob]

CMYK support is a feature of Photoshop, not Photoshop Elements. If you are going to be doing much CMYK work you really should think about getting Photoshop which has full support for everything you are going to need to work effectively in CMYK. Photoshop also supports spot color channels -- also not supported in Photoshop Elements.

It is possible to make CMYK separations in Photoshop Elements using basic principles, but it's tedious. There is a book, "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements" that describes the process and includes some add on tools to make it easier. There is a version of the book for Photoshop Elements 4. If you want to learn more, see this site: http://www.hiddenelements.com/

There are a lot of gotchas working with CMYK for prepress. If you aren't familiar with the process, I wouldn't recommend attempting it in Photoshop Elements. If you have a good print shop, you can often have them do the conversion for a fee if CMYK is required.

[Steve Grisetti]

Took the words right out of my mouth, Bob.

[Catherine]

Wow. Thank you for the quick response. I think I'll stick with Elements 4.0 to do some basic editing for web files and I'll hand over my print ideas to a designer with "the real" Photoshop.
Catherine

[Chuck Engels]

I guess I should have said Steve, Barb or Bob

Glad you got a quick answer to your question, there is a ton of knowledge in this forum and not just photo and video either