Lightning Brain Color2Gray for InDesign

Lightning Brain Color2Gray for InDesign is a useful plug-in that enables users to convert color photos to grayscale without altering the original image. With this plug-in, you can output a specific picture in grayscale, even if the original image is in color. Unlike manually converting images in Photoshop, the original image is not changed and remains in color. Instead, it is outputted as a grayscale image, rendering only on the black (K) plate.

This plug-in is a hybrid collection that includes C++ and ExtendScript/JavaScript components, resulting in three plug-in components. These three plug-ins are required for the software to function correctly. You'll need an up-to-date Active Page Item Runtime or equivalent, a scripted plug-in with the .spln file extension called Color2Gray.spln, and a platform-specific plug-in with the .pln file extension called Color2Gray.

It's essential to ensure you have the correct plug-ins installed for your specific version of InDesign because InDesign CS Plug-Ins and InDesign CS2 Plug-Ins are mutually incompatible. The Windows Plug-Ins may not work well on Mac, so it's important to pay attention to which version of the software you're running.

To simplify the installation process, pre-prepared sets of plug-ins are available, allowing users to copy all three components to their plug-ins folder. It's also crucial to read the remarks section as the software may evolve over time, requiring an individual update of some of the plug-ins.

Overall, Lightning Brain Color2Gray for InDesign is an effective and useful tool for those who need to convert color photos to grayscale. It's easy to use and a valuable addition to any designer's toolkit.