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Color separations without Photoshop

For years, pulling seps meant owning Photoshop and a stack of plugins or actions. It doesn't anymore. Here's the standalone workflow — and why dropping Adobe actually makes it simpler.

Why skip Photoshop?

Two reasons. First, cost: an Adobe subscription is a recurring bill on top of the separation tool itself. Second, friction: Photoshop-based separation means jumping between an actions panel, channels, and manual masking. A purpose-built standalone app does the same job in one place, with controls made for separating — not photo editing.

The standalone workflow, step by step

Does standalone mean lower quality?

No. The separation math — ink unmixing, halftone screening, dot angles — is the same proven process whether it runs inside Photoshop or on its own. What you give up by leaving Adobe is the subscription and the extra steps, not the output quality.

What to look for in a standalone tool

Pull seps without Adobe

AI Separations is a standalone, AI-powered color separation studio — no Photoshop, no subscription, $179 one-time. Download the free trial and run a real job through it.

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