Convert RGB image to CMYK w/o Photoshop (in Windows)?

[macbeergeek]

Photoshop aside, I would've thought that there would be a whole bunch of little utilities for Windows out there that would let you convert RGB images to CMYK color, but nooooooooo. I keep hitting dead ends with everything I find. Maybe you sleuths can help me?

I have an in-house customer who has a need to do this for a small newsletter she produces, and I was hoping to get away with not having to get her a copy of Photoshop, which is WAY overkill for this task (she stumbles through Quark as it is). Actually she'll also need to save them from JPGs to TIFFs as well, but there are plenty of utilities for doing that kind of thing.

I thought I had found one called "Advanced Color Tool", but I can't seem to get it to work. Then I found "CMYK Production+" from Binuscan, but it won't work without a USB dongle with costs 400 euros ($590 US)! Actually this little app is PERFECT for her needs, but I might as well buy Photoshop for a lot less.

Before shelling out for Photoshop, or offering to do the conversions for her myself on my Mac, I thought maybe someone out there might know about something else that could do this (has to be for Windows, though).

What's up with this particular kind of conversion? Is there something proprietary about it or something?

[papercup]

The PS CS3 free 30 day trial will get her going for now, maybe she'll like it enough to purchase it, or buy you time to find another app.

[macbeergeek]

Good idea, but I know they'd scream at having to shell out almost $400 for PS CS3. Hmm... that made me think... maybe I have have an older copy of Photoshop for Windows around, even if it's version 4, 5, or 6.

[clay]

GIMP -- it's free and runs on windows

http://www.gimp.org/

[macbeergeek]

[quote clay]GIMP -- it's free and runs on windows

http://www.gimp.org/
Wow, that's one helluva free app! Practically rivals Photoshop.

Only problem is I don't see an option for converting to CMYK. Under the Image > Mode menu it only lists RGB, Grayscale, and Indexed. Am I missing it somewhere else? Based on it's similarities to Photoshop that seems like where it should be. And when I open a CMYK image in it, it seems to convert it to RGB.

Great app to know about, though.

[macbeergeek]

After searching the online manual for GIMP I found something under the Colors menu > Components > Decompose, but that didn't seem to do what I need, though in the manual it says, "This filter separates the channels (RGB, HSV, CMYK...) of an image into separated images or layers." and, " CMYK Decomposing: This option is similar at the CMY Decomposing with an additional layer for Black. This option might be useful to transfer image into printing softwares with CMYK capabilities."

Close, but no cigar.