Abstract: A method for transforming an image, containing an arbitrary number of colors from a full color process printing mode to a spot color printing mode while preserving the user's intended color usage as much as possible. The method is contained in a utility and referred to as “Spot Color Transformation” (SCT). The SCT utility provides a user the ability to transform an image generated by a computer program module, such as a desktop publishing computer program module, from a full color mode into a spot color mode. The SCT utility operates on an object-by-object basis to map objects within an image to one of several partitions: a black partition and a color partition. The SCT utility maps each object that has an associated color that is substantially black or a tint of black to the black partition. Next, the SCT utility converts the colors of unmapped objects to a tint of the spot color based on the luminance value of the particular color relative to the lowest luminance value found in the image.