TIPS
The
following are a few tips on the differences and uses of color as well as
some other useful tips.
SPOT COLOR
Spot color refers to Pantone colors, or PMS (Pantone Matching System).
In most applications you can go into the color applications window and check
to make sure the word SPOT is checked. |
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These colors are separated out onto different
pieces of film, or plates, for each color specified. If you were to pick PMS
185 and Black you would have to pieces of film or plates. You can pick as many
spot colors as needed but keep in mind that each color will be a separate piece
of film and thus increase the price of printing your piece.
FOUR COLOR PROCESS- CMYK - Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
CMYK color, or Four color process, is used when you need to print more than
3 colors or photos/images. Four color process printing is a build of different
percentages of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black inks. Alternating screen angles
and screen density creates the different spectrums of color. For each page you
create in Four Color Process, there will be 4 pieces of film/plates. You can
also use, scanned images, photos, and clip art in CMYK format. Keep in mind
if you add a spot color to this you would have an additional piece of film/plate
for what we call a fifth color or more. You can also convert spot colors to
process colors by selecting CMYK after you have selected, for instance, PMS
185, and convert it to Process. (Your numbers would be: C=0% M=91% Y=76% K=0% )
It
is important to know that converted colors from PMS (spot) to CMYK will not
always match the desired Pantone Spot Color.
RGB - Red Green Blue
RGB is mainly used in scanning images, websites and some output devices. Jobs
are not printed in RGB format for the most part, so RGB would either need to
be converted to CMYK for Four Color Process, Spot Pantone color, or Grayscale.
If files are created in screen/slide presentation programs such as Microsoft
Powerpoint, you would have two output options. 1 convert to grayscale and have
a black and white final product or 2. output to a Color Laser Copier (CLC) which
would convert the RGB to CMYK and you would have full color lasers of your product,
or 3. create a pdf and convert to CMYK, spot color or greyscale.
Varnish
There are several kinds of printed varnishes, (dull, glossy, matte, etc...)
for each varnish used there would be an added plate just as if it were a spot
color. You can either have pieces flood varnished, which means the entire piece
is covered in varnish or spot varnished which as the name states would just
have a varnish in certain spots. If you were to use two varnishes lets say a
matte varnish for the whole piece and a spot glossy varnish for photos that
would be two pieces of film (like an additional 2 spot colors added to the job)
There are many Color Models not mentioned above such as Hexachrome, Pastels,
Metallics, Trumatch, and others which are very rarely used, and you should check
with your printer if you plan on using these.
Scanning Tips
For
optimum results during film/plate output, we have the following recommendations
to assist you during the creation process.
For
black and white line-art Images:
Scan in using "Bitmap" mode
Scan at 1500 d.p.i. (dots per inch)
Save
in the TIFF format (do not save as PICT)
For gray-scale (half-tone) images:
(If you have an image that is 4"x 5", and you want the final size
to be 8" x 10", scan in at twice the final resolution which would
be 600 lpi/ppi than scale image to final size 8" x 10" and the resolution
will drop back down to 300 lpi/ppi. A 4" x 5" original with final
desired size being 12" x 14", you would scan at three times the resolution
which would be 900 lpi/ppi and so on.)
Scan
in using "Gray-scale" mode
Scan
at a minimum of 300 l.p.i./p.p.i. (lines per inch/pixels per inch)
Scan
at the size that will be used in your Page Layout Program
Save
in the TIFF or EPS format
For full-color (process-color) Images:
(If you have an image that is 4" x 5", and you want the final size
to be 8" x 10", scan in at twice the final resolution which would
be 600 lpi/ppi than scale image to final size 8" x 10" and the resolution
will drop back down to 300 lpi/ppi. A 4" x 5" original with final
desired size being 12" x 14", you would scan at three times the resolution
which would be 900 lpi/ppi and so on.)
Scan in “RGB” mode
Scan
at a minimum of 300 l.p.i./p.p.i. (lines per inch/pixels per inch)
Scan
at the size that will be used in your Page Layout Program
Convert
to “CMYK” mode (Depending on the output device, some color printers
convert RGB better then any application can)
Save
in the TIFF format, OR choose EPS format and create DCS (digital color separations)
For all types of scans:
Scan
at the size that will be used in the page layout program or if you want the
image larger scan at the percentage you want to increase the image size to by
300 dpi. |