File preparation

May 11, 2023

What to do if warm white stock is not available

Here we’re experimenting with the best cmyk values to simulate warm white paper, which is extremely hard to get. Not only do we want a good color match, but the cmyk combination needs to give stable color throughout a project.

Categories: File preparation , Miscellaneous , Print Talk

May 9, 2023

Offset duotones and tritones

Here’s a recent press proof showing how we evaluate inks and densities with the goal balancing economy and quality. The sheet is divided into thirds, with two different K+PMS combinations and a third tritone combining black and both Pantones. The snake image uses the same inks but different curves.

Categories: File preparation , Miscellaneous , Print Talk

January 3, 2013

Spot colors on the HP Indigo

The Indigo is a 6-color press so we can print one or two spot colors plus cmyk. This photo shows pages from a brand book printing in four process colors + two spot colors. There would be no other way to accurately reproduce the two green colors in this project.

However … because the color space of the Indigo is larger than traditional cmyk printing, we can accurately simulate many Pantone colors. We recommend trying this before going through the extra time and expense of using a spot color.

When preparing files, please define colors in your files as spot, not process. And, because the press handles coated and uncoated colors differently, make sure to specify the coated (“C”) or uncoated (“U”) version of your Pantone.

Categories: Digital printing , File preparation , Print Talk