In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites must be met for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW application provides the Fill PageBox with Spot Color Fixup. The purpose of this Fixup is to fill the content of the ImageBox or ImageBox + Bleed with an overprinting Spot Color.
2. General
The Fill PageBox with Spot Color Fixup can be used to create an overprinting Spot Color channel within the size of the selected PageBox – ImageBox or ImageBox + Bleed.
Use this Fixup for the following applications:
- Filling a Print Item with a white background color matching the size of the ImageBox, when the Print Item is to be printed at full luminosity on a transparent substrate.
- Creating a Primer channel for the Print Item at the size of the ImageBox or ImageBox + Bleed, using the desired tint value.
- Applying a Varnish coating over the entire Print Item at the desired tint value.
You can find the Fixup on the Data Preparation tab of an Article, Order or Production Job by:
- entering the name of the Fixup in the Filter area,
- enabling the Color option in the Category area,
- enabling the Add option in the Action area,
- enabling the White, TrimBox, BleedBox, ArtBox, ImageBox, or ImageBox + Bleed option in the Property area.
3. Description
This Fixup fills the content of a selected PageBox with an overprinting Spot Color, which is output as its own separation. The size of the separation can be increased or decreased using an offset. In addition, the tint value can be specified.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
No special prerequisites need to be met to use this Fixup.
Figure 1: The dialog of the Fill PageBox with Spot Color Fixup
The following options are available for filling a PageBox with a Spot Color:
- Templates [1] – settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and applied to other Articles/Print Items, as well as used within Fixup Chains and in the Apply Fixups and Check Print Item and Apply Fixups Operations.
- PageBox [2] – select the PageBox to be filled with the Spot Color in the dropdown menu. The following options are available:
- ImageBox – the PageBox on which the ImageBox was placed is filled with the selected Spot Color.
- ImageBox + Bleed – the PageBox on which the ImageBox was placed, together with the expected Bleed, is filled with the Spot Color.
- Fill Color [3] – select the Spot Color to be used to fill the respective box from the dropdown menu. All system-wide defined Spot Colors that are designated for output as separations are available.
- Offset [4] – enter the desired offset of the Spot Color to be filled. "+" values increase the separation, "-" values reduce the separation. For the Variable Content [6], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the offset should be retrieved.
- Tint Value [5] – set the tint value of the fill color by moving the slider or entering a percentage.
ImageBox and Bleed
Make sure that the ImageBox is correctly positioned on the intended PageBox to avoid unwanted results. The Expected Bleed value is also used to determine the Bleed. Therefore, ensure that the expected Bleed matches the actual Bleed.
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, you can use the sample file "Sample_Fill PageBox with Spot Color.pdf". The file measures 100 x 100 mm. The ImageBox has been positioned on the TrimBox.
After applying the Fixup, the resulting file is "Sample_Fill PageBox with Spot Color_End.pdf". In this file, a white overprinting separation has been created for the content of the ImageBox. The values shown in Figure 1 were used for this purpose.
Figure 2: Left: Original file; Right: Modified file with a white separation created for the ImageBox
Article Update: $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW 2.3.0 – 10/2026