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 Create Spot Color Separation to Printed Objects Fixup. The purpose of this Fixup is to create a separation of the selected Spot Color for all printed objects.
2. General
The Create Spot Color Separation to Printed Objects Fixup can be used, for example, to create a white or primer channel for all printed pixels in the Print Item.
You can find this Fixup in 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 Create option in the Action area,
- enabling the White or Spot Color option in the Property area.
3. Description
This Fixup can be used to create a Spot Color Separation in the selected Spot Color for all printed objects in the file. The user can specify the tracing accuracy and whether the Spot Color should be inverted.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to work as intended, no special conditions need to be met.
Figure 1: The Create Spot Color Separation to Printed Objects dialog
To create a Spot Color Separation for printed objects, the following options are available:
- Templates [1] – the settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and subsequently applied to other Articles/Print Items, used within Fixup Chains, and applied in the Apply Fixups and Check Print Item and Apply Fixups operations.
- White Areas [2] – select from the drop-down menu whether white areas – pixel values of CMYK 0/0/0/0, RGB 255/255/255, and grayscale 0% – within the print file should be included when creating the Spot Color Separation. Transparent areas are never taken into account. The following options are available:
- exclude – white areas within a printed Print Item are not taken into account. Consequently, no Spot Color Separation is created for these areas.
- include – white areas within a printed Print Item are taken into account. A Spot Color Separation is created for these areas.
- Adjust Size [3] – enter the desired value to create a Spot Color Separation larger ("+" values) or smaller ("–" values) than the printed object itself. For the Variable Content [10], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the separation size should be retrieved.
- Spot Color [4] – select from the drop-down menu the Spot Color to be used to create the Spot Color channel. All system-wide defined Spot Colors that can be output as a separation are available for selection.
- Tint Value [5] – reduce the tint value of the Spot Color Separation by moving the slider or entering a percentage value.
- Opacity [6] – set the opacity of the Spot Color Separation by moving the slider or entering a percentage value.
- Accuracy [7] – select from the drop-down menu how accurately the printed objects in the Print Item should be traced to create a white separation. The more intricate the Print Item, the higher the tracing accuracy should be. Please note, however, that higher tracing accuracy also requires significantly more processing time. The following options are available:
- Inaccurate (fastest) – the objects are traced with lower accuracy at a resolution of 800 dpi, resulting in faster processing.
- Standard (fast) – the objects are traced accurately at a resolution of 1199 dpi, while maintaining relatively fast processing.
- Accurate (slow) – the objects are traced with a very high level of accuracy at a resolution of 2400 dpi, but the process takes somewhat longer.
- Variable Content [11] – select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the dpi value for the accuracy should be retrieved. The selected field must contain one of the following values for the corresponding mode to be used:
80011992400
Figure 2: Values required in the selected field for the Accuracy option
- Invert Spot Color [8] – enable this option to create a Spot Color Separation for transparent objects instead of printed objects. This can be used, for example, to create a white separation for a transparent background.
- Layer Name [9] – enter the name of the layer on which the white separation is to be created. If no separate layer is to be created, remove the name from the input field. For the Variable Content [12], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the layer name should be retrieved.
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, you can use the sample file "Sample_Create Spot Color Separation.pdf". The file contains a Print Item for which a Spot Color Separation is to be created. The background is transparent.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Create Spot Color Separation_End.pdf" is generated, in which a white separation has been created for the Print Item. The values shown in Figure 1 were used for this purpose.
Figure 3: Left: Original file; Right: Modified file with a Spot Color Separation created
Article Update: $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW 2.3.0 – 10/2026