In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites are required for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Increase Spot Color Separation is available in the Workflow. The purpose of this Fixup is to enlarge a selected Spot Color Separation by an entered value.
2. General
The Fixup Increase Spot Color Separation can be used to increase an existing Spot Color Separation.
You can find this Fixup on the tab Data Preparation of an Article, Order or Production Job by:
- entering the name of the Fixup in the area Filter,
- activating the option Object in the area Category,
- activating the option Increase in the area Action,
- activating the option Spot Color, White, Varnish or Primer in the area Property.
3. Description
This Fixup can be used to increase an existing Spot Color – Primer, Varnish or White – to the desired value. Use this Fixup to do the following:
- Increase the existing primer area.
- Increase an existing white separation.
- Increase an existing cutting area.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to perform as intended, the following requirements must be met:
- There is a Spot Color Separation in the file. It does not matter whether the Spot Color Separation exists as a separate separation or as a separation in a DeviceN construct.
- The Spot Color Separation does not have a tone value gradation.
Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Increase Spot Color Separation
Choose from the following functions to enlarge an existing Spot Color Separation:
- 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 Operations Apply Fixups and Check Print Item and Apply Fixups.
- Extract Spot Colors form DeviceN [2] – by activating these options, all DeviceN Spot Color constructs are separated. This ensures that only the Spot Color channel in a DeviceN construct and not all separations in the DeviceN construct are increased.
- Spot Color [3] – in the selection menu, select the Spot Color Separation that should be increased. All Spot Colors and Technical Colors from the Print Item are available.
- Reduce to outer border [4] – by activating this option, the existing Spot Color Separation is only increased at the outer edge. However, nothing changes on the inner edge.
- Increase by [5] – enter the value by which the Spot Color Separation should be increased. Please note that the value entered is added to each edge. For example, if you enter 1 mm, the separation is increased by 2 mm in diameter. For Variable Content [8], select the desired placeholder – Database field or User-defined field – from which the increase should be retrieved.
- Quality [6] – in the selection menu, select the quality with which the Spot Color Separation should be traced, which generates the increase. The following options are available:
- Accurate (smaller A4/Letter) – the resolution for tracing is set to 1200 dpi for small sizes - smaller than A4 or Letter.
- Accurate (larger A4/Letter) – the resolution for tracing is set to 600 dpi for larger sizes - larger than A4 or Letter.
- Standard – the resolution for tracing is set to 150 dpi with this option.
- Autom. – the Spot Color Separation is automatically traced. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size of the object. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
- For a width or height up to 300 mm, the tracing is done at 1200 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 500 mm, the tracing is done at 600 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 1000 mm, the tracing is done at 300 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 2000 mm, the tracing is done at 150 dpi.
- For a width or height greater than 2000 mm, the tracing is done at 75 dpi.
- Custom – select the resolution for the tracing itself. To do this, enter the desired number of dpi in the input field Resolution [7].
- Variable Content [9] – for Variable Content [9], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the quality should be retrieved. The following values must be found in the selected field so that the selection is executed:
Label_AccurateLFP_AccurateLFP_StandardAutoCustom
- Resolution [7] – enter the desired resolution if you have selected the option Custom for the option Resolution. For Variable Content [10], select the desired placeholder – Database field or User-defined Field – from which the resolution should be retrieved.
Figure 2: Values in the selected field for the option Quality
Spot Color Separation without Tonal Value Gradations
Please note that if the existing Spot Color Separation has different tonal value gradations, there will no longer be any tonal value gradations in the Spot Color Separation after the Spot Color Separation has been increased! The Fixup redraws all areas of the selected Spot Color and fills them with the Spot Color at 100% tonal value.
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Increase Spot Color Separation.pdf". The file has a size of 100 x 100 mm. The Print Item shows a bouquet. The Print Item should be printed on a transparent Substrate, which is why a white separation was created. The separation is sized 98 x 98 mm and should be increased to 100 x 100 mm so that the white channel matches exactly with the Dieline.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Increase Spot Color Separation_End.pdf" is created. The Spot Color Separation "White" was increased by 2 mm. The values from Figure 1 were used.
Figure 3: Left: Original file; Right: Edited file in which the Spot Color Channel White has been increased
Article update: Workflow 1.20.1 – 04/2025