In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites are required for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Clip existing Separation is available in the Workflow. The purpose of this Fixup is to reduce an existing Spot Color Separation by the desired value.
2. General
The Fixup Clip existing Separation can be used to clip a selected Spot Color Separation by the entered size.
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 Mask in the area Action,
- activating the option Spot Colors, White, Varnish or Primer in the area Property.
3. Description
This Fixup can be used to clip an existing Spot Color – Primer, Varnish or White – to the desired value. Use this Fixups for the following purposes:
- Clip the size of the existing primer area.
- Clip the size of an existing white Separation.
- Clip the size of 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 Clip existing Separation
The following options can be used to clip the size of 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 from DeviceN [2] – by activating this option, all DeviceN Spot Color constructs are extracted. This ensures that only the Spot Color channel in a DeviceN construct and not all Separations in the DeviceN construct are reduced.
- Spot Color [3] – in the selection menu, select the Spot Color Separation that you want to reduce. 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 reduced on the outer edge. However, nothing changes on the inner edge.
- Set Spot Color to Overprint [5] – activating this option sets selected Spot Color to Overprint.
- Reduce by [6] – enter the value by which the Spot Color Separation should be clipped. Please note that the entered value is subtracted at each edge. Enter e.g. 1 mm and the diameter of the Separation is reduced by 2 mm. For Variable Content [9], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the reduction should be retrieved.
- Quality [7] – in the selection menu, select the quality with which the Spot Color Separation should be traced. Thereby, the reduction can be generated. The following options are available:
- Accurate – The Spot Color Separation is traced very accurately but somewhat more slowly. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
- For a width or height up to 300 mm, tracing is performed at 2400 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 1000 mm, tracing is performed at 1200 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 600 dpi.
- For a width or height greater than 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 300 dpi.
- Fast – The Spot Color Separation is traced accurately but fast. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
- For a width or height up to 300 mm, tracing is performed at 600 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 1000 mm, tracing is performed at 300 dpi.
- For a width or height up to 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 150 dpi.
- For a width or height greater than 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 100 dpi.
- Custom – select the resolution with which the Spot Color Separation should be traced. To do this, enter the desired resolution in the provided field.
- Variable Content [10] – for Variable Content [10], 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:
AccurateFastCustom
- Accurate – The Spot Color Separation is traced very accurately but somewhat more slowly. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
- Resolution [8] – enter the desired resolution if you have selected the option Custom for the Resolution option. For Variable Content [11], 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
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Clip existing Separation.pdf". The file has a size of 100 x 100 mm. The Print Item shows a ladybug. The Print Item should be printed on transparent Substrate, which is why a white channel was created in the print file. This channel has a size of 100 x 100 mm and should be reduced to 96 x 96 mm so that the white channel does not reach the Dieline.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Clip existing Separation_End.pdf" is created. The Spot Color Separation „white" was reduced by 2 mm from the outside. The values from Figure 1 were used.
Figure 3: Left: Original file; Right: Edited file in which the Spot Color Separation was clipped
Article update: Workflow 1.20.1 – 04/2025