In this article, you will learn
- which prerequisites are required for this Fixup, and
- how to apply this Fixup.
1. Introduction
The Fixup Add White Outline for Colored Areas is available in the Workflow. The purpose of this Fixup is to create a white Outline for desired color areas – vectors, text or both.
2. General
Use the Fixup Add White Outline for Colored Areas to add a white outline to selected color areas. Thereby, reduce Bleeding of the ink between two color areas when printing with water-based inks. This process keeps, e.g., the edge between the two areas as sharp as possible.
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 Color in the area Category,
- activating the option Add in the area Action,
- activating the option CMYK or Spot Color in the area Property.
3. Description
Use This Fixup to create a white Outline for the desired color areas. Add a "non-printing" white line which reduces the "Bleeding" between two colored areas significantly.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to perform as intended, the following requirements must be met:
- The file contains vector or text elements.
- The elements can be created as CMYK or as Spot Color.
Figure 1: The tab Basic Settings as well as the tab Advanced of the Fixup Add White Outline for Colored Areas
The following options can be used to create a white Outline for colored areas:
Basic Settings
- Apply to [1] – select the objects for the creation of the white Outline in the selection menu. The following options are available:
- Vector only – a white outline is only created for vector areas of the selected color.
- Text – a white outline is only created for texts of the selected color.
- Text and Vector – a white outline is created for texts and vector areas of the selected color.
- Variable Content [8] – For Variable Content [8], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the object type should be retrieved. The following values must be found in the selected field so that the selection is executed:
VectorTextVectorAndText
- Use Spot Color [2] – activate this option if you want to add a white outline to a Spot Color object. All Spot Colors and Technical Colors from the Print Item as well as all system-wide defined Spot Colors are available.
- CMYK color value [3] – activate this option to enter the CMYK color values of the object for which you want to create the white outline. The entered color is displayed in the preview image.
- Line Width [4] –enter the desired Line Width of the white Outline here. For Variable Content [8], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the Line Width should be retrieved.
- Stroke Alignment [5] – in the selection menu, select how the Outline is should be aligned with the edge of the object. The following options are available:
- Midline – the outline is centered on the edge of the selected object. When you e.g. enter a Line Width of 2 pt, 1 pt will be on the outside of the object edge and 1 pt inside the object edge.
- Outside – the outline is placed on the outside of the edge of the selected object. When you, e.g., enter a Line Width of 2 pt, the entire outline will be on the outside of the object edge.
- Inside – the outline is placed on the inside of the edge of the selected object. When you, e.g., enter a Line Width of 2 pt, the entire outline will be placed on the inside of the object edge.
- Variable Content [9] – For Variable Content [9], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the stroke alignment should be retrieved. The following values must be present in the selected field so that thee selection is executed:
midlineoutsideinside
- Reduce to outer border [6] – activate this option in case you only want to add a white outline to the outer edge of the selected object.
Advanced
- Layer Name [10] – enter the name of the layer on which the white Outline will be created. If no separate layer should 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.
- Conformity of the processing steps according to ISO 19593-1 [11] – a white outline should be created by default according to ISO 19593-1 on the layer Outline in the group Structural of the type InkFree. Additional information on the ISO standard can be found in the description Processing Steps ISO 15931-1.
Figure 2: Left: Values in the selected field for the option Apply to; Right: Values in the selected field for the option Stroke Alignment
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Add White Outline for Colored Areas.pdf". The file shows a rose on a pink background. A white outline is now created for the rose.
After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Add White Outline for Colored Areas_End.pdf" is created. A white outline was created for the rose. The values from Figure 1 were used.
Figure 3: Left: Original file; Center: Edited file where a white outline was added; Right: Close-up view of the rose with a white outline added in the Print Item Editor
Article update: Workflow 1.20.1 – 04/2025