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 Add White Outline for Colored Areas Fixup. The purpose of this Fixup is to create a white outline for selected colored areas – vectors, text, or both.
2. General
The Add White Outline for Colored Areas Fixup can be used to add a white outline to selected colored areas in order to reduce color bleeding between two colored areas when printing with water-based inks. This helps keep the boundary between the two areas as sharp as possible.
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 CMYK or Spot Color option in the Property area.
3. Description
This Fixup can be used to create a white outline for the desired colored areas. By adding a "non-printing" white line, the effect of "bleeding" between two colored areas can be significantly reduced.
3.1. Prerequisites and Functionality
For the Fixup to work as intended, the following conditions must be met:
- The file contains vector or text objects.
- The objects can be defined as CMYK or as a Spot Color.
Figure 1: Left: The Basic Settings tab of the Add White Outline for Colored Areas Fixup; Right: The Advanced tab of the Add White Outline for Colored Areas Fixup
To create a white outline for colored areas, the following options are available:
- Templates [1] – settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and subsequently applied to other Articles/Print Items, used within Fixup Chains, and used in the Apply Fixups and Check Print Item and Apply Fixups operations.
- Apply to [2] – select from the drop-down menu which objects should receive a white outline. The following options are available:
- Vectors only – a white outline is created only for vector areas in the selected color.
- Text only – a white outline is created only for text in the selected color.
- Text and Vector – a white outline is created for text and vector areas of the selected color.
- 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 selected field must contain one of the following values for the corresponding option to be applied:
VectorTextVectorAndText
- Use Spot Color [3] – enable this option if you want to add a white outline to a Spot Color object. All Spot Colors and Technical Colors used in the Print Item, as well as all system-wide defined Spot Colors, are available.
- CMYK Color Value [4] – enable this option to enter the CMYK color values of the object for which a white outline is to be created. The entered color is displayed in the preview image.
- Stroke Width [5] – enter the desired width of the white stroke. For the Variable Content [9], select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the stroke width should be retrieved.
- Stroke Alignment [6] – select from the drop-down menu how the stroke should be aligned relative to the edge of the object. The following options are available:
- Midline – the stroke is centered on the edge of the selected object. For example, if you enter a stroke width of 2 pt, 1 pt is positioned outside the object edge and 1 pt inside the object edge.
- Outside – the stroke is positioned outside the edge of the selected object. For example, if you enter a stroke width of 2 pt, the entire stroke is positioned outside the object edge.
- Inside – the stroke is positioned inside the edge of the selected object. For example, if you enter a stroke width of 2 pt, the entire stroke is positioned inside the object edge.
- Variable Content [10] – select the desired placeholder – Database Field or User-defined Field – from which the value for the stroke alignment should be retrieved. The selected field must contain one of the following values for the corresponding option to be applied:
midlineoutsideinside
- Reduce to outer border [7] – enable this option if a white outline should be added only along the outer edge of the selected object.
Figure 2: Left: Values required in the selected field for the Apply to option; Right: Values required in the selected field for the Stroke Alignment option
3.2. Before/After
To experiment with this function, you can use the sample file "Sample_Add White Outline for Colored Areas.pdf". The file contains a rose on a pink background. A white outline is to be created around the rose.
After applying the Fixup, the resulting file is "Sample_Add White Outline for Colored Areas_End.pdf". In this file, a white outline has been created around the rose. The values shown in Figure 1 were used for this purpose.
Figure 3: Left: Original file; Center: Modified file with a white outline added; Right: Close-up view of the rose with the added white outline, opened in the Print Item Editor
Article Update: $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW 2.3.0 – 09/2026