About Color Control in Offset Printing (III)

The third: the application of spot colors

Printing ink classification

The inks specified in the desktop design software are divided into two major categories, Spot Color Ink and Process Color Ink. Let's take a look at four-color inks. There are three systems of four-color inks used in the current world, including: Japan Standard, American Standard (Swop Standard) and European Standard (Europe Standard). The three ink colors are based on people in different regions have different preferences for color perception. Ink in Asia is dominated by Japan, which is usually brighter and the colors are exaggerated, while the ink colors in Europe and America are more natural. For spot color inks, there are several sets of standards, such as Pantone, DIC and Toyo Ink, which are subdivided into general spot colors, fluorescent colors, and metallic colors. The color designation has four colors and spot colors, so the designer should depend on which type of ink is used for the final printing. Which set of ink color is used to specify, or else the good may not be expected.

Four-color and spot color ink color matching system

Most typesetting and drawing software allows you to use both spot colors and four colors in the same manuscript. It also provides an option that allows you to select spot color printing or convert spot colors to the closest four-color dots. Why use four colors and spot colors on the same print? The most common reason is to include a photo while still matching the exact company color, for example, for those used as company logos or product packaging.

Spot color printing is available when there are only one or two colors on the page. Moreover, spot color printing is based on different color requirements with a spot color ink. Some spot color inks contain colors that cannot be obtained with four primary colors, such as silver, gold, fluorescent colors, and some bright colors. Spot colors are often used in places where the accuracy of printing colors is high, such as company logos, packaging, and greeting cards.

Four-primary printing is based on a certain proportion of three primary colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black inks are printed on paper to produce various colors. When there are more than three colors on the page, printing with four primary colors is the most appropriate, and copying of full-color images with four-color printing is essential.

Due to different needs, there are different color matching system choices in most of the software. The most common ones are Pantone, Trumatch, Focoltone, DIC and Toyo. They are applicable to different countries and regions, and they are also divided into spot color series. And four-color series. Therefore, when designing a color match, please use the series of ink systems according to the printing process to select the color matching system. And to buy a color sample of the selected color matching system as a reference, because the colors seen on the screen, there may be some differences. Since Pantone is more popular in the market, the following color matching system will be introduced first.

PANTONE spot color

Pantone is a color matching system developed by an American company. The English full name is Pantone Matching System, or PMS for short. First introduced his spot color system, which is based on three color samples (PANTONE formula guide solid coated, PANTONE formula guide solid uncoated, PANTONE formula guide solid matte), which are used in powdered paper, book paper and matte paper, with 14 kinds of color samples. Basic ink synthesis, dubbed 1114 spot colors.

Many ink manufacturers and software manufacturers claim that their products follow the Pantone color standard, which means that designers can use desktop software to create, and feel relieved to know that even if colors and color samples on the screen display sample color may not be accurate Match, but if printed with the appropriate spot color ink, the color on the print will be quite close to the desired color. If you use PANTONE's spot color system for color matching, there will be a lot of color problems when converting to four-color printing, because only about 50% of Pantone spot color combinations can be simulated by CMYK, and some colors are deviated. very far.

To get accurate colors, the designer is better off owning a book named PANTONE solid to process. Next to each spot color is the closest color sample that can be generated with the four primary colors. This color sample is for designers. It is very important because it actually shows that many spot colors are difficult or impossible to synthesize with CMYK four colors.

Source: PACK.CN