Color table group
The color settings in this tab are effective until individual settings are defined in the properties of "Page Lists" and/or "Layouts".
Color List
This is where you set the extent to which the color settings within the job have an impact:
•All Colors
"All Colors" means that all the colors that may be relevant for job processing display in this view and can be edited (with the exception of process colors). You can also add new colors when this is selected.
•Existing Colors
"Existing Colors" means that only those colors that are already in the input documents are shown. If you wish to add a new color when you are in this mode, a message displays, informing you to switch to the "All Colors" mode. You can now add new colors and then switch back to "Existing Colors" again. Once again, only the colors in the PDF then display.
Output Profile
The output profile determines how colors act in the output process. Normally, a standard offset output profile is used if output is to an offset press, for example, an OffsetEuro or OffsetSWOP profile for CMYK. Special output profiles that are calibrated for the combination of press/substrate should be used for digital presses.
By default, the output profiles are filed on the Prinect server in the "PTConfig\SysConfig\Resources\ICC Profiles" folder. We recommend also saving custom ICC output profiles below this folder. It is then easy for you to find and use these profiles for other jobs.
Proceed as follows to open an output profile:
1.Click the Browse button "...".
The profile browser opens.
2.Go to the profile folder containing the profile you want, mark the profile and confirm your selection.
If the output profile you selected describes a color space with colors that are not defined in the job, these colors display as additional rows in the color table. For example, if you select a 7c color profile for a job with solely CMYK process colors for a Heidelberg Primefire 106 digital press, orange, green and violet are also added to the table.
If there are spot colors in the job, a message displays, informing you that the spot colors will be mapped to the target color space by means of the selected profile.
Remove output profile
1.Click the "X" button.
The profile is removed and the related additional color items are removed from the table.
Column set
This list box lets you create and save your own sets of columns or select the set you want from existing ones. See Define a custom column set .
The position of the colors in the table also determines the print order of the colors and, consequently, also overprinting. The color lowest down in the table is printed first and the topmost color last. By default, the print order is defined automatically. This means that the "lightest" color, i.e. the one with the least neutral density ND is printed first. The darkest color, generally black, accordingly is printed last.
You can change this order by defining or editing spot colors. You can also change the print order using drag-and-drop. In other words, you mark a color in the table (any column) and drag it, holding down the left mouse button, to the position you want.
Selection of a Multicolor output profile or import or creation of one of more colors automatically rearranges the print order, with the order determined based on neutral density.
You can create a new spot color with the "New Color" button. A row is added to the table after you click this button. If the table view is in the "Existing Colors" mode, a message displays, informing you to switch to the "All Colors" mode. If a custom spot color was marked in the table, the new color uses the settings of the marked color.
1.First of all, give the new color a name in the "Name" box.
2.Now enter the color values, either by typing in the process color values or the L*a*b* color values. You can go from one color box to the next by hitting the Tab key.
3.The "Color" box displays the hue resulting from the values you entered.
4.After that, set the other properties of the color in the "Source", "Target", "Type", "Usage", etc. columns. See Table columns
5.Finish creating the new color with the Enter key.
6.If required, you can customize the print order (see Print order).
Caution: If you already defined spot colors and after that change the output color profile, especially when going from a CMYK profile to a Multicolor profile or vice versa, all the process color or L*a*b* values may be overwritten and the display of the colors changes. An appropriate warning is issued. The colors themselves are kept but they are matched to the output profile.
Modify an existing spot color
You can modify an existing spot color by clicking into the edit boxes and changing the values.
Import spot colors
You can import single spot colors from color tables and add them to the job. You can edit imported colors and, if required, export them to other custom color tables. See also "Import Colors" Window.
You can export custom spot colors by adding them to an existing user-defined color table. To do this, mark the colors you want (multiple selection is possible) and click "Export Colors". Then in the "Export Colors to User-Defined Color Table" window, select the color table to which the selected colors will be added. See "Export Colors to User-Defined Color Table" Window.
Display and editing of process color data for Multicolor profiles
If a job has colors with L*a*b* values and if a Multicolor output profile is loaded, the process color data to be expected display in italics and gray color in the table columns.
Note: These values are calculated (with "Absolute colorimetric" rendering intent in Color Management) only for viewing on the screen. They will not be used for printing.
It is possible to edit these calculated values. The L*a*b* values are deleted if you do this, and the process color data appear in the "default" notation. When the job is saved, the process color data of the edited colors are written to the job data and the L*a*b* values are deleted. In the "Source" column of the edited color, the item changes from "Color Table" to "Job".
The table columns display the color parameters. Some columns show data about the color in question, whereas you can edit other columns, either by entering values or by selecting parameters from list boxes. A list box displays after you click a table element.
Color
This shows you a preview of the color.
Name
The names of the listed colors are shown in this column. You can change these names if you wish (if editing is possible).
Source
Options in the "Source" list box:
•Color Table
The color is taken from an active color table. An error message is displayed if the color is not found in any active color table.
The color is taken from the PDF.
Note: An error message displays if the color is not in the PDF.
•Job
A job-specific color was set by the user.
Target
This is where you define what will happen with the color. To do this, click the color in the "Target" column. Then select one of the following functions in the list box.
Note: If you select several colors, you can open a context menu for this selection. The function you select in this menu is applied to all the selected colors.
Options in the "Target" list box:
•Output
The color will be output directly.
Note: Please note that only the master version is output when you select this function. All other versions are not output.
To output all the versions, you must select "Output (every version)".
•Output (every version)
In versioning, the color will be output separately for each version created.
•Process
The color will be converted to a process color.
•Ignore
The color will be ignored during the output.
•Full Varnish
The color is defined as "full varnish". In other words, it is ignored during CTP output (no plate is created) but it is still assigned a color code. This color is designed for varnishes that will be applied to the entire surface of the printed result (all color separations), without being assigned to a specific color separation. Accordingly, no plate ID is assigned on principle to full varnish.
•Spot varnish
The color is defined as "spot varnish". In other words, it is applied as varnish to a certain color separation after printing. This means that the varnish is assigned to a certain process color. A plate is not generated from a spot varnish as well, however a spot varnish is assigned to a plate. Accordingly, a plate ID is assigned automatically to a spot varnish.
•Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black or Spot Colors
You can map each color to another color.
Each color that was mapped to another color displays "Alias" as its property in the "Defined" column.
Marks
This displays whether or not mark colors will be assigned automatically.
Alias
The color was mapped to another color.
This is where you define the usage of the color in a press:
•Printing unit, Printing unit 2
"Printing unit" is the standard setting for output to an offset or digital printing unit. You can select "Printing unit 2" if there is a second printing unit and it is needed, for example, for perfecting.
•Special, printing unit
The Versafire CV and EV digital presses support special toners (white, neon yellow, varnish, "Ricoh Other", etc.). To output these special colors, you must set the usage of the colors concerned.
•Coating Unit
If there is a special coating unit, select its usage for varnishing.
•Proof
If a color is to be output as a "Proof Color" only in the proof, select this usage for the proof color. You can disable the output of proof colors (Proof Color, DieLine) in the print run workflow.
•Tool
This option lets you tag colors that will be used for die tools in package printing.
•External
When you select this, you mark a color as an "external separation". You can use this option, for example, to generate flexographic plates from the print job. See also Output external separations or separations of "DieLine" proof colors.
Calibration Substitute Color
You can assign a calibration substitute color to certain job colors for packaging printing.
Each spot color in the job can be assigned one of the process colors or another spot color in the job as a "calibration substitute color". You only have to set "Output" as the "Target" for this to work. If not, this option is disabled.
Note: To avoid having to set up colors with a calibration substitute color each time, you can make colors with this property available in user-defined (=editable) color tables. By default, solely seven process colors can be selected as substitute colors: Cyan, magenta, yellow, black, orange, green, blue.
CMYK, L*a*b*
For CMYK(OG) and L*, the values for each color are shown in percent depending on the selected color space. For a* and b*, a percent is not shown but a value between -128 and 127 (= 256 possible values).
You can assign different types to the colors, depending on how the color will be applied to the substrate.
•Normal
This property is assigned to colors that, similar to process colors, are translucent in printing.
•Opaque
This property is assigned to very opaque, contour-defining colors. Opaque colors are treated as black and in the trap always pull the adjacent colors below it.
•Opaque & Ignore
This property is assigned to colors that are "opaque" but are not to be trapped (for example, when printing gold, silver or spot colors where undesirable combinations can occur in the trap).
•Transparent
This property is assigned to a color with a transparent varnish. No traps are generated for transparent colors.
•DieLine
This type is only used for grid lines, for example, in the sheet layout, and can only be seen on the screen and in the proof but not in the print.
•Version, normal
The color has the property described in "Normal", but in versioning it will be output separately for each version created.
•Version, opaque
The color has the property described in "Opaque", but in versioning it will be output separately for each version created.
•Version, Opaque & Ignore
The color has the property described in "Opaque & Ignore", but in versioning it will be output separately for each version created.
•Version, Transparent
The color has the property described in "Transparent", but in versioning it will be output separately for each version created.
ND = Neutral Density
Each process color (CMYK) has a different ink strength. "Neutral Density" was defined to determine the ink strength of a process color. For example, paper white has a neutral density of 0.
SL = Step Limit
This parameter indicates the degree to which the separations of adjacent colors must vary before a trap is created. A trap is created in those separations where the difference between adjacent colors is greater than the input value.
TCS = Trap Color Scaling
"Trap Color Scaling" helps to make traps less noticeable (for example, in pastels). The default value is 100% and means that there is no trap color scaling.
TWS = Trap Width Scaling
This function lets you change the trap width separately, not only for black but for any colors such as CMYK and spot colors. The trap width depends on the dominant separation in the trap.
Note: If a trap has CMYK values of C 20%, M 30%, Y 50% and K 10%, then yellow is the separation with the highest value and the standard trap width is multiplied with the "TWS" factor for yellow.
Screening Angle
This displays the angles of the separation colors that are used during plate output. An ImpositionOutput sequence with set screening angles is a prerequisite. They also cannot be edited in these boxes.
Apart from that, you can assign the angle of one of the process colors to a color with this option.
Overprint
This option lets you match overprint (Overprint, Knockout, Unchanged).
Print Order
The print order of the colors is defined by their position in the table. The further up in the table a color is, the sooner it will be printed.
You can customize the print order of each color with drag-and-drop. To do this, in the row with the color you want, mark the color box in the "Color" column and drag it to the row you want, holding down the left mouse button. Let go of the mouse button when you are at the position you want.