I am creating some shapes using a solid Pantone colour in Illustrator. On top of these shapes, I am adding another object with the same size and the sane Pantone colour, using the "Multiply" setting.
This is all very nice and good (I get a darker output in the multiplied area) - but I cannot really understand how this would translate to the world of inks and offset printing. Surely, the maximum that can be achieved with a single plate is 100% of colour, and the only way in which I could have anything stronger than this would be if I had the same ink in another plate?
Or in other words: I am wasting my time using these multiply effects. Could you guys please confirm?
You are better off not doing it. Pantone inks pigments wouldn't multiply on press in an predictable manner. Also the results would change from ink to ink and stock to stock.
Design what you want it to look like and carefully review the proofs and make sure whoever generates the proofs/final printing is utilizing software that will accurately proof such effects. Pretty much every job I deal with has spot colors overlapping, overprinting, screens intersecting with effects.
If you can generate a PDF of what you are working on - OR create something similar (to protect your client) and attach it to a reply and I might be able to guide you further.
CHM, BillJ - thanks for your feedback! I am still trying to see what would be the output anyway, I like to test / learn about anything until doors are definitely closed...
It is not pretty, but it shows clearly what I am after:
- base layer is a solid PMS 431 C background
- layer 2 above is some text in PMS 431 C with a tint of 60%
- layer 3 (top of everything else) is a gradient that contains values between 100% and 20% of 431 C, with transparency set up to "Multiply".
Now - on screen this would look darker than the expected "screen" values of 431 C. My concern is how this would export to the real world of inks and plates. I am somehow assuming that a 100% coverage of ink is the maximum that can be achieved by using a single plate, meaning that anything darker than this would simply be discarded (or can only be implemented by adding more ink with another plate - a bit like the concept behind rich blacks etc)...
I am sure I am missing something here - but I am really, an absolute noob!
Looks like it will work as intended to me. My only suggestion is to design lighter than you intend for it to be output. Dot gain (explained here in detail) will occur in printing and few (if any) printers are going to have a dot gain correction curve specific to Pantone 431. Some printers use a dot gain compensation curve for a process ink (Cyan, magenta, yellow, black) for spot ink plates and some just generate them linearly. If you read the materials I linked to and are still fuzzy what dot-gain and dot-gain compensation are let me know and I will try to break it down on a more fundamental level.
Simply stated:
If you want a 50% screen achieved with Pantone 431 when printed you should probably design that element with a fill of something in the 35 - 40% range.
Chevalier - thank you very much for your feedback on this. I will print the whole link and have a proper read - then ask again if I am lost. I have already learn lots from Gordo's post, but of course / lots of the info there is a bit above my ability... mainly just because I am not the cleverest of people I've met...
This will not print the way you're thinking with a single plate. The background gradient will disappear as you can't exceed 100% of a color. A solid is a solid. The attached screen grab shows something like what you will get.
Turn on your separations preview in Illustrator, or the Output Preview in Acrobat. From there you'll be able to check screen percentages.
Ah- that's what I thought originally. When I tried to run the output in Acrobat, and by simply using Output Preview, all data that was darker than the original 431 was discarded.
Which means that, of course, what I need to do is to use a tinted version of 431 as a background (actually, a gradient with various tints) - which will never go over 100% coverage. Also having in mind the dot gain / which I am reading about...
A bit when mastering a music track - anything over 0 gets discarded!
Ah- that's what I thought originally. When I tried to run the output in Acrobat, and by simply using Output Preview, all data that was darker than the original 431 was discarded.
Which means that, of course, what I need to do is to use a tinted version of 431 as a background (actually, a gradient with various tints) - which will never go over 100% coverage. Also having in mind the dot gain / which I am reading about...
A bit when mastering a music track - anything over 0 gets discarded!
Thanks a bunch rich apollo!
Monq do you remember in another topic thread that you raised on a similar issue - I told you that I was oldschool and that I preferred to use the overprint setting on spots, rather than blending modes/opacity? While others said not to worry, simply use multiply blend mode and that it was the same?
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Multiplying Pantones: effect during print
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Originally Posted by monq
