General beginner help

[gtgaz]

Hello again people, I have had a short term contract job in print and it has opened my eyes to all things things necessary in print. Problem is i was not there long enough to get a full of understanding of any aspect.

In order to be on top of my game, i believe i need to put myself out there and ask some questions.. Some may sound silly. Theres so much to learn and im eager to get the ball rolling.

So is there any really useful sites or links people can give me? so i can start learning more. I'm talking, pre-press, press, finishing, paper information, software tips and training and so on...

the problem is i can't really tell what is right and what is wrong when looking through sites. The guy i used to work with told me "don't listen to anything from the internet", and i disagree thats why i am here.

I worked for 3 months basically plating things up, so you can get an idea of what stage im at.

Silly question here, but does printing one Spot colour on top of the other cause overprint? or should i always leave white behind the shape that appears to be on top?


Regards
Gaz.

Edited by: Gary on Jun 25, 2008 6:11 PM

 

[margadri]

Re: General beginner help

Hi Gary
Colours behave the way you tell them to behave using overprint options
+If you want 2 spot colours to overprint they will+
+As default though (in almost all rips) the colours knock out with the exception of the black that normally overprints+
Printers also need a trap which is a thin keyline (normally 0.08mm) where the two colour overlap (or overprint) This is to help the registration. If not 100% perfect it will show a white border where the colours meet .

It is great that you ask questions but this is a very broad business.
I suggest you to do a search on the internet for a basic understanding of the printing.
You can also apply for apprenticeship in prepress.
The pay will be small but the knowledge you will get will be great
Than with great knowledge you will still get a small pay.
If you want money, stay out from the prepress
Here in Australia the average prepress operators age is 45.
We are a dying specie!
No one wants to do it anymore
Pity, it is a great job
Hope to make things clearer for you
Any help, just ask

Edited by: Adriano on Jun 25, 2008 11:52 PM

 

[michaelejahn]

Re: General beginner help

Hi Gary

well when you ask;

"...does printing one Spot colour on top of the other cause overprint?"

well, lets first start with -- 'what sort of printing are we speaking of ?

(and for a newbie - this is a pretty complex question to answer !)

1. If I were printing this to my desktop inkjet sitting here next to my laptop, well, no - the spot colors will be translated into CMYK equivelents.

2.) If I were asking my RIP to convert everything to CMYK, the answer is the same as 1

3.) If I were asking my rip to honor the spot colors and make separate plates, we have a few options;

--- 3a). overprint with knock-out;
Lets assume no real trapping has occured when you created the PDF file, and also, lets assume we are not running the file through any RDF or "In-RIP" trapping ysstem -- so, this is without creating new objects - most RIPs can create new plates in such a way that the spot colors will KNOCK OUT any CMYK process images, text or vector graphic that are BEHIND THEM.

--- 3b.) full overprint
This would be an option one might select when printing with a metalic ink, where we do not want to KNOCK-OUT the CMYK behind it - in some flexo printing projects, this may be the approach..

--- 3c.) trapping
I could write a novel here - there are settings that can be object to object or color based. Imagine that we have a spot yellow circle partially covering a magenta object.
------------- i) Normal - this ink setting tells a trapping application to knock out and trap according to density, which in this example, the yellow circle would knock out the magenta square along its perimeter, then along the edges that are touching, create a new object or set of pixels that then "SPREAD" over - that is, overprint the magenta with that yellow - any CMYK images behind these objects are knocked out

------------- ii) Transparent - in this example, the yellow circle would NOT knock out the magenta square and then overprint the magenta with that yellow - if the ink was indeed a spot yellow with a high level of white ink in it (that is, a very "opaque' yellow) - then it would be yellow - if not, well, it would be orange - any CMYK images behind these objects are knocked out

------------- iii) Opaque - in this example, even though yellow might be 'lighter" - the trapping engine would treat it as if it were darker - So, it will behave "LIKE" the Normal Setting, with the trap going in the opposite direction - that is, the Magenta will "CHOKE" under the yellow - any CMYK images behind these objects are knocked out

------------- iV) Opaque Ignore - identical to the Transparent setting, EXCEPT - all CMYK images behind these objects are "ignored" and therefore this will OVERPRINT

http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/InD...t=WS4052869E-6258-406f-A99E-707638F9066E.html


okay, then you also wrote;

--- or should i always leave white behind the shape that appears to be on top?

wow, um, are you printing with White ink on like a black T-Shirt using Silkscreen ? You see, your approach largely depends on the type of printing, and also, what you have to do manually (if you have a simple RIP) or what the RIP can do for you (via settings)

hope this helps (it probably didn't, and probably is causing your brain to melt, sorry !)

 

[libordeath.com]

Re: General beginner help

Gary, you might want to try browsing [here|http://websupport1.citytech.cuny.edu/Faculty/phenry/] for some basic information. Be sure to follow the link to online resources at the bottom of the main page. Good luck with your research.

 

[gtgaz]

Re: General beginner help

Thanks for the links guys... I will look into those shortly.

Adriano, yes the pay isn't at all good, I understand this is a broad question that will probably be the consequence of loads more questions. But thanks for the advice.

Yes Michael, that has made my brain melt at the moment. Im gonna look into a couple of areas of that on the internet and probably get back to you on that one.

 

[John Clifford]

Re: General beginner help

Michael,

He's a newby and you throw RIP and Knock-out at him? Shame on you.

Just kidding!!!!

 

[gtgaz]

Re: General beginner help

Its ok i have used RIP and knockout i learnt whilst reading this thread, Luckily lol

Gaz.