Spot Colors in a Composite/PDF Workflow

[pcmodem]

I would like to know how other people deal with spot colors in a PDF workflow. Specifically, how do you map/apply a colorbar to the spot color?

Our old system was separated and we could map the temporary spot color from the colorbar in Preps to real spot color. Example the colorbar has CMYK + 5th + 6th. The actual file is Black and PANTONE 185 C.

Please let me know.

Thanks is Advance,
Brian

 

[zoran]

You can do the same with PDF workflow on different ways, depending which workflow you use.
We are using Heidelberg Prinect workflow and we have automatic assignment of colourbars and patches so e.g. we have 4 colour process colour bar used on most jobs since workflow automatically assigns all the colours to right patches, you don't have to worry and any job that has 4 colours regardless of being spot or process will get proper position assigned.

 

[pcmodem]

We are using the Nexus PDF Rip. Just getting it installed in fact and we are trying to use a custom colorbar for our colorbar scanner.

After I posted the question. I found out we will be able to specify separations in Preps, when we upgrade to Preps 5.3. Currently we are on Preps 5.1.4 and are waiting for the iKey dongle to be shipped to us so we can upgrade to 5.3 and to OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

 

[CHM]

In Nexus you need Processor to do that I think.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

Depends on your press etc. If we print 2 color the printers prefer to have the spot colour in the closest process colour, but on a 5 colour job as special colour 1. We use Apogee 5

 

[Park]

We use Quite for imposition so I just access/import a 2 color template with color bars into Quite. Once the press form is created I use Pitstop to swap the color bar color for the document color.