under colour removal

B
Posted By
benluke
Apr 22, 2004
Views
1427
Replies
14
Status
Closed
Have a job(full colour) that i need to send to the printers but i need to get the percentage of ink coverage down on some of my colours as the printers reccomend less than 225 percent. I want to keep the same colours and have been told about "under colour removal" its supposed to minimise the amount of ink being put onto the page, but keep the colour the same.

Could anyone possibly tell me how you do this.

Any help will be very appreciated

Thanks

Ben

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J
JasonSmith
Apr 22, 2004
"Could anyone possibly tell me how you do this."

The printer really should either be supplying a profile for their press, or do the conversion themself. But since it doesnt look like they’re doing that…

Go to Image>Mode>Convert to profile. For destination space, select "Custom CMYK".

Once the Custom CMYK dialog pops up, you’ll see settings for total ink limit. You probably want to use GCR and not UCR, but your ‘pressman’ should be able to tell you.
GH
Gernot_Hoffmann
Apr 22, 2004
Ben,

start with a CMYK profile which the printer is already using. Here evtl. Euroscale uncoated or SWOP uncoated (Coated paper is good for 300%..320%). The printer should tell you the recom- mended dot gain (perhaps 20%…25%),
depending on the paper.

In Color Settings choose this profile and go in the drop down menue to Customs. Then you can modify the parameters, mainly total ink limit (225%).
UCR: Replace CMY by K in neutral (gray) areas.
GCR: Replace CMY in all areas starting at e.g. 50%.
The "mixing curves" are shown, which explains how CMY is replaced by K. Ask the printer.

The starting profile is IMO important because American and European inks are not exactly the same.

Best regards –Gernot Hoffmann
RL
Robert_Levine
Apr 22, 2004
Ben,

You’ve been give some good advice already, but does anyone else think that 225 sounds awfully low. Even newspapers I’ve dealt with can handle 280-300.

Bob
J
JasonSmith
Apr 22, 2004
"225 sounds awfully low."

Um, yeah.

PS wont even let you do less than 200%.
GH
Gernot_Hoffmann
Apr 22, 2004
Yes, I thought it´s a kind of toilet paper.

Best regards –G.H.
B
benluke
Apr 22, 2004
thanks for the info everybody,

The printers said that i could go up to %275 for text or logos e.g small areas but i would run into problems using those level over large areasa and recommend 225%.

Whats the norm then? If there is one.

Could this be why this printer is cheap (ish) and pride themselves on quick turn around. I dont know? im fairly new to all this.

Thanks again all

Ben
L
LenHewitt
Apr 22, 2004
Ben,

Could this be why this printer is cheap (ish) <<

Well, scrimping on ink is one way to save cost – and I’ve known of printers to cut the ink coverage on the press to save a few shekels
PF
Peter_Figen
Apr 22, 2004
What kind of printer is this? Digital presses that print with toners DO have limits of less than 225 percent. Or at least there is no visible density gain going higher than that and only loss of shadow detail.
CK
Christine_Krof_Shock
Apr 22, 2004
but most printers with digital will let you push to at least 250 and some have gone as high as 275 with great results (must not be an indigo)
J
JasonSmith
Apr 22, 2004
On one of our presses, we run at 400% at times .

Otherwise mostly we stay around the 280%-350% range.
PF
Peter_Figen
Apr 22, 2004
Sure, they’ll LET you shove through files with higher ink limits, but if you do actual tests, you’ll find that higher than about 225 will not add any blackness, only block up shadow detail that would have otherwise printed. Some images will print fine, but low key will definitely suffer. The trick is to find the optimal balance, but, hell, we don’t even know what kind of press is being referred to here.
J
JasonSmith
Apr 22, 2004
"you’ll find that higher than about 225 will not add any blackness,"

Actually with this particular beast it does add more contrast to the print. Black isnt neccesarily more black per say.
GP
Gene Palmiter
Apr 26, 2004
OK…no help for you yet. I did a search thinking there has to be a lot out there…but all that I found is long winded pages about how it works…not how to make it work…how to do it. My Adobe expert is on vacation (one of the names that you see as some Adobe products load) so that was a dead end.

I had this problem last year when I did a magazine cover that had a lot of dark woods. Dark brown asks for a lot of ink on all the plates. My solution was very unsatisfactory.

So…come on folks…what is the solution? And does the designer have to do it, or is it for the image setter or plate maker?

wrote in message
Have a job(full colour) that i need to send to the printers but i need to
get the percentage of ink coverage down on some of my colours as the printers reccomend less than 225 percent. I want to keep the same colours and have been told about "under colour removal" its supposed to minimise the amount of ink being put onto the page, but keep the colour the same.
Could anyone possibly tell me how you do this.

Any help will be very appreciated

Thanks

Ben
GP
Gene Palmiter
Apr 26, 2004
Oh…and in looking in to this I found that InDesign CS has a way to mark all areas that exceed a set density…don’t know if it helps solve the problem though.

wrote in message
Have a job(full colour) that i need to send to the printers but i need to
get the percentage of ink coverage down on some of my colours as the printers reccomend less than 225 percent. I want to keep the same colours and have been told about "under colour removal" its supposed to minimise the amount of ink being put onto the page, but keep the colour the same.
Could anyone possibly tell me how you do this.

Any help will be very appreciated

Thanks

Ben

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