Printing to Newsprint

IE
Posted By
Inger_Edgar
Feb 13, 2004
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486
Replies
15
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Closed
Anyone out there have any "rule of thumb" type quidelines for color settings for images whose final destination is plate to newsprint paper.

T.I.A., "Happy Valentines Day"

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KN
Ken_Nielsen
Feb 13, 2004
"type quidelines" – please define

"color settings" – please define

"plate to newsprint" – please define

Please go into more detail on the process you want to use, what equipment and software you are using, down to the exact make and model of press that will be used.
TL
Tim_Lookingbill
Feb 13, 2004
PF
Peter_Figen
Feb 13, 2004
The best rule of thumb is to talk to the newspaper’s prepress department and get their recommendations. Newspapers, unlike sheetfed houses, seem to know the specific settings for their presses, and many of them actually have profiles they can supply. Other than that, most of them want total ink in the 240-250% range and a minimum highlight with detail in the 7-9% range. Anythng you can do to maximize apparent contrast will also help.
TL
Tim_Lookingbill
Feb 13, 2004
Here’s what one poster advised:

Christine Holzmann – 08:49pm Nov 20, 2002 Pacific (#3 of 11) Edited: 20-Nov-2002 at 08:51pm PST

I shall share my settings with you…..I have been getting excellent color for the last 5 years. These settings are for PS 5 and upwards, and are from lots of research. For my dot gain, I use curves…as per Dan Margulis’ recommendations. Please note that as per your particular press, you may need to adjust the TAC (total ink coverage) and dot gain slightly until you are able to achieve in your color what is perfect for you.
For your ink colors, select Custom CMYK, then select SWOP (Newsprint) as a starting point for your ink colors.
In Dot Gain, use 30%….type this in and then select curves. At the 50% point in Cyan, change this to 80%
At the 50% point in Magenta, change this to 80%
At the 50% point in Yellow, change this to 78%
At the 50% point in Black, change this to 84%.

Use UCR for your separation type…..for newsprint, the "skeleton black" on the black plate that is achieved with UCR is much better than what you would get with GCR…using GCR tends to tends to result in "muddier" color on newsprint.

For Black ink limit, use 80%.
For Total Ink Limit, use between 240% and 270%…..this is where you need to see what works best for you. Most newsprint runs best at 240, but I found that it produced color that was much too washed out for me. I have been running at 260% for the last 5 years but just recently changed to 270%.

For your dot gain, you also need to experiment……see what settings work best for you from 28% to 34%. I would start at 30% and work from there as I recommended above.
Depending on what dot gain you use, here is how you would determine what settings to use in the curves dialogue box at the 50% point:
Cyan=your standard dot gain setting + 50
(e.g. 30+50=80…..80 is what you input at the 50% point) Magenta=your standard dot gain setting + 50
(e.g. 30+50=80….80 is what you input at the 50% point) Yellow=(your standard dot gain setting + 50)-2
(e.g. (30+50)-2=78…78 is what you input at the 50% point) Black=your standard dot gain setting + 50 + 4
(e.g. 30+50+4=84…84 is what you input at the 50% point)

If your standard dot gain is 28%, then:
Cyan=your standard dot gain setting + 50
(e.g. 28+50=78)
Thus…input 78 at the 50% point in Cyan
Magenta=your standard dot gain setting + 50
(e.g. 28+50=78)
Thus…input 78 at the 50% point in Magenta
Yellow=(your standard dot gain setting + 50)-2
(e.g. (28+50)-2=76)
Thus…input 76 at the 50% point in Yellow
Black=your standard dot gain setting + 50 + 4
(e.g. 28+50+4=82)
Thus…input 82 at the 50% point in Black

In general, if your color is coming out too dark, increase the dot gain and decrease the total ink limit.
On the other hand, if your color is coming out too light or too washed out, decrease the dot gain and increase the total ink limit.

I REALLY hope this has made sense:)) I know my explanations of the settings for the dot gain curves is somewhat confusing….but I tried my best:) If you are VERY confused, I really don’t mind sending you Dan Margulis’ explanation of it in much more detail. If the dot gain curves is much too confusing for you, just use standard and leave it at that…experiment between 28% to 34%. (20% as you mentioned in your thread is good for magazines but NOT for newsprint…will be much too dark!!)

For doing the color correction….I usually set highlights, shadows and neutral midpoint in RGB and then do the remainder of my corrections in CMYK……changes with curves, final sharpening, etc. all in CMYK.
But each and everyone to their own personal preferences here of course:)
J
JasonSmith
Feb 13, 2004
"If your standard dot gain is 28%, then:
Cyan=your standard dot gain setting + 50
(e.g. 28+50=78)
Thus…input 78 at the 50% point in Cyan
Magenta=your standard dot gain setting + 50
(e.g. 28+50=78)
Thus…input 78 at the 50% point in Magenta
Yellow=(your standard dot gain setting + 50)-2
(e.g. (28+50)-2=76)
Thus…input 76 at the 50% point in Yellow
Black=your standard dot gain setting + 50 + 4
(e.g. 28+50+4=82)"

Unfortunately the poster completely ignores WHAT dot gain really is.

28% DG at the 50% midpoints would be a 14% increase, not 28%.

But who am I to argue with settings that have worked for 5 years?
TL
Tim_Lookingbill
Feb 13, 2004
Good point, Jason. I kept this in my scrapbook and now I have to resave with your input. You’re messing up my organization, dang 😉

I know one thing, Adobe does clear certain threads that might be of value later on, so I guess you better scrapbook this as well or it might be gone.
GA
Gordon_Anderson
Feb 14, 2004
I believe Jason is right. Dot gain at the 50 % level would be the percentage compared to "50"… so a 30% dot gain should be set at 65 and not 80 (50 x 1.3). But the conumdrum is that the poster said her figures have worked through the years?? Go figure. Anyone else have experince with this?

Gordon
TL
Tim_Lookingbill
Feb 14, 2004
I never put the original poster’s advice to the test anyway. Newsprint is so unpredictable that any offered custom settings used in a real situation for an extended period of time might be of use if by some chance I worked in that environment. I guess it was wise the original thread was eliminated.

But thanks for the correction from all. It’s still useful.
P
PShock
Feb 14, 2004
This advice seems the most sound:

"The best rule of thumb is to talk to the newspaper’s prepress department and get their recommendations."

(And so much easier to remember!)

-phil
PF
Peter_Figen
Feb 14, 2004
"I believe Jason is right. Dot gain at the 50 % level would be the percentage compared to "50"… so a 30% dot gain should be set at 65 and not 80 (50 x 1.3). But the conumdrum is that the poster said her figures have worked through the years?"

However right you may think this sounds, it’s not the way dot gain nomenclature works. It’s not relative to the 50 percent. It’s what the dot actually measures on paper as opposed to on film/plate, so a dot 50 percent dot on film that measures 70 percent on paper has a 20 percent gain by agreed definition. The dot gain dialog boxes in PS reflect this industry practice.
GA
Gordon_Anderson
Feb 14, 2004
Hmmm. Thanks Peter. So on dot gain you’re referring to the actual gain..i.e. if a 50% dot swells to a 60 % dot, industry lingo says it has a 10% dot gain and not a 20% dot gain? Thanks.

Gordon
TL
Tim_Lookingbill
Feb 14, 2004
Knowing how much the dot swells is the million dollar question and requires expensive instruments to tell you.

What I was hoping to get out of this was some ballpark setting to give local nickel rag printers here in the sticks, who don’t fool with these instruments, a way to improve image quality. Some actually base their settings to save on ink costs believe it or not. They don’t care what it looks like.

So which should I scrapbook or should I just scrap it?
P
progress
Feb 14, 2004
this is assuming dot gain is linear against dot size…i dont think it is but i think its assumed it is for arguments sake.

gordon, i think your right in the first assumption otherwise dot gain would be exponential through the % range even if the actual physical gain was constant

ie if a 10% gain grew 10% using your second definition it would be 100% dot gain!
PC
Paul_Cutler
Feb 14, 2004
I do a lot of ads in the LA Times and NY Times. Newsprint is ever mysterious. I restrict TAC to 240% and dot gain around 30%. Other than that, if you’re running expensive color ads it is wise to let the color correction department do their work and always get proofs (on newsprint). These two newpapers are as different as night and day. The production guy at LA Times told me that their black ink is very transparent, so rich blacks often come out tinted or dark browns (for example) come out far lighter. Overall the NY Times has far superior printing and color department, but irregardless of this there is nothing that will break your heart like looking at a color laser proof for days and then getting that tear sheet. Still, I try…
J
JasonSmith
Feb 15, 2004
The way I originally thought of dot gain is that yes – a 20% DG would result as a 70% dot at the 50% point.

But I got my wrist slapped pretty severely from Bruce, MO, ect for making that assumption here before.

So Peter, you’re saying that is true?

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