27/11/2016

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite - Tutorials

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TheBlackinCMYKprinting

DiscoveryCenter
ByArielGarazaDaz
(http://learn.corel.com/graphics/home)
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BlackisthemostimportantcolorinCMYKprinting.ThenameCMYKitselfisanacronymoftheinksusedforprint:Cyan,Magenta,
YellowandBlack,whereBlackisrepresentedbythelastcharacterKfortworeasons:first,toavoidconfusionwithblue,and
secondly,becauseBlackisalsocalledtheKeycolorsinceitsthemostimportantcolorinCMYKprinting.Mostcompaniesprint
Blackfirst(KCMY)andseveralprinterssay:iftheblackhasprintedfine,thewholejobwillbeOK,butiftheblackfails,theresno
waytorepairit.
Theimportanceofblackinprintingisalsothereasonwhyitisoneofthemostdifficultcolorstoprint,andwhyweneedtolearnhow
tomanageitcorrectly.
RGBBlackvsCMYKBlack

Asyouareprobablyalreadyaware,yourmonitorandwebpagesuseadifferentcolormodetoprint,calledRGB(RedGreenBlue),
basedontheprimarycolorsofvisiblelight.Inthiscolormode,blackmeansdarkornolight,anditsrepresentedasazerovalue
ofallofthethreecolors:R:0G:0B:0.Andofcourse,itappearsasaverydarktone,thedarkestposibleonyourmonitor.
ButCMYKBlackisaverydifferentconcept.Insteadoftheabsenceofcolor,itsmadeupofseparateinksthathelptocreatethe
darkertones,somethingthatwouldbealmostimposibletoachieveusingonlycyan,magentaandyellow.TheCMYKBlackisadded
totheotherinks,butreallyeachcolorisaddedtoothers.Forthisreasoniscalledanadditivecolormode(theoppositetoRGB,
wichisasustractivecolormode).
Forexample,tocreateCMYKRedyoushoulduseMagenta+Yellow.IfyouaddBlack,thecolorbecomesdarker.

Butthereisoneproblem:CMYKarecalledtransparentinks(actually,theyaretranslucent),whichhelpswhenprintingeachinks
overother.Thismeansthatthe100%BlackCMYKisnotasoliddarkarea(thesamehappensifyoucreateagradientfromany
colortoblack,theshadesaregrayandlookdiluted).Thereareothersimilarsituations,forexamplewhenwewanttoputagrayscale
imageoverabackground.Wewilltalkabouthowtosolvethosesituations.

PureBlackandRichBlack
Ifyoucreateabackgroundorabigrea,filledwithCMYKblack,youwillnoticethatthecolorisnotasdarkaswewouldexpect.
SinceCMYKusevaluesfromzeroto100%youcantaddmorethan100%ofeachink,buttheresultstillseemstobemoreofadark
gray.ThemostcommonsolutionistoaddoneormoreoftheotherCMYKcolors,forexample40%or50%ofCyan(C:40M:0Y:0
K:100).Ifyouuse40%/50%ofmagentainsteadCyan,theresultwillbeawarmblack.Abettersolutionistoadd40%/50%ofthe
otherthreeinks,(C:40M:40Y:40K:100),whichwillresultinanicedarkandneutralblack.ThosevaluesarecalledaRichBlack,
thatmeansamixofBlack+othercolors,ascomparedtoPureBlack(CMYKBlackonly,C:0M:0Y:0K:100)

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Workingwithgradients
IfyouapplyaFountainFillfromPureBlacktoanothercolor,sometimesyouwillnoticethatthecoloriswashedoutanddoesnt
lookgood,itseemsmorelikeapalegray.

ThesolutionistouseRichBlackinsteadofPureBlack.Youwillnoticeabigdifference(onyourmonitorandalsointheprinted
result),ifyouapplyaRichBlack.Forexample,ifyouareusingagradientfrom100%Blackto100%Cyan,youwillgetabetter
resultifyouuse100%Black+100%Cyanto100%Cyaninstead.

TotalInkCoverage
SomepeopleusetheMaxValue(C:100M:100Y:100K:100)becauseitlooksverydarkonthescreen,verysimilartohowtheRGB
Blacklooks.Butthatcancauseseveralprintingproblems,especiallywithbigareasand/orbackgrounds.Sinceeachcolorrequiresa
dryingtime,usingonlypurecolorsrequiresmoretimetoprintandmostofthetimescauseunwantederrorsintheprint.
ThebiggestadviceisNEVERtousethiscolorforprint.MostofthecolorprofilesincludealimitfortheTotalInkCoverage(the
additionofthefourinks).IftheMaxvaluefortotalInkis400%(100%ofeach),colorprofileslimittheTotalInkfrom300%to340%
(addingthefourinks).Forexample,somecolorprofilesconvert100%ofallinksto75%cyan+75%Magenta+75%Yellow+95%
Black,inordertoproduce320%Totalink.

PantoneBlackvsCMYKBlack
Notalljobsarethesame.Forexample,ifyouneedtoprintajobthatusesonlyBlackandRed,itwillbemoreeasy,fastandcheap
tousetwoinksinsteadfour.Inthiscase,themostcommoncolorsusedarethePantonecolorpalettes.ThereareseveralPantone
colorpalettes,accordingtothekindofpaper(Coated,uncoated)orthekindofjob(Textile,fashion,etc.).
MostofthePantoneinksareopaque,whiletheCMYKinksaretranslucent.Thiscanbeagreatadvantage.Ifyouneedtoprinta
plaincolor,forexample,usingBlack:youdontneedtouseanythingmorethanjustPantoneBlackforaperfectcoverage.
Unfortunately,ifyouaddthePantonecolortoaCMYKjob,thatmeansyoullbeusingfiveinksandthecostwillbeincreased.
However,sometimestheuseofanextrainkistheonlysolutionforgettingtheexactresult,forexampleifyouneedtouseabright
color,afluorescenttone,ametallicink(gold,silver,etc).
Italsocouldbeusefulifyouneedtouseashadeofthecolor.Ifyouneedtouseagray,youcanuseashadeofCMYKBlack,such
as10%black,20%,etc.Theoutputwillbecomposedofsmalldots,thatcreatetheilllusionofthegraytone.Butifyouneedtousea
realgray,onabackgroundoranyotherobjectyoucanuseaPantonecolor,suchasPANTONECoolGray1C,andthatwillbea
plain,solidlayerofthiscolor.Thedifferencewillbemorevisibleafterprinting,especiallywhenexaminedusingamagnifyingglass.

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Mixingcolors
Sometimesweneedtouseagrayscaleimage,thatusesonlyBlack,butneedtoaddsomecolortotheimage.Afastandnice
solutioncouldbetoplacethegrayscaleimageoveracoloredbackground,selecttheTransparencyTool,andchooseUniform
TransparencyinMultiplymode,with0%transparencyonthePropertybar,TheresultshouldremovetheWhiteareasofthe
image,leavingatransparentblackimagethatcouldbeusedoveranybackground.Anyway,theoutputwillbeanoverprintedblack
overthecoloredbackground.

OverprintingBlack

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Frequentlywehearabouttheimportanceofoverprintingblack,butnotallpeopleunderstandwhatthismeansandwhyitisso
important.Trytoimaginethatwewanttoprintablacktextoveragreenbackground.Ifyoudontuseoverprintblack,onthecolor
separationtherewillbeawhiteholeonthebackgroundandthetextwouldneedtobeprintedexactlyintheplacetofillthisgap.But
printingmachinesarenotalwayssoexact.Thepapersuffersstretching,andduethespeedofprintingtherecouldbeasmall
difference.Theresultcouldbeanunwantedwhitelinebetweenthetextandthebackground.Thatsnotonlybadforquality,italso
couldmakeitdifficulttoreadsmalltext.Thesolutionistosetoverprintblackonoutput.Itsspeciallyimportantforthinlinesand
smalltext.And,sincetheblackisaddedtothebackgroundcolor,itwilllookevendarker,makeitmorevisible.

Anyway,takecarewhenyouuseoverprintobjectsonthedocument.Itsaveryusefuloptionforsmalltextandthinlinesbutifyou
chooseoverprintwithbiggerobjectsandthebackgroundisnotuniform,theresultcouldbewrong.RememberthatCMYKblackis
notopaque,thenifthebackgroundhasdifferenttones,thiswillbevisibleafterprinting.Thesamewarninggoesifyouchoose
manuallytooverprintthefilloroutlineofobjectswithothercolors.ItsveryimportanttoenableSimulateoverprintsontheView
menu.

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