Question about 2 color prints
Hey I"m working on a pretty large project, and strange enough this is the first time I have done a 2 color print job. I have no contact with the printer whatever so I thought I would ask some of you pros...
is it right for me to assume that when printing two color you actually have more then 2 colors to use? meaning you have the paper color, then the two main colors then whatever shade of those two colors...
does that make sense?
I've always printed in full color...
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That's right. When working
That's right. When working with two colours you have shades of them, plus duotone options in Photoshop, which can produce some pretty striking graphics as well. The only thing you have to take into account is the stock colour; it can significantly affect your pantone selections. I ran into that issue once when working with goldenrod stock and shades of green and purple--the purple turned burgundy.
ttfn!
3dogmama
Try your best to get in
Try your best to get in contact with the printer. Why are they unreachable? Are they in China or somewhere remote from your location?
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Thanks guys, I'm so
Thanks guys, I'm so premature in the project that they dont even have a printer in mind.. which could suck when it comes time to print.
it will be on white stock so I think i'm good there. I just wanted to make sure. Never went to school for any of this so I kind of learn as I go...
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I've done this for 13 years
I've done this for 13 years now and believe me, pick a printer and start communicating with them regarding specs as soon as you can before you get too far down the road on your project.
It always pays to design a piece like this (non standard) hand in hand with your printer. Makes everything go right the first time. Since you're screening colors back they are going to be harder to control and therefore, you'll want as much information early as you can get.
And make sure you don't just choose colors from pallettes. I'd choose colors based on pantones, but converted to cmyk to give you the best chance of standardizing your colors.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
not sure i get what you're saying
in that last para, nate.
When you choose colors from
When you choose colors from the generic/standard palettes offered by Adobe, you don't know how those colors are going to end up looking when printed and/or screened. You have a better shot of getting your colors right if you start from pantones.
Though the pantones do look different when converted and printed in CMYK, at least you have a standard you're starting from rather than generic colors Adobe gives you.
Better?
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Powerpoint is not a design application
flikWORLD Design
kinda
personally, i'd just recommend relying on the swatch books and not proofs or the screen w/pantone colors. no matter what you do, you're going to have issues proofing a number of pantone colors.
there's a very good pantone tints book out there, too. might be too expensive for the OP, but maybe a printer might have a copy they could look at.
Agreed. As I said, I only
Agreed. As I said, I only recommended the pantones as a starting point.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
flikWORLD Design
contact a printer now anyway
ask for a tour of their facility and if they can help you understand 2c printing better. they'll likely be happy to help you out and you can learn about the process. just be sure to include them when you ask for quotes.
NB, I'm not sure why you
NB, I'm not sure why you suggest converting spot Pantone colors to CMYK. Most printers will print a two-color job on a two-color press using the specified inks, not a 4-7 (or more) one using builds. At a gang shop this would make sense, though, or if they'd be putting the job on a DI. I guess it comes back to the issue of who is going to print the job. You're 100% right about the wisdom of connecting with the printer as early in the process (no pun intended) as possible. There may be limitations (or unexpected capabilities) that ipure will have to take into consideration -- not the least of which will be the printer's ability to handle the kind of file(s) he'll be providing. ipure: educate your client about this NOW!
Mara
It really depends on what
It really depends on what the two colors happen to be. I just didn't want him going with the default colors in Adobe's palettes because they are not standard colors. At least with pantones you know more about what the end result will be.
The pantones are a starting point for choosing the two colors used. That's all I meant.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
flikWORLD Design
Yep. I see what you meant. I
Yep. I see what you meant. I didn't imagine he would actually use the Adobe palette, though. That's the route to certain death. Choose Pantone (or whatever the printer uses) colors from a swatch book. No need to convert to CMYK for reasons already stated.
Mara
He said he was a beginning
He said he was a beginning designer so I wanted to make sure we nip the 'palette colors' thing in the bud early. :)
Yes, for a two color job picking CMYK is normally not correct. You're making plates which then can be made to print any color you choose, in screens or solids of same.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
flikWORLD Design
thanks guys
yeah I've been using certain pantone colors from the start so I think i'm good there. and I will see what I can do about contacting a printer!
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www.thepuredesign.com
if you don't have the swatch books,
you need to take a look at one to be sure about your colors. screen doesn't represent them well. the tints book is really useful,too.
I probably should not
I probably should not mention i'm color blind as well... they arent to picky about the colors as far as being super accurate.
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Yikes! You *are* a brave
Yikes! You *are* a brave soul! :-)
Mara
haha I know, it gets scary
haha I know, it gets scary sometimes, especially when i'm really tired i cant tell a dark brown from a black apart... my fiance proofs a lot of my work for me though.
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www.thepuredesign.com
The eyedropper tool could
The eyedropper tool could really come in handy for you. Get to know the cmyk percentages of your colors and you'll be able to quickly tell if a black area is really brown or some other color.
For example:
Black: 100%K
Rich Black: 30%C 30%M 30%Y 100%K (Still 100%K)
Brown (black starts looking brown around this percentage, give or take): 50%C 75%M 75%Y 75%K
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Powerpoint is not a design application
flikWORLD Design