Hi Calouk:
You said: "The printer has informed me that the cost is dependent on
whether theprocess is 4 colour, 2 colour or Pantone. I don?t
understand these
concepts."
Let's start with a definition of inks:
4-color is sometimes called "process printing" and means combining
Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black inks, also known as "CMYK", in
different screened percentages to approximate a solid color. Assuming
they have color newspapers in Australia, look at them up close and you
will see that the photos and graphics are actually made up of little
dots of these colors.
2-color typically means Black plus a "spot" color, i.e. "reflex blue"
or other colors that printers have on stock on a regular basis, though
it can sometimes mean 2 Pantone inks (see below).
Pantone is a brand name of an ink company that published ink swatch
books (think of them as paint chip books like when you go to buy paint
and they have strips of paper with representations of color and a
formula printed underneath for the paint mixer to use... except that
instead of paint it's ink and the formula is used by your printer, not
a paint mixer." The company also provides the actual ink bases and
tints used to make these formulations. Their inks and colors are
patented/protected via copyright.
Visit www.pantone.com for examples of ink swatch books for sale. They
are expensive, and I don't recommend them for a small project.
YOU SAID: "For example, if I was to make a full colour design, is that just 4
colour process?"
In Adobe Photoshop (I'm not sure what "CS" is. Hopefully it's fully
featured.) you get to specify colors. First, open your file (or a new
file) and select "window" then select "show color". This is your
"palette" from which you can select colors.
Click on the "swatches" tab. There is a small arrow to the right of
the tabs. Click it and a drop down menu will appear. There are too
many options there to describe, so to make this as simple as possible:
If you want to use one or two inks (i.e. two colors or black plus one
color) choose Pantone Coated if you are going to print on "glossy"
paper, or choose Pantone Uncoated if you are going to print on matte
paper, i.e. letterhead.
Select the color you desire just like you've used the pallet when
creating your files so far. Make sure that you have specified, or
re-specified every element in your file to one of these two colors
that you've selected for your print job.
If you want to use Process inks:(this is mandatory for multiple colors
and variations, as well as if you have photos or other full color
graphics) Follow the same instructions as above, however, select
Pantone Process. Once you've selected it, you can click on the
"color" tab, and it will show you the formula (or ratios of one ink to
another in the "mix" that the printer will output."
The most important think in Photoshop is to make sure that you are
consistent with every element in the file. If it's a two color print
job, make sure that you have only specified two inks and that they are
the two you want to have printed. If it's full color/4-color/process
printing make sure that everything is specified in proportions of CMYK
inks at 0% - 100%, and that you do NOT have any pantone coated or
pantone uncoated inks specified.
I use InDesign and Pagemaker instead of Quark, so I don't have the
menus to walk you through, but typically it's either under a
window/tool window/view file/preferences file/color command that you
specify the colors. Use the onboard help to facilitate. Essentially,
colors are specified the same way.
YOU SAID: "What makes it a Pantone colour, me specifying that it
is a Pantone or is there some sort of special process I need to go
through in the graphics program? Is 2 colour process black and
another colour, or two colours, or black and two colours."
Yes, you must specify that it's a Pantone color if you want Pantone
inks (meaning you are going to do a job with 2 solid inks instead of
CMYK ratios) and that IS the special process. I answered the second
part of the question earlier in the post."
Lastly, COMMUNICATION is key.
1) Tell the printer that you are a novice
2) Ask them to check your electronic files prior to running them to film/plate
3) Ask them to either fix the file(s) (offer to pay them to do so and
ask them to send you the corrected files) or ask them to call you and
walk you through the changes.
4) Make sure you get a proof prior to printing, and ask them to tell
give you a list of what colors you specified versus what colors you
are paying to print.
YOU SAID:"I am using a PC, using Photoshop CS and QuarkXpress. Also I am in
Australia if that makes any difference."
Make sure the printer knows you are using a PC file. That's what we
use, but many publishing and printing companies prefer MAC. He may
have a special format he wants you to use, i.e. exporting to an EPS or
PDF file.
The fact that you are in Australia only impacts the project in that
you say "colour" and the menu, depending on where you bought it and
how old it is, may say "color" since many of these design programs are
U.S. programs that may or may not have regionalized support for
languages. Pantone is Pantone. The printing process is pretty much
standard world-wide, with the exception of high-end features/processes
that some large or specialty companies provide.
Good luck in your endeavor, and
G'day mate... ;-) |
