Design for Print - Workshop 1 - Working with Colour

Technical side of print based methods, technical understanding of printing. 
How to work in colour 9th Oct 2012 - Illustrator.

Working with colour:

CMYK: PRINTING INKS, when printed onto paper, they are not opaque inks, they mix on the paper and different percentage of cmyk will give combinations that produce most colours for printing.

CMYK - PROCESSED COLOURS - THE INKS USED IN COMMERCIAL PRIMT PROCESS. 

CMYK - COLOUR FOR PRINT

RGB - COLOUR FOR SCREEN

USE GREY FOR CRITICAL COLOUR WORK - SO THEREFORE CHANGE THE BACKGROUND TO GREY FOR MORE ACCURATE DETAIS. TO FILL SHAPE WITH COLOUR USE FORGROUND AND BACKGROUND COLOUR, ONE REPRESENTS FILL. ONE STROKE.

USE COLOUR PALLTE ON SCREEN

SWATCHES: ALSO ME TO CONSTANTLY APPLY THE SAME COLOUR THROUGHOUT MY DOCUMENTS AND ARTWORK. IF I USED THE COLOUR PICKER. IT IS STILL NOT CONSISTENT AS USING SWATCHES TO MAINTAIN THE COLOUR. 

DEFAULT SET OF SWATCHES, YOU WILL WANT TO CREATE YOUR OWN SPECIFIC SWATCHES, SO THEREFORE NEED TO SET UP OWN SWATCH PALLET. 

DELETE ALL THE MAIN SWATCHES, SLECT AND PLACE IN BIN. USE TEH REGISTRATION SWATCH - CIRCLE WITH TRAGET IN IT? - FOR TRIM AND CROP MARKS AND REGISTRATION MARKS FOR PRINT ITS PRINTED BUT LOST WHEN THE IMAGE IS TRIMMED DOWN. REGISTRATION MARKS, DOCUMENTATION ALL IS FOCUSED WITHIN THIS SWATCH FOR PRINTING PROCESS. 

ADD NEW SWATCHES:

GO TO COLOUR PALETTE TO SET INK PERCENTAGES ON CMYK SELECT PERCENTAGES TO GET COLOUR, GO TO COLOUR SECTION, ADD NEW SWATCH ON DROP DOWN MENU. PROCESS INKS, COLOUR MODE ETC IS TARGETED. GO BACK TO SWATCH AND ADD IT AS A COLUR.

*** REMEMBER TO NAME NEW SWATCH AS THE CMYK PERCENTAGE

PREPARE SWATCH PALETTE!!]CHANGE TO SMALL LIST VIEW TO GET ALL DETAILS.

CONFIRMS MODE AND PROCESS THAT YOUR WORKING IN. ADD USED COLOURS - LOOK AT ANY COLOUR USED ON PAGE IN WORK AND CREATE SWATCH FOR THAT COLOUR - SO YOU COULD WORK IN THAT WAY.

NEW SWATCHES THEN GET ADDED FORM TEH COLOURS USED ON PAGE. 

ALL ONES ADDED FROM ARTWORK HAVE A SMALL TRIANGLE AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE SWATCH A GREY SQUARE APPEARS. TO CHNAGE INK PERCENTAGES DOUBLE CLICK ON SWATCH AND OPTIONS WILL COME UP IF THE COLOUR OF INK MIXTURE NEEDS CHANGING. IF COLOUR IS GLOBAL THEN ITS GOOD, WHEN CMYK VALUE OF GLBAL SWATCH IS CHANGED, EVEY ASPECT OF THAT COLOUR USED ON PAGE WILL UPDATE. SO IF I APPLY GLOVAL SWATCHES MULTIPLE TIMES IN ARTWORK, TO MAKE GLOBAL CHANGES THEN EDIT INK PERCENTAGES IT WILL JUST AUTOMATICALLY DO IT FORM CMYK PERCENTAGES ON SWATCH MODE. THEREFORE MAKING EDITING AND SMALL CHANGES VERY EASY TO DO. TO CHNGE AND VARIATE THE DEISGN CLICK ON SHAPE, THEN SWATCH THEN GO TO COLOUR PALETTE AND THEN TINT WILL APPEAR AND THEN ADD NEW SWATCH THAT WILL BE TINIT. TINT IS A PERCENTAGE OF A VALUE OF PRINT FORM 100%. THE COLOUR PALETTE CAN THEN SET VARIOUS TINITS, THEREFORE GLOBAL SWATCH ALLOWS YOU TO WORK WITH TINTS OF PARTICULAR SWATCH COLOUR. IF I THEN SET UP TINITS AND EDIT THE MASTER SWATCH )100%) COLOUR SWATCH AND CHANGE THE PERCENTAGES.

THIS THEN CREATES MONOTONE ARTWORK - TINTS OF ONE COLOUR. 

SPOT COLOURS:

SPOT COLOURS WHICH IS PRINTED WITH AN INK THAT ISNT MADE UP OF CMYK. SO IN COMMERCIAL PRINT PROCESS A SPOT COLOUR IS PRINTED WITH POT OF INK THAT IS SPECIFIC COLOUR. WHEN WOULD E USE A SPOT COLOUR? WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGE? THE SPOT COLOURS CAN MAKE THINGS LOOK LUMINOUS/FLORESENT/METALIC/ INK. spot colours use less oney - its cheaper as colours dont need to be mixed. using spot colours will be cheaper then cmyk. SPOT COLOUR IS SPECIFC FOR THE PRODUCT. MAIN REASON TO USE SPOT COLOUR. N UK YOU WILL USE PANTONE SWATCH BOOKLET FOR SPOT COLOUR, SO YOU COULD TALK TO PRINTER OVER STOCK, SPOT COLOUR LIBARIES ETC SO IT CAN BE USED. YOU CAN LOOK THROUGH SWATCHES AND EACH SWATCH HAS UNIQUE REFRENCE NO. AND DURING PRINT PROCESS THE NO. IS SAVED AND SENT TO COMMERCIAL PRINTER, SO WEN THEY PREPARE ARTWORK, THEY WILL KNOW NO. OF INK TO MIX TO ACHIEVE THAT COLOUR. SO PRODUCT IS ALWAYS SENT WITH SPECIFIC SPOT COLOUR REFRENCE NO. PANTONE NUMBER TO ENABLE CONSISTANCY. 

ACSESS IN ILLUSTRATOR:

SOMETIMES SPOT COLOUR SHOULD BE GIVEN TO YOU - SO AT THE TOP OF THIS YOU CAN TYPE IN THE CODE AND WILL GIVE YOU SPECIFIC SPOT COLOUR. THEN TO ADD TO SWATCH LIBARY AND USE OF PROCESS AS PRINTED PRODUCT THEN YOU HAVE TO HAVE SPOT LIBARY IN SWATCHES [ALETTE. YOU JUST CLICK ON SWATCH AND IT GOES STRAIGHT TO SWATCH LIBARY SO YOU CAN USE IT. CLEVER STUFF.

TOO SAVE SWATCHES:

SAVE AS AI SAVE IN SWATCHES OFLDER WHICH IS IN LIBARY FOLDER INSIDE HOME FOLDER

THIS CAN BE OPENED FROM THE MENU IN A NEW DOCUMENT, SWATCH MENU LIBARY, USER DEFINED.