User Manual

2.6 Variable Fill or Stroke Color

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In this chapter you will learn

  • how to create a variable fill color and variable stroke color without uploading a CSV file,
  • how to create a variable fill color and variable stroke color based on a CSV file and
  • how to statically colorize a fill or stroke color.

1. General

In practice, the creation of variably filled colored areas or contour lines is not an everyday undertaking in the creation of variable data. However, if the design is to change significantly from printout to printout, variably colored areas and contours can provide a solution as design objects.

Variable colored objects can be needed for the following use cases:

  • Backgrounds - background areas should dynamically adapt to the object in the foreground. In certain cases, this could be used to add a colored background without having to change the design.
  • Filling masked areas - transparent areas in a design can be dynamically filled with color.
  • Price tags - dynamic color adjustment of the background and stroke color of price tags to highlight special actions.
  • Colorizing image areas - in conjunction with the fill methods, areas of an image can be variably colored.

2. Create variably filled objects

You would like to colorize the background of a sticker variably using the color values stored in a CSV file.

To realize this intention, you have to proceed as follows:

  1. Open the desired Article or the intended Print Item in the VDP Editor.
  2. Select the VDP Rectangle Tool [1].
  3. Create a rectangle from the upper left edge to the lower right edge [3] in the size of the Print Item plus Bleed. The X and Y position as well as the width and height of the rectangle can be changed later at any time. The green color for the rectangle [2] indicates the user immediately that the serial number will be placed on the VDP on highest layer.

Figure 1: The Print Item while creating a rectangle with the VDP Rectangle Tool

  1. After releasing the mouse button, a rectangle is created with white as fill color [5] - the standard color when creating a VDP object. This means that the Print Item is no longer visible in its entirety, since VDP objects are created on VDP on highest layer by default. In addition, a warning message [4] is displayed, which simply states that a variable object extends beyond the ImageBox, which, in our case, is the desired behavior.
  2. Switch to the Layers tab [6].
  3. Move the variable object [7] from the VDP on highest layer to VDP on lowest layer and release the mouse button. The VDP object now receives red as its selection color, because it is VDP on lowest layer.

Figure 2: The created white rectangle with openend Layers tab, wherein the VDP object was moved to the lowest layer

  1. After the VDP object is now on the lowest layer, the Print Item becomes visible again.
  2. Switch back to the Transform & General Settings tab [8] to enter the exact coordinates for the VDP rectangle for the X and Y position as well as for the width and height [9].
  3. Then upload the desired CSV file [10] containing the to be used color values.

Figure 3: The Transform & General Settings tab, wherein the VDP object can be positioned even more precisely by entering the dimensions

  1. Since only the fill and stroke color can be changed for VDP objects, the Content tab is not available.
  2. To create a variable color value, you must switch to the Format tab.
  3. Open the Stroke Color Settings [15] and the Fill Color Settings [11].
  4. Select the color picker [16] option in the Stroke Color Settings and set the No color [17] option for the stroke.
  5. In Fill Color Settings, select Data Source [12].
  6. Select Column Title [13] from the Data Source pop-up menu. Then select the column in the CSV file that contains the color values from the Column Title pop-up menu [14].

Figure 4: The Format tab wherein the VDP object is colorized variably with a Fill Color

  1. The purpose is now fullfilled. Check whether the color values actually change by selecting another data set [18].
  2. Close the creation process by pressing the Save button.

3. Specific Features

Some new specific features are available in conjunction with variable Fill and Stroke Colors. The following description goes into these specific features.

3.1. Create static Fill resp. Stroke colors

In case you would like to color a geometric object in a VDP job, you can do this at any time without having to edit the actual Print Item. Proceed as follows:

  1. Create the desired object using the VDP Object Creation Tools [19].
  2. Select the Format tab [20] and open the Fill Color Settings area [21] to define the fill color.
  3. Select the Color Picker option [22].
  4. Therein, you can either enter a CMYK color value [23] or select it by clicking on the color circle [25] in the color picker or use system-wide spot color definitions [24]. Read more about selecting colors in the Article Create and Edit variable Objects.

Figure 5: The Format tab with defined color values for the fill color

3.2. Create variable Fill resp. Stroke Colors without a CSV file

In case you would like to create variable Fill Colors for objects or backgrounds, you can do this without a CSV file. In the following example, the color value should change as follows from record to record:

  • Cyan - the color value always increases by 20% and starts again from 0% when the 100% color value is reached.
  • Magenta - the color value always increases by 10% and starts again from 0% when the 100% color value is reached.
  • Yellow - the color value always increases by 5% and starts again from 0% when the 100% color value is reached.
  • Black - the color value always increases by 1% and starts again from 0% when the 40% color value is reached.

To create this color definition, proceed as follows:

  1. Create the desired object using the VDP Object Creation Tools.
  2. Select the Format tab [26] and open the Data Source settings area [27] to define the fill color.
  3. Select the String option [28].
  4. In the input field String [29]  enter 0%,0%,0%,0%, by which you have defined the color definition for the CMYK value Cyan=0; Magenta=0; Yellow=0 und Black=0.
  5. Select the number 0  (value of Cyan) and press the Insert Placeholder button [31]. In the dialog that appears, select Serial Number, which will insert the string  ${serial_number; start=1; width=1; batch_count=0; repeat_count=0; increment=1} instead of 0.
  6. To make the Cyan value change as planned, change the following values:
    • start=0
    • repeat_count=100
    • increment=20
  7. Proceed in the same way for the Magenta value. Change the following values:
    • start=0
    • repeat_count=100
    • increment=10
  8. Proceed in the same way for the Yellow value.  Change the following values:
    • start=0
    • repeat_count=100
    • increment=5
  9. Proceed in the same way for the Black value. Change the following values:
    • start=0
    • repeat_count=40
    • increment=1
  10. When you have completed the operation, the following definition will appear in the String [29] input field: ${serial_number; start=0; width=1; batch_count=0; repeat_count=100; increment=20}%,${serial_number; start=0; width=1; batch_count=0; repeat_count=100; increment=10}%,${serial_number; start=0; width=1; batch_count=0; repeat_count=100; increment=5}%,${serial_number; start=0; width=1; batch_count=0; repeat_count=40; increment=1}
  11. Now  press the Update button [30], for successfully completing the task.

Figure 6: The Format tab with variable color value definition for the Fill Color

3.3. Create variable Stroke Color for dashed Stroke

In case you want to create a dashed contour which changes its color in a VDP job, you can do so with a few detours. Proceed as follows:

  1. Open the desired Print Item in the VDP Editor.
  2. Prepare the VDP Editor by adding a CSV file containing two columns of color codes.
  3. Create the desired Stroke using the VDP Object Creation Tools [32]. Here, the VDP Bezier Curve Tool was used to create a Bezier path.
  4. Select the Format tab [33] and open the Path Settings [34] area to create the line thickness. Enter the desired Line Width [35] and make sure that it is a continuous line. Continuous lines are created if the second value in Dash/Gap [36] is set to "0".
  5. Then open the Stroke Color Settings area to define the Stroke Color. First activate the option Data Source [37], then the entry Column Title in the Data Source option [38] and then the first value for the color in the option Column Title [39]. You have now created a continuous stroke whose color changes from record to record.

Abbildung 7: Der VDP-Editor mit unregelmäßiger Form mit den Werten für die Kontur im Reiter Formatierung

  1. Duplicate the path by copying the VDP object and pasting it again at the original position. Duplicate the object by moving it while holding down the alt or option key.  To make the path overlap the previously created path and be in the same position you can use the Arrange functions and enter the X and Y coordinates for the object in the Transform & General Settings tab.
  2. Create a dashed line by specifying the value for the gap [41] in the Stroke/Gap option and selecting the second value for the color definition in the CSV file in the Column Title option [42]. To strengthen or weaken the effect, you can also select a value from the Blend Mode [40] option.
  3. You have now completed the task. Switch between individual data sets to check the effect again.

Figure 8: The VDP Editor with an irregular, dashed shape with its Stroke values in the Format tab

Overprint objects

Note that in the VDP Editor, the Overprint resp. Knockout options are not available. If you want a VDP object to knockout the color values of objects behind, no arrangements have to be made as this is the default behavior for superimposed objects. However, if you want to overprint a VDP object, the Multiply entry is available in the Blend Mode option in the Format tab of the VDP Editor. This will give you the same color effect as when overprinting.

Article update: Workflow Version 1.14.0 – 09/2022

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