For the Fixup to do what they promise, the following conditions must be met.

• The TrimBox is used for the ImageBox
• The BleedBox is located on the actual Bleed that is present.
• A BleedBox is present if ImageBox + Bleed in Create line for is selected

Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Create Line on selected Box

To create the printing line select from the following options:

• Templates [1] – Settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and thus applied to other Articles/Print Items.
• Erzeuge Linie für [2] – select the box on which the line is to be created in the selection menu. The following selection options are available:
  • ImageBox –the line is created on the ImageBox. Make sure that the ImageBox is positioned on the desired Page Box.
  • ImageBox + Bleed – the line is created on the ImageBox + Bleed. Make sure that the expected Bleed is used for the Bleed. Depending on the settings, this may differ from the actual Bleed of the document.
• Origin [3] – click on the respective edge to select the edge on which the line is to be created.
• Offset [10] – select the offset of the line to the selected box. "+" values offset the line outwards, while "-" values offset it inwards. For the Variable Content [11], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the offset should be retrieved.
• Line Width [4] – enter the line width of the line that should be created here. Remember that the line is created in the middle of the selected box. For the Variable Content [5], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the line width should be retrieved.
• Line Shape [12] – select which line shape the line should have.  Dashed lines are particularly suitable for this, especially if you are working with fill mode, so that the Dieline remains visible even on inconvenient color combinations of the printing line and the design.
• Blend Mode [6] – select which blend mode the line should have in the selection menu. The following options are available:
  • Normal – a line which is set to Knockout with the entered color values is created.
  • Multiply – multiplies the colors of the Print Items with the line color to be created based on the color information of the individual channels. The line is thus overprinting.
  • Overlay – performs a multiplication. The light and dark colors of the Print Item are retained. The color in the Print Item is not replaced, but mixed with the line color to reflect the light and dark colors of the Print Item.
  • Screen – performs a negative multiplication. The result is always a lighter color. If black is used as the line color, the result remains unchanged. If white is used, the line becomes white.
  • Darken – the color of the Print Items is compared with the line color and the darker color is selected as the resulting color. In other words: If the color of the line is darker, it is used. If the color of the Print Item is darker in the respective area, the color of the Print Item remains unchanged.
  • Lighten – the color of the Print Items is compared with the line color and the lighter color is selected as the resulting color. In other words: If the color of the line is lighter, it is used. If the color of the Print Item is lighter in the respective area, the color of the Print Item remains unchanged.
  • Color-dodge – the color information of the line and Print Items is used to lighten the color of the Print Item by reducing the contrast. A mixture with black would therefore not result in any changes.
  • Color-burn – the color of the Print Items is darkened by increasing the contrast based on the color information of the line and the Print Item. A mixture with white would therefore not result in any changes.
  • Soft Light – the color is lightened or darkened depending on the color of the line. If the line color is lighter than a 50 percent grey, the color of the Print Item becomes lighter. If the line color is darker than a 50 percent gray, the color of the Print Item becomes darker. The effect corresponds to illuminating the image with spotlights.
  • Hard Light – the color is lightened or darkened depending on the color of the line. If the line color is lighter than a 50 percent grey, the color of the Print Item becomes darker. If the line color is darker than a 50 percent grey, the color of the Print Item becomes lighter. The effect corresponds to illuminating the image with diffuse light.
  • Hue – the color of the line is used from the hue of the line color and the saturation or luminance of the Print Item color.
  • Exclusion – the color information of the Print Item and the line with the lower brightness value is subtracted from the line with the higher brightness value. If the color white is selected for the line, the color of the Print Item is reversed. A black line results in no change.
  • Luminosity – a result is generated from the hue and saturation of the subject color and the luminance of the line color.
  • Saturation –  a result is generated from the luminance and hue of the subject color and the saturation of the line color.
  • Color – a result is generated from the luminance of the subject color and the hue and saturation of the line color. The gray levels are retained.
• Use Systemwide defined Spot Color [7] – by activating this option, a system-wide defined Spot Color can be used as a line color. Select the desired Spot Color in the selection menu.
• Spot Color [8] – enter the desired name of the Spot Color that the line to be created should have. For the Variable Content [5], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the name of the Spot Color should be retrieved.
• Color selection for Spot Color [6] – enter the desired color values - alternative color values in CMYK - for the line to be created here. The color is displayed in the preview image.

To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Create Line on selected Box.pdf". The file has a size of  200 x 200 mm and a Bleed of 3 mm.

After applying the Fixups, the file "Sample_Create Line on selected Box_End.pdf" was created with a red solid line on the ImageBox. The values from Figure 1 were used.

Figure 2: Left: initial file in the open Print Item Editor; Right: edited file where a line was created on the ImageBox in the open Print Item Editor

Article update: Workflow 1.17.1 – 04/2024