For the Fixup to do what it promises, the following requirements must be met:

• Print Items should contain objects that are white or transparent.
• Technical Colors can be included, these are excluded from the Fixups.

Figure 1: Left: The Basic Settings tab of the Fixuü Create White Only Separation; Right: values in the selected field for the option Apply to

To create a white only separation select from the following options:

• Vorlage [1] – Settings that are selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and thus applied to other Articles/Print Items.

Basic Settings

• Origin [2] – select the area for which a white separation is to be created in the selection menu. The following options are available:
  • ImageBox – all contents of the ImageBox are affected by the Fixup. Therefore, pay attention on which box the ImageBox was placed.
  • ImageBox + Bleed – all contents of the ImageBox + Bleed are affected by the Fixup.
• Apply to  [3] – select the objects to which the Fixup should be applied in the selection menu. The following options are available:
  • Printed Objects – all printing objects are included in the white separation, all other image content becomes transparent.
  • Non-printing Objects – all white or transparent objects in the file are included in the white separation, and the other image content - vectors, texts, and images - becomes transparent.
  • Variable Content [8] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the selection should be retrieved. The following values must be found in the selected field to make the selection:
    • Printed_Areas
    • Transparent_Areas
• Create Spot Color [4] – select the Spot Color that should be used for the white separation from the drop-down menu. Spot Colors that have the entry Separation in the Create Spot Color Definition system-wide in Output as are available for selection.
• Tonal Value [5] – the tone value of the spot color separation can be reduced by changing the slider or by entering the percentage values.
• Extract Spot Colors from DeviceN [6] – by activating this option, all Spot Color DeviceN constructs are separated. This means that technical Spot Colors can also be extracted from the DeviceN construct and thus excluded from the conversion to a white-only separation.
• Spot Color [7] – if objects are created in a Spot Color - e.g. Dieline, varnish, etc. - these can be excluded from the conversion. To do this, select the respective Spot Color in the selection menu.

Figure 2: The tab Advanced of the Fixup Create White Only Separation

Advanced

• Tracing Mode [9] – In the selection menu, select how precisely the individual objects of the Print Item should be traced to create the white separation. The more ornate the Print Items are, the more precisely they should be traced. Please note, however, that more precise tracing also takes considerably more time. The following options are available:
  • Inaccurate (fastest) –the objects are traced less precisely - with a resolution of 800 dpi - but faster.
  • Standard (fast) – the objects are traced accurately - with a resolution of 1200 dpi - but still fast.
  • Accurate (slow) – die Objekte werden sehr genau – mit einer Auflösung von 1200 dpi –  aber dafür etwas langsamer nachgezeichnet.
  • Variable Content [12] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the dpi value for the tracing mode should be retrieved. The following values must be found in the selected field so that the mode can be used:
    • 800
    • 1200
    • 2400
• Layer Name [10] – enter the name of the Layer on which the white separation is to be created. If you do not want to create a separate Layer, you must remove the name from the input field. For the Variable Content [13], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the layer name should be retrieved.
• Conformity of Processing Steps according to ISO 19593-1 [11] – a white separation should be created by default according to ISO 19593-1 on the White layer in the White group of the White type. Further information on the ISO standard can be found in the description Processing Steps ISO 15931-1.

Figure 3: Values in the selected field for the option Tracing Mode

To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_White only Separation.pdf". The file contains the Venus symbol, which was created with CMYK black, and the Mars symbol, which was created with the Spot Color "Spot Black".

After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_White only Separation_End.pdf" is created. Here, all printing objects within the ImageBox have been created as a white separation.

Figure 4: Left: initial file; Right: edited file where a Spot Color - White - Separation was created for all printing objects

Article update: Workflow 1.17.1 – 04/2024