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

• Print Items have an irregular shape.
• the irregular shape must be closed throughout - no transparent or white areas - and thus produce a clear outline.
• if the Print Item is an image, the irregular shape should not be "jagged" by image artifacts, which can be caused by JPEG compression.
• if the Print Item is an image, a given free-form selection should be clean and not surrounded by groups of pixels that have not been deleted.

Figure 1: The Basic settings, Advanced and Additional Dieline tabs in the Fixup dialog Add Dieline for Irregular Shapes

The following options can be used to create a Dieline for an irregular shape and an additional Dieline:

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

Basic Settings

• Line Width [2] – enter the line width for the Dieline, that will be created, here. For the Variable Content [3], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the line width should be retrieved
• Line Shape [11] – select the line shape for the Dieline to be created from the selection menu.
• Spot Color Name [4] – select the spot color to be used to create the Dieline from the selection menu. All technical colors assigned to the Cut Contour type are available for selection.
• Offset [5] – enter the desired offset of the dieline to the contour found in the motif here. For the Variable Content [12], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the Offset should be retrieved
• Overprint State [6] – select the overprint state for the Dieline to be created here. Choose between Overprint and Knockout.
• Apply only to Spot Color [7] – by activating this option, a Dieline is only created for all objects of the selected Spot Color. The existing outline of the object would be ignored.
• Spot Color Name [8] – enter the name of the Spot Color for which a Dieline will be created here. This option can only be selected when the Apply only to Spot Color option has been activated.
• Reduce to outer border [9] – the activation of this option restricts the creation of a Dieline to the outer outline of the Print Item. Example: For the letter "D", a Dieline would only be created for the outer part, but not for the inner space (punch).
• Skip generation of the Dieline if a Dieline already exists [10] – activating this option prevents the creation of a Dieline if a Dieline has already been created in the Spot Color selected in Spot Color Names [4].
• Set TrimBox to Dieline [13] – by activating this option, the TrimBox is set to the Dieline.

Advanced

• Extract Colors from DeviceN [14] – by activating this option, DeviceN constructs are separated within the file. If you want to create a Dieline based on a selected Spot Color,   also include the Spot Color channel within a DeviceN construct.
• Layer Name [15] – enter the name of the Layer on which the Dieline is to be created here. If you do not want to create a separate Layer, you must remove the name from the input field. For the Variable Content [21], 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 [16] –  All subsequently inserted Dielines should be created by default according to ISO 19593-1 on the Structural layer in the Structural group of the Cutting type. Find further information on the ISO standard in the article Processing Steps ISO 15931-1.
• Tracing Options [17] – in the selection menu, select how precisely the Print Items should be traced to create the Dieline. The more ornate the Print Item is, the more precisely it should be traced. Please note, however, that more precise tracing also takes considerably more time. The following options are available:
• Low (less path points) – the objects are traced inaccurately - at 75 dpi - but faster.
• Standard – the objects are traced more accurately - at 300 dpi - but still fast.
• Accurate (many path points) – the objects are traced very accurately - at 800 dpi - but more slowly.
• Highes Accuracy (slow) – the objects are traced extremely accurately - at 2400 dpi - but very slowly.
• Variable Content [22] –select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value of the path points for the accuracy should be retrieved. The following values must be found in the selected field for the mode to be used:
  • 75
  • 300
  • 800
  • 2400
• Treshold for Lightness [18] – the entered value determines when an object is considered transparent and is ignored when a Dieline is created. A value of 0.0 already ignores partially transparent objects. A value of 1 already recognizes the entire Artboard. The recommended value is 0.99.
• Despeckle (min. number of contiguous pixel) [19] – enter the minimum number of contiguous pixels surrounded by another color here to avoid tracing individual pixels that are swirling around.
• Curve smoothness [20] – the smoothing of edges or curves can be determined by varying the slider or by entering the percentage values. The higher the selected value, the smoother - with fewer path points - the curves are generated.

Figure 2: Values in the selected field for the option Tracing Mode

Additional Dieline

• Line Width [25] – enter the line width for the additional Dieline to be created here. For the Variable Content [26], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the line width should be retrieved.
• Line Shape [30] – in the selection menu select the line shape for the additional Dieline that should be created.
• Spot Color Name [27] – select the Spot Color with which the Dieline should be added from the selection menu. All Technical Colors assigned to the Cut Contour type are available for selection.
• Offset [28] – enter the desired offset of the Dieline to the Print Item here. For the Variable Content [31], select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the offset should be retrieved.
• Overprint State [29] – select the overprint state for the Dieline to be created here. Choose between Overprint and Knockout.

To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Add Dieline for Irregular Shape.pdf". The file contains a Print Item which is then cropped along the Outline.

After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Add Dieline for Irregular Shape_End.pdf" is created. A Dieline was created for the Print Item. The values from Figure 1 were used.

Figure 3: Left: initial file; Right: edited file where a dieline was created for an irregular shape

Article update: Workflow 1.17.2  – 06/2024