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

• There is a Spot Color Separation in the file. It does not matter whether the Spot Color Separation exists as a separate separation or as a separation in a DeviceN construct.
• The Spot Color Separation does not have a tone value gradation.

Figure 1: The dialog of the Fixup Increase Spot Color Separation

Choose from the following functions to enlarge an existing Spot Color Separation:

• Template [1] – settings selected in the dialog can be saved as a template and thus applied to other Articles/Print Items.
• Extract Spot Colors form DeviceN [2] –by activating these options, all DeviceN Spot Color constructs are separated. This ensures that only the Spot Color channel in a DeviceN construct and not all separations in the DeviceN construct are increased.
• Spot Color [3] – in the selection menu, select the Spot Color Separation that should be increased. All Spot Colors and Technical Colors from the Print Item are available.
• Reduce to outer border [4] – by activating this option, the existing Spot Color Separation is only increased at the outer edge. However, nothing changes on the inner edge.
• Increase by [5] – enter the value by which the Spot Color Separation should be increased. Please note that the value entered is added to each edge. For example, if you enter 1 mm, the separation is increased by 2 mm in diameter. For the Variable Content [8], select the desired placeholder - Database field or User-defined field - from which the increase should be retrieved.
• Quality [6] – in the selection menu, select the quality with which the Spot Color Separation should be traced, which generates the increase. The following options are available:
  • Accurate (smaller A4/Letter) – the resolution for tracing is set to 1200 dpi for small sizes - smaller than A4 or Letter.
  • Accurate (larger A4/Letter) – the resolution for tracing is set to 600 dpi for larger sizes - larger than A4 or Letter.
  • Standard – the resolution for tracing is set to 150 dpi with this option.
  • Autom. – the Spot Color Separation is automatically traced. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size of the object. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
    • For a width or height up to 300 mm, the tracing is done at 1200 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 500 mm, the tracing is done at 600 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 1000 mm, the tracing is done at 300 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 2000 mm, the tracing is done at 150 dpi.
    • For a width or height greater than 2000 mm, the tracing is done at 75 dpi.
  • Custom –select the resolution for the tracing itself. To do this, enter the desired number of dpi in the Resolution [7] input field.
  • Variable Content [9] – select the desired placeholder - database field or user-defined field - from which the value for the quality should be retrieved. The following values must be found in the selected field so that the selection is executed:
    • Label_Accurate
    • LFP_Accurate
    • LFP_Standard
    • Auto
    • Custom
• Resolution [7] – enter the desired resolution if you have selected the Custom option for the Resolution option. For the Variable Content [10], select the desired placeholder - Database field or User-defined field - from which the resolution should be retrieved.

Figure 2: Values in the selected field for the option Quality

To experiment with this function, refer to the sample file "Sample_Increase Spot Color Separation.pdf". The file has a size of 100 x 100 mm. The Print Item shows a bouquet. The Print Item should be printed on a transparent Substrate, which is why a white separation was created. The separation is sized 98 x 98 mm and should be increased to 100 x 100 mm so that the white channel matches exactly with the Dieline.

After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Increase Spot Color Separation_End.pdf" is created. Here the Spot Color Separation "White" was increased by 2 mm. The values from Figure 1 were used.

Figure 3: Left: initial file; Right: edited file where the Spot Color Channel White was increased

Article update: Workflow 1.17.2 – 08/2024