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 Clip existing Separation

The following options can be used to clip the size of 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 from DeviceN [2] – by activating this option, all DeviceN Spot Color constructs are extracted. This ensures that only the Spot Color channel in a DeviceN construct and not all separations in the DeviceN construct are reduced.
• Spot Color [3] – in the selection menu, select the Spot Color Separation that you want to reduce. 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 reduced on the outer edge. However, nothing changes on the inner edge.
• Reduce by [5] – enter the value by which the Spot Color Separation should be clipped. Please note that the entered value is subtracted at each edge. Enter e.g. 1 mm and the diameter of the separation is reduced by 2 mm. For the Variable Content [8], select the desired placeholder - Database field or User-defined field - from which the reduction should be retrieved.
• Quality [6] – in the selection menu, select the quality with which the Spot Color Separation should be traced. Thereby, the reduction can be generated. The following options are available:
  • Accurate – The Spot Color Separation is traced very accurately but somewhat more slowly. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
    • For a width or height up to 300 mm, tracing is performed at 2400 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 1000 mm, tracing is performed at 1200 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 600 dpi.
    • For a width or height greater than 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 300 dpi.
  • Fast – The Spot Color Separation is traced accurately but fast. The resolution of the tracing depends on the size. The following resolution is stored depending on the size:
    • For a width or height up to 300 mm, tracing is performed at 600 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 1000 mm, tracing is performed at 300 dpi.
    • For a width or height up to 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 150 dpi.
    • For a width or height greater than 2000 mm, tracing is performed at 100 dpi.
  • Custom – select the resolution with which the Spot Color Separation should be traced. To do this, enter the desired resolution in the provided 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:
    • Accurate
    • Fast
    • 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_Clip existing Separation.pdf". The file has a size of 100 x 100 mm.  The Print Item shows a ladybug. The Print Item should be printed on transparent Substrate, which is why a white channel was created in the print file. This channel has a size of 100 x 100 mm and should be reduced to 96 x 96 mm so that the white channel does not reach the Dieline.

After applying the Fixup, the file "Sample_Clip existing Separation_End.pdf" is created. Here, the Spot Color Separation „white" was reduced by 2 mm from the outside. The values from Figure 1 were used.

Figure 3: Left: initial file; Right: edited file where the Spot Color Separation was clipped

Article update: Workflow 1.18.0 – 08/2024