Using Swatch Books and Print Mode Defined Colors

ONYX TUTORIALS | 6/2014

ONYX Tutorials: Using Swatch Books and the Print Mode Defined Colors

Introduction

There are situations when the spot color printed is not acceptable. It’s too dull, too dark or the hue is off. A better color can be hit with the printing condition, but it also needs to be automated. ONYX 11.1 introduces the Print Mode Defined Colors. This adds the ability to create spot colors based on a specific print mode. The values used are the print mode’s output channels.

When a spot color is added to the Print Mode Defined Colors, the RIP software will look at this color table first to find a match. Once a match is found it stops looking at the System Defined colors. If you find a better color for that RAL, HKS, or PANTONE color, put the name of that color in the Print Mode Defined Colors. Then the new value is used.

This tutorial will explain how to use Swatch Books to find a better ink recipe for an existing spot color and use the Print Mode Defined Colors feature to Figure 1: Print Mode Defined Colors print that better ink recipe.

Step 1 - Setting up Swatch Books

The first step is to use Swatch Books. Click onSwatch Books icon from the toolbar in RIP-Queue (or Job Editor).

In this Swatch Books window, we will need to set the Printer, Quick Set, Media, and Mode. After configuring these options we need to choose the spot color as the Source Color.

Under Color Type, change the value to Spot. Next, click on the button button to the left of the Device Values list. Under Add Color, search for the spot color. In this example we are trying to find a better match for HKS 13 K. ClickOK to open the next Swatch Books window.

Step 2 - Print the Swatch and Choose a New Ink Recipe

In the next window, we can configure the swatches and how big of variations we want.

In this example, the Swatch Generation options will be left unchanged. We do want to Figure 2: Choosing the media, mode and Source Color change the type of variations. Under Horizontal change it from Lightness to Hue. Leave the difference at +/- 5. Click Print.

onyxgfx.com After the print comes out scan the swatches for a better match. After finding the better color we are ready to put that into our Print Mode Defined Colors.

Step 3 - Adding the Spot Color to the Print Mode Defined Colors

In RIP-Queue, select on the Setup menu, go to RIP Configuration and then click on Color Matching Table.

In the Color Matching Table window, click on the Print Mode Defined Colors tab. Before the new color can be added we need to choose the print mode. Click on Select Mode. Choose the media and mode we printed the Swatch Books patches with, and then click OK.

Options are now available. Click on Add. Enter the spot color name. The name should be the same name as the original spot color. For our example, we enter in HKS 13 K. Next in Figure 3: Configure Swatch Books Color Data, enter the chosen ink recipe and then click OK.

The spot color is added to the list. It will not be saved until we click OK out of the Color Matching Table window.

Now the color is added. When a job contains the spot color, ONYX will apply the values under the Print Mode Defined Colors.

Step 4 - Backing Up the Print Mode Defined Colors

Now the Print Mode Defined Colors are setup, they should be backed up. This is not done in the Color Matching Table window. They can be exported by creating a PrnInst or an ONYX Media Library (OML) file. Figure 4: Choosing a print mode

In RIP-Queue, select the File menu and go to Manage Printers. Next highlight the name of the printer and click the button, Create PrnInst. Make sure the media profile the spot colors were made for is checked and then click Next. Finally choose a location to save the file and clickSave .

Creating an OML file is done in RIP-Queue. Highlight the printer, then clickConfigure Printer. Select the Media tab and click Export. Check the media profile that we created the spot color for and click Next. Lastly choose a location for the file and clickSave .

For more information on Print Mode Defined Colors or Swatch Books go to www.onyxgfx.com. Figure 5: Adding the new spot color

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