Somewhere Over the CMYK Rainbow
Using PMS Pantone colors, metallic inks, varnishes and custom paper with your InDesign projects
by: Claudia McCue
For print projects that really pop, there's nothing like unusual inks or atypical papers. But before you jump into that 27-color job printed on foil gum wrappers, read this article to find out what to do—and what not to.
When you venture beyond the familiar territory of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, a wide world of color possibilities opens up for you. Whether you're striving for vibrance not attainable in process colors, or you need to match a specific corporate color, spot colors greatly extend the rainbow of print.
However, it's not all rosy in the world of spot colors. You'll find that some spot color inks require special handling because of the unique nature of their pigments, and that you may have to compromise a bit of brilliance in the name of longevity.
And even plain old process colors can come to life when printed on specialty substrates, such as foil-coated stock. But there are things to watch out for here, too, such as which types of ink print well on your chosen stock. In this article, I'll explore the possibilities of these interesting inks and substrates, as well as issues to consider before you jump into something really adventurous.
See Spot

You probably know there are serious limitations on
the gamut of colors that can be printed with
combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
But let's pause for a moment of amazement at the
range of colors that can be printed with CMYK. Think
of all the color photographs that are successfully
printed every day without the help of any special guest-starring inks.
Ah, but that's just not enough for us, is it? We
always want something more. In fact, CMYK can't
accomplish some fairly common colors, such as navy
blue and bright orange (see "I've Got the Blues" below).
Those are almost primal colors—think of myriad high
school football jerseys. Even for such basic colors,
process (CMYK) inks can only produce a purplish
blue instead of navy, and a brownish orange in lieu of
festive Pantone 021 Orange. That's where spot colors
come in. Open up your Pantone Formula Guide and
play along (Figure 1).
The Pantone Corporation doesn't manufacture
or sell printing ink; instead, Pantone functions as a
"color authority," providing its famous color guides.
Those color guides serve as more than just a color
picker for designers: there's a reason your fanbook is
called the Formula Guide. Note the little recipe under
each swatch—it's a mixing instruction for creating the
ink color seen in the swatch by combining specified
amounts of the "basic colors" (the swatches at the front
of your fanbook), along with opaque or transparent
white. (The fluorescent and metallic inks in the
Pantone books are supplied as ready-mixed inks.)
Besides enabling the printing of colors outside the
range of CMYK, there are other advantages to using
- Color consistency from page to page
- Avoidance of registration issues with small text or
- Smooth coverage of large areas
Although it may be the most familiar resource in
the United States, the Pantone Formula Guide is not
the only color library available. The Toyo library is used
primarily in Japan (and to some extent in Europe) to
specify spot color inks. Dainippon Ink Corporation's
DIC Color Guide originated in Japan but pops up
worldwide. The ANPA (American Newspaper Publishers
Association) library is for newspaper use, and HKS is
a German-based color resource used predominantly
in Europe. While this article refers generically to "spot
colors," keep in mind that it's important to select spot
colors from the library that's appropriate for your job's
printing environment.
I've Got The Blues
One of the most commonly used spot colors is Reflex
Blue. Ironically, that good old navy blue is also one
of the most problematic inks. Because of the resins
and solvents used to bind the reflex blue pigment,
it's slower-drying than other inks, unless chemicals
are added to speed the drying process. This may
delay your job by a day or so. The pigment itself is
a bit coarse, which can interfere with adhesion to
paper—although it's difficult to remove the blue stain
if you get it on your hands! Consequently, Reflex Blue
is prone to scuffing.
As ink formulations have improved over the years,
it's become easier to compensate for the behavior of
this popular color, and now there are "fake Reflex" inks
that aren't as finicky as the real thing, but still give you
that desirable navy blue. If you have your heart set on
Reflex Blue, talk to your printer about it so that you
(and the printer) can prepare for any special handling
it may incur.
Bump, Kiss, Touch...
Creating a spot color vector logo isn't hard: Just pick
the proper Pantone colors from the spot color libraries
in Illustrator or InDesign. But extending the range of
printable colors in images (for special cases such as
art prints) requires that you create spot color image
components in Photoshop.
There are lots of colorful (pun intended) terms
in printing, and printers refer to these extra color
plates variously as bump plates, kiss plates, or
touch plates. There's quite a bit of craftsmanship
and artistic imagination to creating a successful
bump plate by hand; for a how-to, see "Creating a
Bump Plate." Photoshop plug-ins such as Aurelon's
CoCo Multichannel can also make the process more
manageable. In (Figure 2), I've started with a four-color
image and enhanced the hot pink color of the rose
by adding a Pantone 806C plate. This is more than a
pink plate: PMS 806 is a fluorescent color that gives
the rose a vibrancy that's simply impossible with any
combination of process colors.
An alternative approach is to use fluorescent ink
in place of one of the process inks; this is especially
effective on uncoated stock, which absorbs ink
more readily, thus dulling the rendition of bright
colors. (Another option is for the printer to create
a custom ink composed of process ink and 25% to
50% fluorescent ink, and use that instead of the
regular process color. This increases vibrancy without
necessitating an additional plate.)

Specialty inks such as fluorescent colors greatly
expand your creative possibilities, but (like all
fun things in life) they come with their own set of
problems. To maintain the vibrant purity of fluorescent
inks, many printers prefer to lay down these inks first
to avoid contamination from traces of other inks
carrying through on the press sheet. But in the case of
the rose, the fluorescent ink needs to be applied last,
on top of the CMYK image, so it can enhance the rose.
Even though this may result in some contamination,
it won't prevent the fluorescent ink from enlivening
the piece. It's mostly when fluorescents print on clean
paper stock (rather than on top of other colors) that
any contamination can be obvious.
Keep in mind that you have no control over the
print order of inks on your job: that's a determination
best made by job planners and pressman. But if you
want to embark on such a printing escapade, solicit
input from knowledgeable print professionals in the
early planning stages of the job. Since it's challenging
to proof such images with some proofing systems, you
may have to rely on the instincts of craftspeople who
can help you determine the appropriate approach and
manage your expectations.
Creating a Bump Plate
In Photoshop, open a CMYK image and look at the
Channels panel (Figure A). Because it looks so much
like the Layers panel, the Channels panel can be a bit
confusing. But if you've ever printed separated lasers, it's
easy to relate the four color channels to the four process
inks and the plates that print those inks. The CMYK
channel is called the composite channel, and it represents
the sum of all the inks.
Beyond the basic color channels lies the realm of Alpha
channels, used to store masks for future use. When you
have an active selection and choose Select > Save Selection,
that's where the selection is stored. Alpha channels
don't print; they just act as storage.
But there's another kind of channel: Spot Channels,
which represent spot inks. To incorporate a spot color in
an image, you must use a spot channel to store information
for that ink. If you don't have a dedicated plug-in like
Aurelon's CoCo Multichannel to help you, you'll have to
build spot channels manually.
Usually, a spot color is meant to accentuate (or replace)
an existing color in the image. In the case of the rose
image, the central pink rose will be enhanced by adding
a hit of Pantone 806 (a fluorescent pink). To create the
Pantone 806 spot channel:
- From the Channels
palette menu,
choose New Spot
Color. In the dialog
that appears, resist
the urge to name the
color—let Photoshop
do it for you when
you select the correct
printing ink. Click the
small color block under
Ink Characteristics
to launch the color
picker.
- In the Select Spot Color dialog, click the Color Libraries
button and shop for the correct color library (usually
Pantone Solid Coated). To pick a color by its number,
click anywhere in the list of available colors and type the
Pantone number; for example, 806. Photoshop creates
a new, blank spot channel and names it according to the
selected spot color.
- Since the rose is currently predominantly magenta,
the magenta channel provides a head start for the spot
channel. Select the contents of the magenta channel,
copy it, and paste it into the new spot channel.
- Here's where the artistry comes in. It's necessary
to eliminate all parts of the spot channel that won't be
printed in the spot color. Using white, paint out
everything but the pink rose. To finish up, select the pink
rose in the magenta channel and lighten it to allow the
spot plate to dominate in that area.
Special Handling for Images with
Spot Color Channels
InDesign CS, CS2, and CS3 let you place native .psd files
containing spot channels, so you don't need any no
special approach for them. However, I've encountered a
few workflows in which the file must be saved as a special
type of EPS called DCS (Desktop Color Separations).
Ask your printer if this is necessary when submitting
application files (rather than sending print-ready PDFs).
If so, follow their instructions for saving the file—or let
them make the appropriate conversion.
If you submit print-ready PDFs, either follow the
printer's specifications or export a PDF/X-1a file. The
default PDF/X-1a settings will handle your fancy spot color
image correctly, although the resulting PDF may
initially view incorrectly in Acrobat. Turn on Overprint
Preview (Advanced > Print Production > Overprint
Preview) to ensure that the display is correct.
If you're using fluorescents in a more conventional
way—for artwork and text rather than images—there
are some issues to consider. It's sometimes necessary
to print two passes (a "double hit") of a fluorescent
ink to attain adequate strength and coverage.
Additionally, fluorescent inks are sometimes prone to
chalking—the pigment separates from the surface and
flakes off. So if your piece will be handled extensively
(and isn't that what you want?), consider adding a
varnish to protect the surface from scuffing. Ironically,
while a coat of varnish protects the surface, it also
dulls the vibrancy of the fluorescent ink. An additional
caveat: fluorescent pigments tend to fade, especially
when exposed to sunlight; consequently, these inks
are best suited to projects with a short shelf life, such
as promotional pieces. Finally, as you might expect,
fluorescent inks are more expensive than process inks.
Heavy Metal
Metallic inks can add to the luster of high-end
jobs. While these inks don't have quite the shine or
reflectivity of actual metal, they provide effects you
can't accomplish with process or other spot inks.
Because they consist of metal flakes in a clear base,
metallic inks are opaque. And because these inks tend
to spread a bit, traps are usually reduced. (Happily,
that's the printer's concern, not yours.) If any ink will
overprint the metallic ink, the press run is often set
up so the metallic ink prints on the first unit and the
overprinting ink on the last unit, allowing the metallic
ink to dry slightly before the final ink is laid down.
You'll have the best results on coated stock, since
the ink sinks into uncoated stock, losing most of its
metallic appearance. Double hits of a metallic ink don't
substantially enhance the shine, regardless of the
underlying stock, but a second hit may be necessary
for adequate coverage.
Since they're composed of metal flakes, metallics
are somewhat prone to chalking and flaking: you may
want to aqueous-coat the piece to protect the surface.
While that can dull the metallic sheen a tiny bit, it's
preferable to the scuffing common with unprotected
metallic inks. Metallics come in shades of gold, bronze,
silver, and copper—even greens, blues, and purples.
But keep in mind that these inks don't give quite the
true metal appearance attainable with foil stamping or
printing on metallic stock.
Not-So-Heavy Metal
Traditionally, if you wanted to print multiple metallic inks,
you'd have to empty your wallet: The inks are expensive,
and they require special preparation to ensure proper
trapping, printing order, and general handling.
But there's a new way to generate multiple metallic
colors affordably, and to create stunning image effects
by combining metallic inks with process colors: MetalFX,
developed by MetalFX Technology.
A highly refined, special silver or gold ink is the key: The
shape of the metallic particles generates a smooth, reflective
surface that doesn't flake, and its formulation accepts
overprinted inks easily, unlike traditional metallic inks. To
mimic a solid metallic ink color, the metallic ink is printed
first, followed by process combination generated by the
MetalFX software. The process color even acts as a sealer.
While this means you can have the visual effect of an
enormous range of solid metallic inks with only five colors
(the special MetalFX ink plus CMYK), that's not the cool
part. MetalFX software lets you create a CMYK image
with a specially generated metallic fifth plate that truly
transforms the image. The result is an image that looks
three-dimensional—the metallic component "lifts" detail,
in contrast to the appearance of CMYK falling on just
paper. With only slight changes in angle of view, the effect
is almost holographic.
On the MetalFX Web site, you can request a sample and
find a printer certified by MetalFX to offer this service.
Custom Colors
If you want that perfect taupe, and it's not available
in your spot-color fanbook, your printer can custom mix
an ink for the job. As you may imagine, this is
expensive and carries its own set of complications. It
will be difficult (or impossible) to create color-accurate
proofs, and you won't know how the solid ink will look
on the final stock unless you have the printer provide
a draw-down sample (the actual ink applied to stock)
or you pay for a press proof. You'll also incur the cost of
mixing and testing the ink, as well as making enough
of it to ensure there's an adequate amount for the
press run.
TIP...
When you're saving Illustrator artwork
containing spot colors, the native .ai
format is fine. If you're saving a
Photoshop file with spot colors, either
a native .psd or a DCS-flavored EPS file
will behave correctly in InDesign.
Consult your printer before submitting
your job to ensure you've saved
such files correctly for the printer's
particular workflow.
Of course, since you'll be working with a color not to create an opaque white shape that will be printed
in any Pantone or Toyo fanbook, you'll have to create a
custom swatch to represent it. That's easy: Just create a
new spot color swatch, name it something meaningful,
and approximate the appearance of the custom ink.
It doesn't matter what color mode you use—you're
just going for appearance. What's important is to
designate the swatch as a spot color and to make sure
that, as with any spot color, your naming convention is
consistent across Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.
And, of course, communicate with your printer to
ensure that you're building your files correctly.
Alternative Substrates
When you use non-traditional substrates, such as clear
plastic or foil-coated metallic stock, or highly textured
paper, your files may require special preparation to
print correctly. For example, if you don't want the
underlying stock showing through artwork, you need
to create an opaque white shape that will be printed
first. To do this, you'll have to create a custom spot
color that represents the white ink—the [Paper] in
InDesign won't do the trick, nor will the "White" swatch
in Illustrator, despite the name. Both of these swatches
actually translate to "no ink prints here," which is not
what you want. I suggest you create a swatch called
Opaque White, again keeping the naming consistent
in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. It's hard
to see white unless it's in front of another color in
either program. And even if it is at the top of the pile,
there's a chance that you might inadvertently choose
White or {Paper} when you're in a hurry. To be sure
you're choosing the custom Opaque White, make the
swatch's appearance something other than white—
temporarily use something bright and obvious like a
loud orange or nuclear green. Yes, it will make your
printouts look weird during the formative stages, but it
will help avoid errors. Then, once everything's in place,
change the swatch options to be, well, white. Or just
leave it nuclear green and make sure the printer know
that it represents the opaque white ink.
It may be difficult to anticipate the appearance
of the printed piece unless your printer uses a
proofing system such as DuPont Waterproof. DuPont
Waterproof can also proof opaque white.
If you skip the opaque white plate, printing directly
on foil-coated stock can result in opulent effects
approaching iridescence, even with four-color process
(Figure 4). Consult your printer early in the game to
determine what special handling may be required.
They may suggest coating the piece to minimize
scuffing, and you may need to allow extra time in the
printing schedule for drying and special handling.
As you design for printing on foil-coated stock,
consider the visual effect of all that reflected
light: Small elements, such as fine type, may be
overwhelmed by a foil background. Small reverse or
white opaque type is particularly hard to read. To
compensate, use a slightly larger or bolder font than
might be appropriate on white stock.
Printing on clear plastic gives an interesting
dimensionality to a printed piece, especially if the
clear page acts as an overlay for another page, as in
the Showtime project in Figure 5. In this example, the
plastic sheet is an illustration on its own, but when you
look at the plastic sheet, the following page shows
through it. No special file preparation is required for
this effect, although the clear sheets are printed as a
separate job and bound in with the correct pagination.
This entails extra effort at the printer to plan the job
and set up the binding procedures.
If you want the transparent effect around a subject
printed on clear plastic, but don't want other art
showing through the interior of the subject, you'll
need to create an opaque white knockout to be
printed behind the subject in much the same way
you'd create art for a spot varnish. You can either
create a spot plate in Photoshop (see the "Bump, Kiss,
Touch..." section above) or separate art in Illustrator
or InDesign that you'll have to carefully align with the
image. If the white plate is part of a Photoshop file, just
place the native .psd in InDesign or Illustrator. If you've
created the art for the white plate as a separate file,
place it above the image in stacking order or layering,
and—most importantly—set it to overprint. In both
InDesign and Illustrator, the overprint option is in the
Attributes panel (Window > Attributes).
To correctly preview the effect, activate Overprint
Preview (available under the View menu in Illustrator
and InDesign). And, as I continually harp, consult with
your printer. Ask if the white undercoat will require
curing or extra drying for the remaining inks to adhere,
so you can figure that into your deadline.
Varnishes
A flood varnish covers an entire printed page for
protection or sheen, but you can highlight areas of a
printed piece with a spot varnish that adds shine and
depth to only certain elements on a page. You can
combine matte and gloss varnishes to accentuate the
boundaries between different areas on the page. There
even are more possibilities: tinted varnishes provide
Figure 5: Incorporating transparent stock can add dimensionality to
a piece. Keep in mind that this complicates binding, since it can't be
done in-line. The different stocks are run at separate print jobs, then
combined in the binding process. Consequently, you should avoid
effects that require extremely tight registration of the clear page and
the separate page behind it. But isn't this cool?
novel accents. And since tinted spot varnishes are
printed like any other ink, you can use them to print
subtle images or other graphic elements.
If your piece will be imprinted with mailing
information (whether by inline inkjet or label), avoid
varnish in the area of imprint or labeling so it doesn't
interfere with adhesion.
While the word "varnish" commonly refers to all
coatings (sort of like using "Kleenex" to refer to facial
tissue, regardless of actual brand), there are some
important distinctions:
- Aqueous coatings are water-based and applied over
the entire printed piece, usually by the last unit on
the printing press. Aqueous coatings often provide
more substantial scuff-resistance than varnishes.
- Varnishes are also applied on-press, but they're
heavier-bodied and can be applied (like inks) to only
certain areas (spot varnish). A plate must be created
to apply a spot varnish, so artwork is necessary.
- UV coatings are cured by exposure to ultraviolet
light to quickly dry and harden the coating on press.
UV coatings can be applied as a flood (covering
the entire printed sheet) or as a spot coating. UV
coatings can also be applied by silkscreen after the
printed sheets are off the press.
Trapping Specialty Inks
Good news—you don't have to worry about trapping!
While InDesign is capable of sophisticated trapping,
your trap parameters are exercised only if separations
are generated directly out of InDesign, and that's rare.
(There's a roundabout way to make traps tangible
by Distilling, but trust me—it's neither necessary nor
worthwhile.)
It's been a very long time since printers expected
to receive pre-trapped files because modern RIPs
perform in-RIP trapping with far more speed and
sophistication than we mere mortals can accomplish.
And it's best for the printer to tackle trapping to
ensure that it's done appropriately for their printing
conditions. So, despite my cautions about minimizing
trap to compensate for the natural spread of metallic
inks, for instance, you don't have to bother your pretty
head about it. It's still good to be mindful of trapping
issues so you have reasonable expectations of the
outcome, and so you can communicate with printers,
but it's truly not a designer's responsibility. You have
enough to worry about.
Ready, Set, Go[e]
Now that you've memorized the 1,114 swatches in the
Pantone Formula Guide, guess what? Pantone has a new
approach to specifying spot colors.
The new Goe system contains more colors—2,058. Arranged
chromatically rather than in the slightly haphazard
order of traditional fanbooks, the Goe swatchbooks
are much easier to navigate. And since the number of
base colors used to mix the inks has been reduced from
14 (plus White and Transparent White) to 10 (plus Clear),
things may get easier for ink technicians. (There's no truth
to the rumor that the name Goe is from the ancient Sumerian
for "we need to sell more swatchbooks.")
The $129 GoeGuide is available in the familiar fanbook
configuration.
The complete Goe System consists of the following:
- A GoeGuide coated fanbook
- A 3-ring binder of GoeSticks coated, adhesive-backed
Goe specification chips with palette cards
- myPANTONE color selection and palette creation
software

All of this is housed in a spiffy GoeCube storage and
comes with access to the myPANTONE Web community
for viewing and posting color palettes.
For those of you who don't have Goe, don't worry:
You can still specify spot inks with the old numbers. The
GoeCube doesn't render your current fanbook obsolete
(unless it's eight years old like mine, thus rendering itself
obsolete because its faded colors are no longer accurate).
However, it will be some time before Goe swatches are
available directly as part of Creative Suite applications.
This is a new release, and there's no word on when we
can expect to pick Goe swatches from within InDesign or
Illustrator. But if you adopt the Goe system, you can easily
create your own custom swatches as described in the
Custom Colors section of the main article.
Claudia McCue a prepress pro with more than 20 years of hands on
experience. She is owner of Practicalia, an independent training provider specializing in Adobe and Quark products, retouching and
color correction, and resolving general issues relating to prepress and printing. She frequently presents on these topics at industry conferences.
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