Printing black on red.

frode frank
31.Mar.2008 9.23am
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Any suggestions for a cmyk value for a black logo on top of a red background (0 87 69 0)?



AGL
31.Mar.2008 9.27am
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rich black: 32c/22m/22y/100k. Cheers! André


Miss Tiffany
31.Mar.2008 9.41am
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Where will this be used? If it is anything that might be seen in different lighting situations and still be usable at a distance I would suggest using a different color. Black and red both read as basically the same tone. Especially bad on bus boards and billboards.


AGL
31.Mar.2008 10.59am
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Hi Miss Tiffany.


jupiterboy
31.Mar.2008 11.29am
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You could leave the cyan at 0% if the press has any chance of less than perfect registration.


poms
31.Mar.2008 11.33am
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Miss Tiffany said it – black on red could cause problems.
Maybe it’s possible to varnish the black. Or you use a very dark green to recieve s.th. like a “complementary color contrast” effect.

>You could leave the cyan at 0% if the press has any chance of less than perfect registration.
i don’t get it, can you explain


jupiterboy
31.Mar.2008 11.46am
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If you bring cyan into the rich black and it is not a component of the red you could potentially get a visible edge or halo where the cyan plate was visible. One way to trap process is to include 20% or so of only the colors that exist in the adjacent color.

http://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp?p=21092&seqNum=5

That forest green to florescent red look will make you ill. I’ve never know two colors that could flash so hard.


Paul Cutler
31.Mar.2008 12.02pm
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Black on strawberry (for lack of a better word) red is a problem. If you mixed the red to a more orangey color (maybe 0 80 90 0) you have a better fighting chance. Of course that is probably not possible.

pbc


frode frank
31.Mar.2008 2.27pm
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It’s a business card. Unfortunately it’s not possible to change the colours.

I’m also printing envelopes with the same colours, using spot inks. Any issues I should look out for?


jupiterboy
31.Mar.2008 2.31pm
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Why not use the spot colors on everything and get a match?


frode frank
2.Apr.2008 2.40pm
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I’m constantly forced to settle for the cheapest option with these clients. It’s kinda frustrating. Thanks for all your advices!

Wierd question: Should I cut a hole shaped like the logo from my red background if I don’t want to mix the two inks?


Ch
2.Apr.2008 4.07pm
Ch's picture

my approach can be unorthodox, but i’ve had success taking advantage of undercolors to enhance overcolors, so without a knock-out you could
add cyan or other available red-opposites to the black,
making it a hybrid rich-black which utilizes the red underneath.

depends on ink & paper of course; requires physical proof.


AGL
2.Apr.2008 5.28pm
AGL's picture

For spots, just over print the black over whatever lighter color. Color only match (more or less depending the pressman...) if printed against white, even for the black. For 4 color jobs when having heavy black solids the best is useing the rich black. If you are not sure, you can always ask for a proof. Proofing now a days is pretty affordable, and you can always ask the printer, these guys know a big bunch about it. :)