Get Creative with Spot Colors

There has never been a better time to produce print. I love designing for digital, but there are some things print does that digital doesn’t. First among them is that print is tactile. The paper a piece is printed on, the inks used to print it, the coatings applied, and the way it’s folded, bound, or otherwise finished conveys in a visceral way what an organization perceives as the most positive qualities of its brand. If you believe that marketing’s goal is to distinguish a product, service, or idea from all others, the fact that less print material is making its way into consumers’ hands is good news. It means that the creative presentation of ideas in print are more likely than ever to be noticed.

Sometimes Less Color Is More

Not so long ago, an organization distinguished itself from others by using four-color process. The majority of desktop printers, copiers, and commercial printing presses produced collateral, newspapers, books, and so on, in black and white. In the last decade, though, that notion has been turned on its head—in 2011 seemingly everything is four-color. To draw readers of today into your story, experiment with using fewer colors more creatively; try unusual combinations of spot colors and paper types; and, the next time you use four-color process, consider adding spot colors and coatings to raise the project’s creative temperature.

Defining the Terms

For the uninitiated, the four-color printing process uses overlapping screens of four colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black)—to simulate a wide range, or gamut, of colors. The critical distinction is that the unaided human eye can discern a far larger color gamut than four-color process can reproduce. If you want vivid colors or you want to match a specific color precisely, four-color process printing

is not ideal. So what is ideal? Solid or “spot” inks. A spot ink is physically mixed to match a specific color formula—a formula, in most cases, provided by an authority such as PANTONE. The PANTONE Matching System (PMS) is the de-facto ink formulation standard that most of the world’s ink manufacturers and commercial printers have adopted. To me, spot color and specialty inks are infinitely more interesting than four-color process. In addition to a full palette of colors, metallics, and fluorescents, there are phosphorescent inks that glow in the dark, scratch and sniff inks that release a fragrance, there are glitter inks, security inks, and others. You need three things to use spot colors and specialty inks in InDesign: First, get familiar with InDesign’s PMS solid color swatch library. You access it from the Swatches panel menu by choosing New Color Swatch > Color Type: Spot > Color Mode: PANTONE solid… (Figure 1). Select the version—coated,uncoated, or matte—based on the paper stock the color will be printed on (Figure 2). Select a color, click the Add button, and the new spot color appears on the Swatches menu (Figure 3).

The second thing you’ll need is a PANTONE chip book or fan guide, which is composed of printed samples of each of the 1,300-plus colors PANTONE provides formulas for. Because your computer screen also has a limited color gamut, you need a physical sample of a color printed on paper to see the true value of a color. The third thing you need, perhaps the most important, is some inspiration. That’s where this article comes in.

Getting Bold with One or Two Spot Colors

The business card in Figure 4 was printed using a single PMS spot color. The combination of the logo, the color choice, and the paper make it out of the ordinary.

Although it looks like more, the notebook in Figure 5 was printed using just two solid inks: one metallic and one fluorescent. It’s a good reminder of how much paper color and finish affect ink colors. Uncoated papers typically absorb more ink than coated papers and have a rougher surface that is less friendly to process printing—but uncoated papers lay a distinctive creative foundation. How do you know what a specific type of ink looks like printed on a specific sheet of paper? A PANTONE chip book shows you what colors look like on white, but if you have a specific sheet in mind, you’re best off going directly to the paper manufacturer. Most have promotional pieces that demonstrate how various inks and coatings look and feel on their papers.

Creating a Simple Duotone in Photoshop and InDesign

A duotone is a halftone printed using two spot colors. I used the technique for the client’s brochure in Figure 6 because, in addition to showing the reader its property, I wanted to pick up on what I perceived as the Inn’s style and mood.

Though there are some workarounds, you maintain more control when you create your duotones in Photoshop and then place them in InDesign. In Photoshop, size your image to fit the layout and convert it to Grayscale: Image > Mode > Grayscale. Then choose Image > Mode > Duotone and select Preview so you can seen what you’re doing (Figure 7). Next, select Duotone from the Type option and click on the second color box, under the box labeled Black, to open the color picker. Click the Color Libraries button, select a PANTONE solid color swatch library, and choose a color (Figure 8). Leave the color name as it appears in the Duotone Options window so that, when you place the image in InDesign, it will be recognized and added to the your Swatches menu. Now it’s time to adjust how colors are distributed within the highlights and shadows of the image. To do so, click the Curve box to the left of both colors and adjust the points of the duotone curve. Though there are defaults, there are no right or wrong settings. How you set the curves depends on the effect you’re attempting to achieve (Figure 9). Save your finished image in the PDF or EPS format. When you place it in InDesign (Figure 10), the color is automatically added to your Swatches menu. Then you simply complete your layout and Package it for your print shop or output it using the printer’s instructions.

Using Six Colors to Save Money

I’m showing you the following project to make an important point. The piece in Figure 11 was printed by passing the sheet through the press twice. The first time through, the printer laid down the areas of black and a spot PMS metallic silver. (The logo, some of the type, and the areas beneath the green and gold are printed in silver.) The second pass was four-color process and produced the green and orange, plus what amounts to a second hit of black. The printer used a process called “dry trap” that allows the first run to dry completely before you print over top of it. Does that sound complicated? It is. The funny part is, they produced it this way not just to achieve the desired effect, but to save money in printing the eight different brochures in the series.

And therein lies my point: To design a piece that includes spot colors, uncommon stock, or an unconventional printing or finishing process, you have to think from back to front. In other words, you must know what the possibilities are—the materials, the equipment, and the talents available to you—before you can start to design it. And, although I can generalize about ideas and techniques, I can’t generalize about commercial printers. Not only are there technical constraints to what can be accomplished on a particular printing press, but every print shop has its own way of doing things. To create interesting and innovative work, you should get to know the players. Tell your printer the type of piece you have in mind and most are more than happy to offer insights into the processes involved and specifics on preparing your piece for the press. Occasionally they may even offer a suggestion that ends up improving on your original idea.

Creating Drama with Spot Varnish

A spot varnish can be a bit mysterious-looking (Figure 12). Because it’s clear, it’s there… but it isn’t. It invites you to run their hand across its surface and to tilt it ever so slightly to catch the light and set off each glossy element.

There are four common materials used to coat a printed piece: Varnish is clear ink. It can be applied, as you see in Figure 12, as “spot varnish” that is only on the areas and elements you designate, or as “flood varnish” that covers the entire surface of the sheet. Varnish is generally the least expensive coating but is also the least effective at protecting against frequent handling. It’s available in gloss, dull/matte, and satin finishes. UV Coating is a thicker coating applied like ink and cured with ultraviolet light. It, too, can be applied as a flood or spot but is more expensive than varnish. Your money buys the highest gloss of all the alternatives and better protection than varnish. UV coating is also available in a dull/matte finish. The other common coatings are not used for spot applications. Aqueous is a water-based coating that’s substantially more expensive than varnish but that offers better protection and durability. It’s become a standard for many printers because it provides good-looking gloss, dull/matte, and satin finishes. Laminates are applied as a film or liquid and are the most effective at protecting against frequent handling—they can even be washed. They’re available in both gloss and dull/matte finishes and are generally the most expensive alternative. If you’re using a spot varnish, ask your printer if they want it designated in a particular way. If they don’t, I suggest that you add a layer to your InDesign document that contains all of the elements you want varnished—type, shapes, and so on—and color them with a spot color you aren’t using for any other purpose. I recommend naming both the layer and the spot color “varnish” and choosing a color so obnoxious that it reminds you to tell the printer that it represents varnish and not that actual spot color. Then—this is the important part—alert the printer to what you intended.

Printing with a Palette of Spot Colors

Wow. The brochure in Figure 13 was printed using three PMS colors (one fluorescent pink) and a satin aqueous coating that, as the art director put it, keeps the piece from looking “garish.” Imagine the same brochure printed in four-color process. It would be well designed but not nearly as striking. Spot colors and the coatings make it stand out in a way CMYK simply would not.

It’s impressive, especially when you consider that it and the other images in this article are pale imitations of the printed pieces. You can’t touch them or see the true colors. With a little exploration and experimentation, your next print piece could be equally as compelling.