"How can I cut down on spot colors in my PDF documents?"

By Rowan Hanna
PDF Store Support Team
Issue 16 for 2005

First, a little background. When a document needs to be printed, the colors must be defined as the amounts of standard inks -- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (also known as black) -- and special or unique colors. The standard colors are also called process colors, while the unique ones are known as spot colors. This method of defining colors is known as the CMYK color space, derived from the first letter of each of the four process colors. Since each color needs to be added to the printed final form separately, it literally pays to use the smallest possible number of colors that will still deliver the desired look and feel.

With that in mind, print output tool ARTS PDF Crackerjack allows users to convert colors between spot and CMYK, while prepress powerhouse Enfocus PitStop Professional adds the option of listing and comparing spot colors to find duplicates. They can then be combined onto a single plate, allowing prepress houses and printers to cut overheads and compensate when authors, designers and creative professionals get a little too creative with spot colors.

Watch this space! There'll be more print and prepress workflow tool highlights in the coming weeks. Until next time, please browse PDF Store's PDF Prepress & PDF Print aisle for the complete range of PDF print and prepress applications.