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Registration Nightmare #3
Here is a logo, designed in Illustrator, using Pantone 157 Orange and Pantone 3285 Green. On the computer screen, it looks like this: |
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| When it comes back from the printer, there will be flashlines wherever the inks fail to overlap due to misregistration. |
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Solution:
This design doesn't have to change at all. It's completely fixable, and fixing it won't cost a lot of money. The answer? "Trap" the layout, by "spreading" the orange. |
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| We have a problem wherever orange and green intersect - if the inks shift apart from each other, they'll overlap on one side, and leave gaps on the other. We need to make sure that the inks always overlap, and that 3285, the darker of the two inks, defines each edge. |
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| One solution would be to lay down a solid coat of orange, then overprint green. However, 157 Orange is dark enough that it will probably affect the color of 3285 green. It's hard to predict how much color variation will occur, or how undesirable the result would be, since the variance depends on the translucency of the inks and the thickness with which they are laid down - two variables which we have limited control over.
Spreading the orange, so that it creeps underneath the edges of the green, but not too much, is the best solution. Even if the colors are misregistered, they still overlap, and the darker color defines all the edges where the two colors meet.
If this is making your head hurt, don't worry. Trapping is traditionally done by prepress specialists, who have experience to draw upon, and specialized software for tough jobs. It is only within the last few years that it became possible to perform some kinds of trapping with desktop design programs. We encourage designers to keep registration issues in mind, but we also STRONGLY encourage you to delegate the final trapping to experienced, qualified personnel. |
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