I can remember the moment I realized that there was no such thing as white ink in offset printing. It was a flash of embarrassment as I learned the truth. Such a simple idea, so obvious and yet the concept never crossed my mind. How embarrassing to have a printer explaining the concept to me as a young graphic designer. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that all white type was actually a color printed with the type “knocked out” or blank to show the white paper through the colored ink. Knocked out type can be an effective design element but can also go very wrong if you don’t follow a few rules.
Rule #1: Try not to use knock out type when the color or image you are knocking the type out of is built from 2 or more ink colors. It seems ridiculous that you can use knock out type in some instances but not in others but I hope the image and explanation below will show you why:
 |
| Image #1 Image #2 Image #3 |
In Image 1 type is knocked out of a single ink color: 100% black ink. This design is very easy for a press operator to keep looking crisp and professional since it shows up on only 1 plate. Offset printing combines 4 different colors to create the color spectrum you view on full color printed pieces.
Image 2 shows type knocked out of 2 colors: 100% Yellow and 100% Cyan ink. Image 3 is zoomed in on one piece of image 2 and shows what the final printed piece might look like. The fuzziness of the type is due to the press the piece was printed on being “out of registration”. Out of registration means the Cyan Plate is not positioned in the exact same spot as the Yellow plate on the press before printing the pieces. In press printing the plates are hung on a press and separated by sometimes over 12”. The sheet of paper runs over the first plate and picks up the proper amount of cyan ink that the cyan plate is holding, then runs over the second plate and picks up the proper amount of yellow ink that the yellow plate is holding. If either plate is off by millimeters, image 3 is the result. It makes the white type look fuzzy with a yellow and blue shadow. This will not happen with every printer you send your printing to, but if you design with Rule #1 in mind, your pieces will print crisp and clean every time no matter what kind of press your printer is working with.
Rule #2: You should never knock out type that is smaller than 8pt because it becomes very difficult to read. Paper is a naturally absorbent and fibrous material. Knocked out type at 8pt or under in size tends to fill in when printed due to ink spreading and filling the gaps between fibers in the paper. If you choose an un-coated stock (which is very popular in print graphic design these days) the ink will spread more on the sheet due to the extra absorbent nature of the paper than if you choose a coated stock which is treat with an extra coating to help minimize ink spreading.
Rule #3: The Bolder the Better. You can see this in Image 1. The thinner the font chosen, the more difficult it is to read. Even though you might be able to read the font just fine on screen that doesn’t mean that it will print as clear as you see it. This rule comes back to the ink spreading issue discussed in Rule #2. Even if you picked a font larger than 8pt, if it is too thin, it too will fill in due to ink spread.
Keeping these tips in mind when designing for print will keep your finished product looking crisp, consistent and professional.
No comments:
Post a Comment