Sunday 30 October 2011

What is design for print?//Hexachrome.


Specific research about the Hexachrome printing output- CMYKOG (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Orange and Green), to establish and build my own knowledge for content for my ISSUU- based publication design for print manual- which can be seen developing on my Design Practice blog over the forthcoming days and weeks.

DEFINITION OF HEXACHROME

Web definitions
  • Hexachrome was a six-color printing process designed by Pantone Inc. In addition to custom CMYK inks, Hexachrome added orange and green inks to expand the color gamut, for better color reproduction. It was therefore also known as a CMYKOG process.

  • A version of hi-fi (high fidelity) printing involving six color separation.

  • The set of six process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, orange, green and black) designed to widen significantly the color combinations possible when compared to the combinations available with the standard four process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black).

  • A proprietary color separation process, developed by Pantone, that uses six (6) instead of four process colors.

  • Where two extra colours are added to CYMK to expand the gamut possible, green & Orange.

  • The Hexachrome printing process uses a a colour model based on six primary colours as opposed to the traditional four colour process. As well as cyan, magenta, yellow and black, Hexachrome also adds orange and green into the range. ...

Hexachrome

Hexachrome was a six-color printing process designed by Pantone Inc. In addition to custom CMYK inks, Hexachrome added orange and green inks to expand the color gamut, for better color reproduction. It was therefore also known as a CMYKOG process.
Hexachrome was discontinued by Pantone in 2008 when Adobe Systems stopped supporting their software. While the details of Hexachrome were not secret, use of Hexachrome was limited by trademark and patent to those obtaining a license from Pantone.

Software

In order to use the Hexachrome process in a digital printing process, Pantone produced a plugin for Adobe Photoshop that allowed the designer to work in an RGB color space more typical of computer work. Using a six-channel ICC profile, this was then converted to the Hexachrome gamut as part of raster image processing.
The plugin was discontinued by Pantone in 2008 because Adobe Systems no longer supported Pantone's Rosetta (legacy) plug-in format.

All About Colour — A Guide to Commercial Colour Printing

How does commercial colour print work?

We use four main printing processes, depending on the requirements of your job. This article gives you the basics of commercial colour printing so you can appreciate why we suggest the processes we do when quoting for your job.

Full colour process printing (also known as CMYK)

Example of using CMYK process inks to produce a composite image

Process colour uses just four colours of ink – cyan, magenta, yellow and black – to produce a very wide range of colour possibilities, ideal for printing photographs. Because we specialise in process colour printing, and we batch jobs together for economy, it can often be cheaper to print even a simple two-colour design using process colour rather than spot colour.

Spot colour printing

A spot colour is simply an exact colour of ink, mixed to your precise requirements. Firms with a recognisable colour brand (EasyJet orange; DynoRod fluorescent red) would always specify spot colours to ensure consistency of their brand.
It often comes as a surprise to customers to find spot colour printing is more expensive than full colour printing. This is due to the labour involved with spot colour printing – first the ink has to be mixed from 14 'ingredient' colours; then the press is loaded with the ink; the job is printed; then the press has to be washed down afterwards ready for the next spot colour job. This labour requirement makes spot colour printing, especially in smaller quantities, disproportionately expensive.

Example of a Pantone® swatch bookSpot colours are most often specified in Europe and North America using the Pantone system. Swatch books like the one shown here are used to select colours, and the 'ingredients' for that colour of ink are shown underneath.
Where the four-dot symbol appears underneath the colour (as in the example on the right here), the colour can be printed almost exactly using the four-colour process described above, saving money.

Hexachrome printing

Hexachrome gamut diagramAs the name suggests, Hexachrome printing uses six colours of ink, rather than the basic four colours used in process (CMYK) printing. Hexachrome uses purer cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, supplemented with Pantone Hexachrome Orange and Pantone Hexachrome Green to give a dramatically increased range of colours, as shown in the diagram to the right.
By using six colours instead of four, Hexachrome can, in effect, reproduce a vast number of spot colours. Consider a range of ten over-the-counter pharmaceutical products where each outer package within the brand is printed using two unique spot colours. To print all these packages using standard spot colour (see above) would require 20 plates to accommodate all the spot colours used, ten separate press runs and wash-ups, and 20 spot colour inks.
Using Hexachrome, the ten packages are arranged on one sheet and printed at the same time, thereby requiring only one extended press run, six plates and six Hexachrome inks, all without loss of colour integrity. The resulting savings by printing in Hexachrome can be substantial.

MetalFX® printing

Example of how MetalFX printing worksMetalFX® works on the basis that CMYK (see above) inks are transparent – so when printed on top of specially modified silver ink (MFX Base Silver), it will allow the silver to show through the CMYK, and thus create the illusion of unlimited metallic colours. The MFX Base Silver has special qualities that allow the CMYK inks to adhere to it.
The MFX system enables you to create eye catching designs by enabling you to integrate metallic colours into photographs and create unlimited metallic colours on the same job, by only using one extra colour. Ever wanted to have Gold, Silver and a Bronze on the same job, but never had the budget to use more than one metallic colour? Well now with MFX you can have all three – and 612 others as well – just by using the MFX system and its special silver ink.
If you would like to incorporate metallic colours in to your next design simply design in CMYK as normal. Please supply us with a printed proof, accompanying your file, detailing the areas to be metallised and the colours to be used.
Only licensed printers can print using MetalFX. Any printer using the system without a licence would be breaking copywright, patent and IP rights of MetalFX. A printer that has not run the MetalFX print trials and been approved will not know the specification for the print process and the job will not output correctly. Always use a licensed printer if you are intending to use MetalFX in your next design.
IMAGES OF HEXACHROME


http://edliveshere.com/assets/issue05/5_chart_2.gif








No comments:

Post a Comment