Hello. I'm Arnold Roosch for Markzware, and in this short movie, I would like to address some
problems you might encounter when you work with Quark,
InDesign, Illustrator, or any other application in which you are able to use
colors.
Let's dive in.
When we open the Ground Control section in FlightCheck,
the first thing we see is eight tabs.
For now, we'll only use the colors and images setups,
because they contain the most rules for colors.
As you can see, there are quite some rules here,
but let's go over them one by one, so you exactly know which one to use
whenever you need it.
The first one: NON-CMYK/PANTONE.
This means that it will check for colors like LAB,
HTS,
or any other color model
that you used in your file.
UNUSED SPOT COLORS.
This is to keep a good overview on which colors are actually used in your
document.
If FlightCheck finds unused spot colors, it means you can throw them away from your
document,
without any problems.
USES SPOT COLOR.
This is a
way to check if your spot color is used,
especially when a document should be CMYK.
UNNAMED SPOT COLORS.
This is to find colors that have no name and could mess up the handling of your
plates.
In order to keep it as simple as possible for your printer,
it is advised that you give every plate the right name and every color the right name,
so no confusion will occur.
NON-DEFAULT TRAP.
This rule will flag if special trapping is set by the customer.
Even though, most of the time, this rule
will be overruled by the RIP station,
it is wise to follow up on this, because it might have something to do with the
special wishes of the customer.
BITMAP FRAMES.
This sometimes messes up the quality of the frame
and is mostly used by Quark documents.
MISMATCHED COLORS.
This rule will flag when colors with the same name
occur,
but with different color values.
MISMATCHED SPOT
PROCESS COLORS.
These are colors with the same name but different color types,
Like CMYK and RGB.
SIMILAR NAME SPOT COLOR.
This rule will flag when two or more spot colors have the same name.
BLEND GRADIENT.
Some blends or gradients, which will give problems in the RIP station.
You better be aware of this.
before it goes in.
PATTERNS.
The same
goes here
as goes for the blend gradient.
It is better to know that it's in there before you get any problems in the RIP station.
HAIRLINES.
When working with computer to film, you don't want the lines to be too thin,
or it will be gone by the time you get to plate.
Note that you can adjust the width of the hairlines.
TRANSPARENCIES.
If transparencies are fine,
this rule will flag
and will give you the opportunity
to make the appropriate adjustments.
CMYK TOO HIGH.
This is to make sure all ink on the paper will dry once it's printed.
If too much ink is printed on the paper, the ink will need a long time before
it dries.
With this rule,
you can make sure that the CMYK value
is below the percentage that you
give in here.
The same goes for CMYK TOO LOW.
If you want all elements to be visible
below a certain percentage,
and depending if you are using film or not,
you want to avoid elements getting lost.
While the color tab had to do with the document itself,
we'll now have a look at the Images tab,
which has to do with all the images that are used in the document.
Let's go to the column, Mode.
In this Mode section, you will find all the images that are available
and that you might or might not want in your document.
By checking or unchecking them, or setting them to a warning or an error,
you can make sure that no surprises occur once you put your file into the output
device.
In the Contents column,
there are only a few rules that we want to mention,
like the ICC profile.
The use of ICC profiles and color management
will influence the quality of the print,
so you'd better be aware that it is used.
And if you're not using very defined color management,
this might give you some problems.
INK DENSITY TOO HIGH.
This is like the check that we had for the document a while ago.
It now applies for the image itself.
With this movie, I've shown you just how important it is to check colors of
every document that runs through your workflow.
A thorough check with the number one pre-flight application, FlightCheck
assures the quality of colors and prevents wasted time and money spent on
reprints, because the color is just not what everybody thought it would be.
And with FlightCheck 6.5 supporting Quark 8, and now with CS4, on top of all of the other
applications we support just around the corner,
it will only get better and easier.
Just have a look at our website at markzware.com
to read more about our great products and download a demo of FlightCheck
professional or designer.
You'll be surprised by the time and money you will be able to save.
This is Arnold Roosch for Markzware, signing off.