Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 I've been using Affinity nearly daily since designer was still in beta, and there is only one crucial thing I'm missing. We print using an industrial UV printer that utilizes spot white ink, and in the past (with adobe photoshop) I needed to create a new channel called 'spot white' and export the document as a PDF document. Then the rip software would recognize this 'spot white' channel and know to print white where indicated. As of now, I'm still exporting from designer or photo and then adding the white with photoshop. It's a very tedious process that loses me several hours a week. I've tried many times to achieve the same results from affinity designer and affinity photo with spot colors or attempting to add a new channel. Am I missing something, or is this simply a feature that affinity software isn't capable of at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 I've never used a spot white as a UV coat color. Dunno why it wouldn't work, though I usually use 100% magenta set as a spot color so my eyes can easily see where the UV is going to hit. Try this thread: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/28668-getting-logo-printed-uv-spot/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Sorry, the 'Industrial UV Printer' was a bit of unnecessary info; I meant UV-cured ink, not like a UV spot coating. Although, I'd think it should be a very similar process. I did find that thread when I searched earlier for a solution, but didn't find anything I haven't tried already. I think I'd just need to create a spot white channel for the rip software to find, but I've tried adding a 'spare channel' and naming it spot white in Affinity Photo and that didn't work for me. I've also tried to use the affinity spot color function (and I've changed the name of the spot color to match the name the rip software needs to find), the rip software still doesn't see any information for spot white. Maybe I'm off base, but could it be that my PDF export mode doesn't support spot colors or extra channels? I usually just use the 'PDF for Export' preset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Make sure you click the More options link in the PDF export and choose to keep the spot colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 BTW, does the name 'white' have to be used explicitly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 When I create the channel in photoshop, if I don't name the channel 'spot white' explicitly, the rip doesn't know to use the channel as spot white. I think it's just a default on the rip software, I've never known to do it any other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Try the attached. The spot color is named 'spot white' but is colored magenta so I can actually see it. You can, if needed, change the color definition to actual white and it should still work, but if the printer is simply treating the color as a true spot color then any color named 'white spot' should work. Mike spot-white.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 To clarify, I'm not just printing on paper. We're printing direct-to-substrate onto wood panels. Since the wood is brown, not white, we print a spot layer of white ink below certain prints using our printer's white ink. Sometimes, it's under a vector logo, where we only need white under the certain colors. Sometimes I'll need to print a photograph, and I have to print white under the photo. Using photoshop, I just make a selection of where I want to print white, and create a new channel from that alpha. Here's how I'm used to doing it. https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/printing-spot-colors.html I just really want to move my entire workflow onto affinity instead of adobe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Thank you! I'll run a test print with your file quickly and see if it recognizes the white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Okay. Good news, the printer recognized the spot white color on your file. I think that actually clears everything up. Thank you very much for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Thanks for the additional information. Your usage is exactly like mine for garment printing. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 After some further experimentation, I've gotten my spot white print working alright now. It seems I can only make vector shapes work, though. Do you know if there is any way to make a raster selection into a spot color? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Is this for in the instance of say a photo? If so, what if the photo was brought into AD and it sat on a rectangle of the spot white? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 That's what I thought. I tried making a square of spot white, then I masked it with my selection. When exported out, the rip only saw my spot white as the magenta color. I'm printing a logo which will need spot white under all of it, and to keep the white from showing through the outer edges, I contracted my selection for spot color by 3 pixels. I'll attach my file so you can see what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Whoops, here's the file. Spot White Logo.afdesign Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Try this file... Mike Spot White Logo Modified.afdesign Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Yes, using them as vector shapes will totally work. That was the first thing I double-checked as well. My problem here is that if I print the file that way, the white bottom print is the same size as the print on top of it, and you can see a thin white outline peeking around the color print. If I'm able to contract my spot color by just a couple pixels, the problem is solved. But I can't simply 'contract' a vector shape, that I know of at least. That issue aside, I'm not always lucky enough to have a client with crisp vector artwork like I sent. Sometimes I'm stuck using only a flat raster file that a customer provided. It's not reasonable to go in and draw a vector shape manually for the spot color every time this happens. Especially when I can just open the file in photoshop and highlight the pixels I want to be white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Well, back to the drawing board...so to speak. Because trapping isn't supported in AD, the only thing I can think of as regards the shapes being identical size would be to manually trap the colored shapes by adding a think outline the same color. In CorelDraw I can either trap this way (but using a macro to add a thin outline of the same color) or us the trap controls. I did this just now on your file and it works. But without automation an involved drawing would be not be worth it. As for image-based work where it is not a contiguous shape like a rectangle, you are stuck with PS or another image editor that can add a spot channel. I don't have APhoto (I'm using Windows and would need the beta) so have no idea what it is capable of--or lacks. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddlinjory Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Well Mike, I sure appreciate all your help. It's a bit of a bummer, but I'll stick to exporting and adding the white in with PS... for now at least. Jory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Wish it could have turned out better, Jory. Good luck. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.