registration color ?

[Tom Schülke]

Hi everyone,

i´ve got a question, i couldn´t find a explanation about registration colors, you can produce them in the swatches panel, i found explanations for overprint and spot colors,

 

but can someone point me to an explanation of    "Registration Colors" ?   what is it for ?

 

thanks

[Tom Schülke]

No one knows this ?  even the admins ?   Well mabe this is an empty funktion , just to make us wonder what it is ?

[- S -]

6 hours ago, Tom Schülke said:

No one knows this ?  even the admins ?   Well mabe this is an empty funktion , just to make us wonder what it is ?

You'll probably get more responses by posting this in the 'Questions' section of the website, as this section is for 'Feature Requests' and isn't visited by as many people.

 

Quote

I've got a question, i couldn´t find a explanation about registration colors, you can produce them in the swatches panel, i found explanations for overprint and spot colors, but can someone point me to an explanation of    "Registration Colors" ?   what is it for ?

It's not something I've ever used so someone else will likely be able to give you a more in-depth answer, however the section covering this topic in the help files can be found HERE:

Registration colour
Printing to PDF will allow you to include printer marks, including registration marks assigned with registration black (100%C:100%M:100%Y:100%K). However, you can add this registration colour as a swatch that can be assigned to an object on the page, creating an on-page registration mark.

To add a registration colour as a swatch:
From the Swatches panel, click Panel Preferences, then select Add Registration Colour.
You can then apply the swatch to an object on the page.

So it appears to be something used in the professional printing world, therefore a online search of "registration colour" or "registration black" will likely give you more insight into what it is and what it's used for.  Here's a Wikipedia page I found on the topic:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registration_black

[Tom Schülke]

Sima , Thank you

[MikeW]

About the only time one would use the registration color is using on-page registration marks. Once in a blue moon a print establishment has had me us them for cut/fold lines, etc, for packaging jobs.

 

While the help file indicates it is a mix of 100% cmyk, if there are spot colors it will also be output on those plates too.

 

Don't use it for normal objects where print is the goal. It has too high a density and if it isn't rejected or corrected by the print establishment then the job will be ruined.

[Alfred]

40 minutes ago, MikeW said:

While the help file indicates it is a mix of 100% cmyk, if there are spot colors it will also be output on those plates too.

 

That seems like an important detail which should really have been covered by the help topic. If the plates for spot colours didn’t have registration marks printed on them, there would be no way to ensure correct alignment with the content on the other plates.

 

[MikeW]

I consider help files as always being in a state of flux. But yep, it should be added there if for no other reason than for completeness.

 

I don't know how many PDFs I have received from designers over the years where the registration swatch was used. It's reasonably easy to fix with Acrobat or pdfToolbox as long as it isn't used on smallish type (which it has been in some of those cases). Depending upon the workload, they just get rejected with a note. Even so, I've had arguments with some of those designers about its use.

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, MikeW said:

Depending upon the workload, they just get rejected with a note. Even so, I've had arguments with some of those designers about its use.

 

What’s to argue about??

 

[MikeW]

The response from a few designers that have used the registration color that we have rejected have argues that it wasn't necessary with different shops and that the prints came out good.

 

But that is because it has been silently fixed behind the scenes, just like we do/did for some work when we weren't too busy to do so. The fix is to convert the registration color to an in-gamut rich black. And we always have done this for most jobs. The main issue is for small type where one cannot hold registration with a rich black. Ends up being a fuzzy appearance. So when there's time, we would edit the type and change it. Not too much time on a business card, mailer or the like. But I've seen it on 16-page brochures and long documents, too. A good part of a job shop or service bureau is working with clients via education. Ignorance isn't always bliss...

[Alfred]

Very interesting. Thanks for the insight, Mike!

[Freddie360]

On 11/24/2017 at 1:10 PM, - S - said:

To add a registration colour as a swatch:
From the Swatches panel, click Panel Preferences, then select Add Registration Colour.
You can then apply the swatch to an object on the page.

I am having difficulty making a Registration Colour in Affinity Designer from the above instruction, I click on on my Swatches palette and this is what I see - attached image.

[- S -]

1 hour ago, Freddie360 said:

I am having difficulty making a Registration Colour in Affinity Designer from the above instruction, I click on on my Swatches palette and this is what I see - attached image.

Does 'Add Registration Colour' remain greyed out if you select a different palette (I.E. An application palette or document palette rather than the Apple palette)?

 

[Freddie360]

It was on the Apple palette, but I use the Pantone CMYK coated to build the document and generally use the and Pantone CMYK and Solid palette to design and artwork my stuff. These palettes have the Add Registration greyed out, but I used 'Colours' palette and was able to add the Registration Colour. Thanks