With golden ink you will create an amazing effect, but how do you create a flawless file? We are happy to help you. If you have any questions which we dont anwser here, feel free to e-mail us or call for our help. Scroll further down to read our explanation on how to create a spot-color in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Indesign.
How to create a spot-color in Illustrator
First you open the design in which you want to apply our golden ink.
Open the “swatches” or “stalen” menu
- English version: Window > swatches
- Dutch version: Venster > stalen
Creating a new swatch
In the opened window, click on the icon at the bottom right: “New swatch” or “Nieuwe staal”.
A new window will open. In this window you set “Color type” or “Kleurtype” to “Spot color” or “Steunkleur”. Entering the right name is very important. It must be called “gold”. Then set the “Color mode” or “Kleurmodus” to CMYK, enter C = 0 M = 0 Y = 100 K = 20 and click “OK”. You may also enter a different CMYK value here, but we chose a gold-like color.
You have now created the golden “Swatch” or “Staal”. If you only want to use a percentage of gold, you can easily make the gold color transparent by lowering the opacity.
Overprinting gold for a metallic look
Have you found a nice metallic color in our sample sheet? Now you can place another element with CMYK colors underneath the gold elements. Remember to put your gold elements on “Overprint” or “Overdruk”.
This function can be found in the following menu:
- English version: Window > attributes
- Dutch version: Venster > kenmerken
Then select the underlying item and select “Overprint Fill” or “Overdruk vullen”. If you also use a “line” or “stroke”, tick this box too.
Then save the file as a PDF according to our standards and your print file is ready to be printed.
Creating a spot-color in Indesign
Open your design.
Open the "swatches" or "stalen" menu
- English version: Window> color> swatches
- Dutch version: Window> colors> swatches
Shortcut? Press F5 (Windows) or Command F5 (Mac).
Creating a new swatch
In the opened window, click on the icon at the bottom right of “New swatch” or “Nieuwe staal”.
Double click on the new "swatch" or "staal". A new window will open. In this window you set “Color type” or “Kleurtype” to “Spot color” or “Steunkleur”. Now the name, is very important. It must be called “gold” exactly . Now set the “Color mode” or “Kleurmodus” to CMYK, enter C = 0 M = 0 Y = 100 K = 20 and click “OK”. You may also enter a different CMYK value here, but we choose a gold-like color here.
You have now created the golden “Swatch” or “Staal”. You can use this swatch in your design to print gold. If you only want to use a percentage of gold, you can easily lower the opacity.
Overprinting gold for a metallic look
Did you find a nice metallic color in our brochure? Then place another item with CMYK colors under the gold. Remember to put gold on “Overprint” or “Overdruk”
You can find this function in the following menu:
- English version: Window > output > attributes
- Dutch version: Venster > uitvoer > kenmerken
Now you select the underlying item and select “Overprint Fill” or “Vulling overdrukken”. If you also use a “line” or “stroke”, tick this box as well.
Export the file as a PDF according to our standards and your print file is ready to be printed.
Do you have any questions or are there any uncertainties about preparing your files for printing? Get in touch with us!