18 Replies Latest reply: Nov 17, 2012 2:24 PM by Jacob Bugge RSS

    Grey outline around text

    broomeGirl Community Member

      Hi I have designed a brochure in illustrator which has a black background and white text, with magenta headings.  The printers are saying that there is a grey line around the text and yet I have applied no stroke and they also mention that it is not trapping?  I have designed the brochure in CS6 and they have CS5 and have selected illustrator CS5 when saving it but I am not sure how to fix it.

       

      Appreciate your advice.

       

      Screen Shot 2012-11-16 at 1.40.48 PM.png

        • 1. Re: Grey outline around text
          Steve Fairbairn Community Member

          How is the black background colour made up? I think your problem will go away if you use a rich black.

           

          There seems to be some kind of stroke on the big pink E and there’s some bad anti-aliasing on Mobile Makeup Service.

          If you don’t want to use a rich black you may need to make a trap on the coloured type elements.

          Usually a trap of this kind can be made by giving the lettering a stroke set to overprint.

          View you artwork with Overprint Preview to make sure things are o.k.

          • 2. Re: Grey outline around text
            broomeGirl Community Member

            Thanks so much for your response, I just set one of the layers up with a black background from the basic colour selection, i.e #000000. I viewed the artwork in Overprint Preview but I am not sure exactly what this is meant to produce but it just made the black look less black. I know how to apply a stroke to my work but have no idea what setting the stroke to overprint is?

            • 3. Re: Grey outline around text
              Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

              broomeGirl,

               

              #000000 is RGB (or web) speak. Literally translated to CMYK it would be soaking black rather than rich black.

               

              Are you supposed to deliver an RGB file for print?

              • 4. Re: Grey outline around text
                Monika Gause CommunityMVP

                broomeGirl wrote:

                 

                The printers are saying that there is a grey line around the text and yet I have applied no stroke and they also mention that it is not trapping? 

                 

                The grey line around the text is a screen draw issue. It should not matter in printing, if the service bureau know their job and have the right equipment. Usually doing the trapping is their job. Or at least do they have to instruct you just how much trapping is needed since it depends on the machine and paper used for printing. Normally trapping is handled in the RIP.

                • 5. Re: Grey outline around text
                  emil emil Community Member

                  an off topic thought

                  Jacob Bugge wrote:

                   

                  ...

                  #000000 is RGB (or web) speak. Literally translated to CMYK it would be soaking black rather than rich black.

                  ...

                  Jacob, while the OP should speak a CMYK color space given this is the destination, if by soaking you mean C=100% M=100% Y=100% K=100% which is exceeding the allowed ink coverage, this is not possible in color managed programs if the color values are entered using the RGB color model. For example in a CMYK document using the RGB sliders set to 0 in the Color panel or entering #000000 in the hexadecimal input field of the Color Picker will result in CMYK values with the maximum ink coverage allowed as defined in the color space (profile) of the document. This can be seen in the Color Picker by checking the CMYK values when entering  #000000 or in the Color panel by switching to the CMYK sliders after using the RGB sliders. Changing the document profile for different paper using Edit > Assign Profile will give different CMYK values for the same RGB values that take into account the maximum ink coverage because print profiles for different media are made also using densitometers.

                   

                  And if the document is in RGB color mode but the destination is CMYK, the values will be converted at one point by software according to certain predefined rules and I don't think there will be ever a case where R=0 G=0 B=0 will end up as C=100% M=100% Y=100% K=100%. Soaking is only possible if entering CMYK values in a CMYK document and one way to ensure that the ink coverage will not be exceeded is for the very dark and black colors to enter the values using the RGB color model (sliders). Of course this will work properly only if the document profile is the same as the color profile of the printer (paper).

                  • 6. Re: Grey outline around text
                    Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

                    I agree with your off > on topic thought, Emil, hence the wording literally translated.

                     

                    But any automatic translation of R=G=B=0 to (non soaking) CMYK will lead to uglifying misrepresentation in most or at least some cases, where rich blacks should be customized.

                    • 7. Re: Grey outline around text
                      emil emil Community Member

                      May be in reality this is mostly the case because a lot of people on both sides (designers and printers) don't want to bother or find it difficult dealing properly with color management. But if it is done properly it works nicely. And the conversion can be done not only RGB to CMYK but CMYK to CMYK too. For example, let's take a document in the default U.S. web coated swap v2 space and imagine the user created colors with values that exceed the ink coverage which will cause soaking if the document is printed on another paper or entirely different CMYK printer and different paper. If the print house provides a color profile that describes correctly the limits of the ink coverage for the used paper then the profile can be used to find the needed rich black. You can even try that if you pretend that one of the CMYK profiles that come with Illustrator was a user installed profile supplied by the print shop for their printer. Create one document with the default U.S. web coated swap v2 space and a black box in it with C=100 M=100 Y=100 K=100. Create another CMYK document and using Edit > Assign Profile, choose the imaginary profile supplied by the print shop as say US Newsprint (SNAP 2007). Then open the Color Settings and change the Color Management Polices for CMYK to Convert to Working Space. Copy the black box from the first document and paste it to the new one. A warning may come that the destination is not the same as the working space in the Color settings, click OK and check the CMYK values. This is how the correct ink coverage limit can be ensured if the print house knows what they are doing and provides a color profile for their printer/paper.

                      • 8. Re: Grey outline around text
                        Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

                        I was thinking of customization within the range of rich blacks, including cool and warm, Emil.

                        • 9. Re: Grey outline around text
                          broomeGirl Community Member

                          Wow thanks for the discussion, of which I understood a bit, lol.  I assumed that the black in the default black was #000000 but its not although as the document is in CMYK, c=0,m=0,y=0 and K=100, the hex value is actually #231f20.  I am new to illustrator and all its encumbrent learning needs with color.  Having visited the printer, I have seen first hand how colors can change.  I have now changed the color "black" to C=72, M=68, Y=66 and K=89 which has given me a much richer black. As I cant upload the pdf here for you to look at, I guess I will have to wait another week for our printers to finally get around to telling me if the issue is fixed. 

                           

                          I live in a small town and there are only 2 printers, the first one got the registration wrong with the print and the second lot, have had that many personal dramas that its a nightmare to deal with them. Patience especially when its for a client, is not one of my virtues.

                          • 10. Re: Grey outline around text
                            Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

                            For my part you are welcome, broomeGirl.

                             

                            Less than 100K is a bit unusual, but the overall balance may be good, especially because of the dual (triple) text colouring; without that, I might be inclined to let the warmth of the photos seep into the blackness.

                            • 11. Re: Grey outline around text
                              Steve Fairbairn Community Member

                              C=72, M=68, Y=66, K=89 (total ink in the region of 300%) sounds pretty much o.k. for hard (glossy or semi matte) paper.

                              If you need to print on softer paper or newsprint you should lower the total ink to more like 250%, leaving the black (K) where it is but lowering the % of the other 3 colours.

                              • 12. Re: Grey outline around text
                                emil emil Community Member

                                Jacob Bugge wrote:

                                 

                                I was thinking of customization within the range of rich blacks, including cool and warm, Emil.

                                 

                                I understand, the conversion itself doesn't change colors to nicer or worse, it tires to match them and the user is the one to decide and can change them before or after the conversion but I was talking about how to ensure the colors  are within the ink coverage range without exceeding it.

                                • 13. Re: Grey outline around text
                                  Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

                                  I know, and agree, Emil, and Steve.

                                   

                                  I like the nicer or worse part.

                                   

                                  Edit: Half past one, I really have to attend to other duties.

                                  • 14. Re: Grey outline around text
                                    broomeGirl Community Member

                                    I also like the nicer and worser part lol.  Customer wants to print matte and I think the paper is 310 GSM if that makes sense to you.  Would like nice rich black and new black, C=72, M=68, Y=66 and K=89, looks more black on my mac screen than 0,0,0,100.  Thanks for all your generous input.

                                    • 15. Re: Grey outline around text
                                      emil emil Community Member

                                      It is a coated matte paper and you should be fine with these values. The appearance on your screen depends on how you set it in Edit > Preferences > Appearance of Black but your current setup is good.

                                      • 16. Re: Grey outline around text
                                        Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

                                        broomeGirl,

                                         

                                        ... looks more black on my mac screen ...

                                         

                                        Your carefully calibrated monitor, we take it.

                                         

                                        And what Emil said.

                                        • 17. Re: Grey outline around text
                                          Steve Fairbairn Community Member

                                          Hi Jacob. It’s here again with a vengeance. Freeze the b***s off an eskimo. :-)

                                          • 18. Re: Grey outline around text
                                            Jacob Bugge CommunityMVP

                                            Lucky you again, Steve. Monday morning may be the third this year with a reduced opacity in the ground greenery here, presumably followed by another fortnight of green, grey, and blue.