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overprinting text


EricC

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i created a document in InDesign (CS3).

the document has a red background.

the fusionpro text box contains black text.

 

when i compose the records, the black text is knocking out. is there a setting in fusionpro to tell the text to overprint?

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Eric,

 

We don't have a setting to specify that the text should be overprinted (which is a setting that can be applied to elements in a PDF file) at this time. However, when FusionPro creates the output, we shouldn't be knocking out the background.

 

Are you seeing a knockout on that background when viewing FusionPro output, or is the knockout happening after the output is RIP'd and printed?

 

I know that there are some RIPs that have a setting for overprint of black text. Do you know if you have this option?

 

I've also seen products like PitStop that allow you to specify that text is to be overprinted. Not sure if there's a PitStop action to automate this as it would be unfeasible to expect a user to select and set this for every variable text element in output.

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Hi Mark,

It is definitely knocking out the type.

 

What I have is the following:

- Document created in InDesign CS3 on Mac OS X

- Red background (C:15 M:100 Y:100 K:0)

- Text box with Black text

- That text box is marked as 'Variable' using FusionPro palette

 

File is exported.

FusionPro PDF file is Composed

I open the Composed PDF file and select Advanced | Output Preview (in Acrobat 7) and you can see that all of the black text in the FusionPro text box has been knocked out.

 

Yes, Pitstop can probably be used to change the text to overprint, but the text has been separated into small groups of 1 or 2 letters, rather than an entire sentence. Plus, it's just not practical to do this.

 

Here's what I have done in the mean time (a hack, but it works)...

 

Given the following:

- Text is 100% K

- Background is C:15 M:100 Y:100 K:0

 

I made a NEW color in the InDesign color palette called 'Black Text'

The color formula for this color is:

C:15 M:100 Y:100 K:100

 

I make sure the FusionPro Text (whenever it appears on the red background) is colored with this special black. The end result is, the text 'overprints' the red background.

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Eric,

 

Just to make sure I understand, the variable text knocks-out when its color is 100% K (grayscale color vs. RGB or CMYK) but it overprints when you use a CMYK rich-black color.

 

I'll speak with the dev team about this and see if there's a way we can set grayscale black to be overprint.

 

FYI - if you find yourself in a situation where you'd like to force rich-black for some PDF output you've previously created, there are quick options to convert grayscale black to CMYK black in PitStop using a built-in actions called "Convert Color to CMYK" or "Make Rich Black".

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Hi Mark,

well it gets deeper ... here's what i did:

 

Just to recap ... i have a solid red background that is made out o 4 color process: 15% Cyan, 100% Magenta, 100% Yellow and 0% Black

 

On TOP of this red background I want to OVERPRINT my variable text.

 

In FusionPro I set the text to 100% K.

 

If I compose that record and preview the PDF in Acrobat Pro, I can see that the text is knocking out.

 

So, to "trick" the system, I just made a NEW color in InDesign. This new (process) color is 15% C, 100% M, 100% Y and 100% K.

 

In FusionPro, I carefully selected the text box and changed the color to this new 'rich black'

 

If I compose the record, it now shows that the black text is 'overprinting'. (keep in mind it's not REALLY overprinting ... it achieves the same effect because I made a new color that is comprised of the background color plus 100% black) ... i have to make sure all my text is set to this color, rather than just 100% black.

 

make sense?

 

Well, I thought this solved the problem so I did a collect and uploaded it to the printable Server.

 

BUT ... when i test this new template on the website, it appears your server is somehow automatically reverting the text back to 100% black (not 15C, 100M, 100Y, 100K). Do you know if there is some setting or glitch on your server that thinks text should be 100%K

 

I'd like to send you my collected files if you dont mind. I will also give you a login to my website so you can see that exact template, as it appears on the printable server, and you can see what the server is doing to the text.

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one more thing i wanted to mention ... in some cases we would want the black text to overprint, but in some cases we would NOT want the black to overprint. if you were going to consider building this functionality into fusionpro, you might want to make it a user-controllable option, per text box.

 

typically small black text would overprint but large black text should trap.

 

the more urgent issue for me right now is the fact that the fusionpro server is taking my text which is 15%C, 100%M, 100%Y, 100%K and CHANGING it to 100%K.

 

Thanks Mark.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 7 months later...
Just wanted to make you aware that as of v7.2, FusionPro now support colors defined as overprint. When defining colors the designer has the option to mark them as overprint or not (which will default to knockout). More information can be found in the User Guide installed with v7.2.
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