Overprint Question

[Jennifer_Johnson@adobeforums.com]

Hi,

I have a logo that the lettering will overprint a "shadow" image. Some of the lettering is Pantone 541 100% and some is Pantone 541 67%...the client wants the shadow pretty dark & I don't have the Pantone guide with the tints/overprints. I just have a solid chip book & formula guide and a process color book (with the gray values) and I'm trying to guess how dark I can get the gray & still have the blue tint readable. :-(

If I use Process Black on the shadow, how dark %-wise can I get the gray and still have the 541 67% readable? We're at 15% K (PB) now and they want it darker.

Thanks,

Jenny

[Jennifer_Johnson@adobeforums.com]

Also, related to the above: the image has an oil drop that needs to be very deep black. I was considering using Pantone Black 6 as opposed to Process Black. Is there a Pantone equivalent for rich black? I normally use Process Black to keep things simple & just convert as necessary for various print applications. However, with this one, it's important that the oil drop be black and I am not sure how large an area has to be before it's considered "large areas of black" by print shops and I don't want spotty color. Then again, I suppose I could convert everything to process and use K tint for the shadow & rich black for the oil drop...ughh...time to take a break. :-)

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

Jenny,

I hope I have not got this completely wrong, but does it not work when you turn on Overprint Preview (CtrlShiftAltY/View>Overprint Preview ticked in AI10), select the text and tick Overprint Fill in the Attribute palette, and change the K value?

I tried placing some text in Pantone 541 100% and 65% on a grayscale/0,0,0,100 background, just to try it.

As far as I can see, the greying is really gradual, and the blueness is not completely lost until the background is some 70% (for the 100% 541) to 85% (for the 65% 541). I suppose it is the colour range/average colour of the shadow image that counts.

Pantone does not have a rich black (you have to print twice or thrice to get a similar effect);

You should be able to see the overprint effect with black onscreen too (best in a dark room with only the light from the screen).

I believe it would generally be enough to use 100% K + 100% main/darkest underlying colour.