application guide advanced file preparation and printing...

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Application Guide Advanced File Preparation and

Printing Techniques for Versa UV Printer/Cutters

June 25, 2010

Advanced File Preparation and Printing Techniques for VersaUV Printer/Cutters

Introduction

The VersaUV printer/cutters support CMYK + white and clear ink configuration. The white ink can be used as

an undercoat to print vibrant images on clear or metallic substrates. The clear ink can be used as a gloss or

matte spot varnish for highlights or for simulating embossing effects by overprinting multiple layers of ink.

These special printing and cutting features are accomplished by using specific spot colors in your design.

RDG_WHITE – Objects filled with RDG_WHITE spot color will be printed with White ink. RDG_GLOSS – Objects filled with RDG_GLOSS spot color will be printed with Clear ink. CutContour – Use this stroke color for contour cut or crease lines PerfCutContour – Use this stroke color for die lines

Substrate

White

CMYK

Clear

Section view of a printed media

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Application Guide Advanced File Preparation and Printing Techniques

This document describes several file preparation and printing techniques for using White and Clear inks as

follow.

1. How VersaWorks processes White and Clear data

2. Installing VersaWorks swatch libraries in Adobe Illustrator

3. Creating knockouts in White and Clear objects

4. Printing tints and gradients with White and Clear inks

5. Using raster data in Illustrator as White or Clear data

6. Using the Roland Texture Library System

7. White and Clear workflow with raster files (CMYK and Grayscale TIFF files)

Understanding How VersaWorks Processes Special Spot Colors

Some spot colors have special functions in VersaWorks and they are processed differently than a regular

color object. See a brief description of these special spot colors and how each color is processed.

RDG_WHITE – RDG_WHITE spot color is used to specify objects that need to be printed with White ink.

Objects filled with this color are separated from the job and then printed all together as a single layer of white

ink.

RDG_WHITE

Composite Color Objects

Layering of objects in the design file RDG_WHITE objects and Composite color objects are separated and printed.

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RDG_GLOSS – Similarly to RDG_WHITE, RDG_GLOSS spot color is used to specify objects that need to be

printed with Clear ink. Objects filled with this color are separated from the job and then printed all together as

a layer of clear ink.

CutContour – CutContour spot color is used to specify the contour cut lines in a label job for example.

Vector objects with this stroke color are extracted from the job and then sent to the printer/cutter (or a

standalone Roland GX cutter) for cutting.

PerfCutContour – PerfCutContour spot color is used to specify the perforated cut lines for cutting through

the substrate including the liner. Vector objects with this stroke color are extracted from the job and then sent

to the printer/cutter (or a standalone Roland GX cutter) for cutting.

Installing VersaWorks Swatch Libraries in Adobe Illustrator

Please make sure your VersaWorks is up-to-date (version 4.0 or later) and follow the steps below to install

and use the swatch libraries pre-configured with special spot colors for Adobe Illustrator.

1. Launch Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files\Roland VersaWorks\Swatch\Illustrator folder.

The following swatch libraries are included in VersaWorks 4 or later:

Roland Color System Library.ai – swatch library for spot color matching system.

Roland Grapac Bri-o-coat Library.ai – The Bri-O-Coat library includes 22 unique patterns including

ginkgo, rhombus, circular, windmill and woven patterns.

Roland Metallic Color.ai – includes the 12 original metallic spot colors developed for the XC-540MT.

Roland Metallic Color System Library.ai – includes 512 metallic spot colors for the XC-540MT and

Composite Color Objects

RDG_GLOSS

Layering of objects in the design file

RDG_GLOSS objects and Composite color objects are separated and printed

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VS-640.

Roland Texture System Library.ai – includes 50 additional

textures for the LEC.

Roland VersaWorks.ai – includes the special spot colors such as

RDG_WHITE, RDG_GLOSS and CutContour.

2. Select all files in this folder, right-click with the mouse and select

Copy.

3. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS4\Presets\en_US\Swatches folder.

Tech Note: The folder structure may be slightly different depending

on the version of Illustrator.

4. Right click on Swatches folder and select Paste.

5. Launch Adobe Illustrator and navigate to Window > Swatch Libraries and select the library that you

want to use.

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Creating Knockouts in White and Clear Objects

Knockouts (or windows) can be created by using compound path functions in design software but depending

on complexity and number of shapes, the function may not produce the expected results in the first attempt. A

simpler alternative is to place “white” objects on top of the objects that need to be knocked out.

Since objects filled with special spot colors such as RDG_WHITE and RDG_GLOSS are processed

separately from composite color objects in VersaWorks, a special “white” object is required for knocking out

these objects.

The same procedure applies to RDG_GLOSS. RDG_GLOSS spot color with 0% tint works as a “white” for

the RDG_GLOSS objects.

In this example, the ellipse and the rectangle on top of RDG_WHITE rectangle are filled with composite white (CMYK=0). Composite color objects are processed separately from the RDG_WHITE object and do not affect the RDG_WHITE object, therefore the rectangle is not knocked out when printed.

In this example, a RDG_WHITE rectangle needs to be knocked-out with an ellipse and a rectangle to produce a compound shape as shown on the right.

In this example, the ellipse and the rectangle on top of RDG_WHITE rectangle are filled with RDG_WHITE spot color with 0% tint. All objects are now processed as RDG_WHITE data and the rectangle is knocked out by the “white” objects on top. Tech Note: Note that RDG_WHITE with 0% tint only affects objects filled with RDG_WHITE spot color. Composite color object also needs to be knocked out separately when creating a viewing window.

An ellipse and a rectangle are drawn on top of the rectangle filled with RDG_WHITE.

Composite color data

RDG_WHITE data

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Printing Tints and Gradients with White and Clear Inks

Densities of white and clear can be controlled by adjusting the tint of fills. In each example illustrated below,

the left object is filled with RDG_WHITE and RDG_GLOSS spot color with 50% tint.

Tech Note: Areas filled with lower tint values of RDG_GLOSS will not produce glossy finish even when

printed with GlossVarnish mode.

RDG_WHITE and RDG_GLOSS can also be used in gradients. In the example below, the rectangle is filled

with a linear gradient with colors ranging from RDG_WHITE=0% to RDG_WHITE=100%. Note that using

composite white (CMYK=0%) instead of RDG_WHITE=0% will not produce the expected result.

Using Raster Data as White and Clear Objects

When designing complex graphics, it is sometimes easier if you can just use a raster image (bitmap) as a

White or Clear data. Adobe Illustrator CS2 and newer versions can assign spot colors to grayscale images

and VersaWorks will recognize and print with the white or clear inks according to the grayscale level.

Follow the steps below to assign the RDG_WHITE or RDG_GLOSS spot color to a grayscale image in

Illustrator.

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1. Open the image in Adobe Photoshop and convert it to grayscale.

Tech Note: If the image just needs to be converted to grayscale without any further adjustment, the image

can be converted within Illustrator by selecting the image and executing Object > Rasterize command,

and selecting Grayscale in Color Model. Note that the dark areas of the grayscale image will correspond

to higher opacity of white (or higher texture reliefs of clear ink) when printed. In many cases, as is the case

with this image, it may be necessary to invert the image to get the desired results.

2. Make any necessary adjustments such as Levels or delete undesirable portions of the image. Areas

with K=100% will be printed with 100% density of white or clear ink and the density will decrease

accordingly to the gray level.

3. Save the image in TIFF format.

4. Open or create your artwork in Illustrator.

5. Import the grayscale image saved in step 3 into the artwork in Illustrator. Remember to place the

image in the same layer as the other RDG_WHITE or RDG_GLOSS objects.

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6. Uncheck the Link option in Place window and select Flatten Layers to a Single Image when

prompted.

7. Make any necessary adjustment such as applying a clipping mask to fit the image into the artwork.

8. Select the image and apply the RDG_WHITE or

RDG_GLOSS spot color to the image. Note that

the color of the image will change to the color

associated with the spot color.

Tech Note: If the image was clipped with the

clipping mask function, make sure only the image

object is selected when applying the spot color.

9. Save the artwork as EPS, PS or PDF file.

10. Print the file with VersaWorks just like any other file with white or clear inks.

Using the Roland Texture Library System

Roland VersaWorks includes two texture libraries for adding unique patterns to the output.

GRAPAC Bri-O-Coat Library Roland Texture Library

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Roland VersaWorks 4.0 or later includes a set of swatch libraries for Adobe Illustrator including these texture

libraries. Please refer to the section Installing VersaWorks Swatch Libraries in Adobe Illustrator to make

these libraries available in Adobe Illustrator.

A sample of available texture patterns can be quickly printed by executing the command Media > (Print

Roland Texture System Library) Chart command in VersaWorks.

Tech Note: Note that the test print uses the print settings from the Queue A, so it is important to configure the

Queue A Properties with appropriated settings before executing this command. The recommended settings

for printing textures are illustrated above. This test print only prints the patterns included in the Roland Texture

Library System.

Simply apply the texture from the swatch library to any vector object in Illustrator and save the file as EPS, PS

or PDF, and print with VersaWorks.

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Files with textures should be printed with the following settings

for best results:

Media: Generic with Special Effects Print Quality: Artistic or High Quality Mode: CMYK -> MatteVarnish Direction: Uni-Direction

White and Clear Workflow with Raster Files (CMYK and Grayscale TIFF files)

VersaWorks can combine two TIFF files as a single job, using one as a color data (CMYK TIFF) and the other

(Grayscale TIFF) as a white or clear ink data. This feature is useful when integrating the LEC into a color

managed workflow but the color management software does not support the LEC printer directly. Most of

Color Management software has the ability export color managed files in CMYK TIFF file, so the CMYK TIFF

file can be combined with the Grayscale TIFF file for printing CMYK and White (or Gloss). Follow the steps

below to use this feature:

1. Add the CMYK and the Grayscale TIFF file in VersaWorks.

2. Select both jobs in the queue and then navigate to

Job > Compose.

Tech Note: Alternatively you can press the Ctrl key

while both files are selected (the Nest button - - in

the tool bar changes to Compose - ) and then click

on the Compose button. Note that the files must be CMYK TIFF and Grayscale TIFF for this to work.

3. Open Job Settings and select File Format.

4. In Special Channel Composition, select the processing option for the Grayscale image.

Ex1=RDG_WHITE – the grayscale image is processed as a white ink data

Ex1=RDG_GLOSS – the grayscale image is processed as a clear ink data

Nest button changes to Compose when the Ctrl is pressed key while a CMYK and a Grayscale TIFF files are selected in the queue.

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5. Select the appropriated mode for printing in Quality and print the job.

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