Most catalog companies utilize contact color proofs, as opposed to press proofs, because of cost efficiency and time. These proofs are a photographic process of showing what has been defined in color separation. They are processed much like a color print, with the layers of the four color separations (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) superimposed upon one another to create the full color look. As pointed out, they are cheaper to use than ink-on-paper press proofs. Contact color proofs should be viewed and checked by a knowledgeable production person who understands that they are a photographic process, and that these kinds of proofs will not show
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precisely what will happen when you go to press with the job. Because these proofs are photographic, they are generally smoother looking than printing. But, they are less expensive than press proofs, and with knowledgeable production, they will serve the cataloger well in checking color. Photography must be screened into dots for reproduction. The color separation process that results provides you with four sets of film, one each for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Each color film sheet will be made into printing plates for sheet- fed and web offset printing, and into cylinders for gravure printing. Some separators
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provide film that uses the cyan plate heavily to capture drawing and detail of products. This technique of separation will result in the black plate being very light in density (called a skeletal black.) Another technique is to use the black film for most of the detail and shape, with the cyan in balance to the magenta and yellow. This procedure results in a “long black,” and may be preferred because it is less contaminating of the other colors than a full blue plate. This latter technique is preferred by many purists in reproduction, but should be specified to the separator in advance of the release of the transparencies.
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