Showing posts with label Colour Processes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colour Processes. Show all posts
9 October 2008
Colour Processes - Channel Experimental
More experimentation on photoshop, playing around with spot channels and moving colour channels to experiment with the way it makes an image look. I quite like the 'mistaken registration' effect.
7 October 2008
Colour Processes
-/+ Subtractive and additive colour.
Additive color involves light emitted from a source (such as a computer screen or t.v) The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light (RGB) to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the additive secondary colors cyan, magenta, and yellow and combining all three primary lights/colors, in equal intensities produces white. Varying the strength of each light/color eventually reveals the full gamut of those three lights/colors. (the full range of colour available while using RGB)
Subtractive color explains the mixing of natural colorants to create a range of colors, where each color is caused by the mixture absorbing some wavelengths of light and reflecting others. The more colour added the more light subtracted and you will create black.
Monotone
Monotone printing is using one colour of ink, but to be more creative you could use different strengths or tints of the same colour. As only one ink is used you can utilise the colour of your substrate as an additional colour to include more colour for less of printing price and for wanted effects.
CMYK and Spot colour
CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) is the most common method of printing and is often printed through the common process of offset litho printing. The K comes from 'key' and not the k from 'black' as black is the colour used for registration and to mask all the other colours together, mis-registration can cause bad trapping and you will see areas of print that have substrate showing where it shouldn't be or it can create a moire effect. CMYK is a subtractive colour model and the more of colours you place ontop of each other, the darker the image as less light is being reflected. The colours in this processes are often called process colours and to produce colours outside the range of CMYK you would need a Pantone (the most common printing reference for colours) reference number of your chosen colour (which would be a spot colour) This separate colour that isn't achieved through CMYK is specially mixed to your specification using the Pantone referencing system. You can create extremely vivid and metallic colours or dull and subdued colours using these specially mixed spot colour inks. They can also be applied to only specific areas of your print job as they need their own individual printing plate.
RGB
RGB is an additive colour model where red, green and blue light are added together in a variety of ways to reproduce a certain amount of colours attainable by this method. common use of RGB is through monitors for computers and T.V's. A good example of RGB is a website as it is specifically made to be viewed on screen. Colours in RGB tend to be very vibrant as they are made for screen viewing and the light behind the monitor enhances the colours.
Greyscale
This method creates more detailed imagery than a black and white mode (also called bilevel or binary images) as it includes various tones in between black and white giving a richer quality of image.
Duotone & Tritone
Duotone is a generic name for mulitone printing which can be done with two, three or four inks. Duotone is also a term for images using colour separation printing scheme. Any printing that only uses two colours (duo) or three colours (tri) has a similar effect.
Spot foil/varnish
This metallic spot foiled invitation was for my end of year exhibition at college. I've kept it since then because i realled liked the simplicity of it and i think the way the foiling has been used is clever and effective. The scan doesn't do it any justice but it does look really professional and simple in reality.
I really love the cover of issue 115 of Computer Arts Projects magazine which was focused on Print. The cover (see image below) has certain parts spot varnished and i think it looks really interesting and professional, not to mention expensive!
Spot colours are used so that a specific colour in a design will print. If the colour is outside the range or gamut of the four colour process. Special colours have a greater intensity and vibrancy as they print as a solid colour rather than one that is composed of half tone dots. pot colours are made from various based elements mixed according to a specific recipe. Spot colour inks can be bought pre-mixed or mixed by the printer. Often used to print money and passports because the spot colour cannot easily be copied.
Additive color involves light emitted from a source (such as a computer screen or t.v) The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light (RGB) to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the additive secondary colors cyan, magenta, and yellow and combining all three primary lights/colors, in equal intensities produces white. Varying the strength of each light/color eventually reveals the full gamut of those three lights/colors. (the full range of colour available while using RGB)
Subtractive color explains the mixing of natural colorants to create a range of colors, where each color is caused by the mixture absorbing some wavelengths of light and reflecting others. The more colour added the more light subtracted and you will create black.
Monotone
Monotone printing is using one colour of ink, but to be more creative you could use different strengths or tints of the same colour. As only one ink is used you can utilise the colour of your substrate as an additional colour to include more colour for less of printing price and for wanted effects.
CMYK and Spot colour
CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) is the most common method of printing and is often printed through the common process of offset litho printing. The K comes from 'key' and not the k from 'black' as black is the colour used for registration and to mask all the other colours together, mis-registration can cause bad trapping and you will see areas of print that have substrate showing where it shouldn't be or it can create a moire effect. CMYK is a subtractive colour model and the more of colours you place ontop of each other, the darker the image as less light is being reflected. The colours in this processes are often called process colours and to produce colours outside the range of CMYK you would need a Pantone (the most common printing reference for colours) reference number of your chosen colour (which would be a spot colour) This separate colour that isn't achieved through CMYK is specially mixed to your specification using the Pantone referencing system. You can create extremely vivid and metallic colours or dull and subdued colours using these specially mixed spot colour inks. They can also be applied to only specific areas of your print job as they need their own individual printing plate.
RGB
RGB is an additive colour model where red, green and blue light are added together in a variety of ways to reproduce a certain amount of colours attainable by this method. common use of RGB is through monitors for computers and T.V's. A good example of RGB is a website as it is specifically made to be viewed on screen. Colours in RGB tend to be very vibrant as they are made for screen viewing and the light behind the monitor enhances the colours.
Greyscale
This method creates more detailed imagery than a black and white mode (also called bilevel or binary images) as it includes various tones in between black and white giving a richer quality of image.
Duotone & Tritone
Duotone is a generic name for mulitone printing which can be done with two, three or four inks. Duotone is also a term for images using colour separation printing scheme. Any printing that only uses two colours (duo) or three colours (tri) has a similar effect.
Spot foil/varnish
This metallic spot foiled invitation was for my end of year exhibition at college. I've kept it since then because i realled liked the simplicity of it and i think the way the foiling has been used is clever and effective. The scan doesn't do it any justice but it does look really professional and simple in reality.
I really love the cover of issue 115 of Computer Arts Projects magazine which was focused on Print. The cover (see image below) has certain parts spot varnished and i think it looks really interesting and professional, not to mention expensive!
Spot colours are used so that a specific colour in a design will print. If the colour is outside the range or gamut of the four colour process. Special colours have a greater intensity and vibrancy as they print as a solid colour rather than one that is composed of half tone dots. pot colours are made from various based elements mixed according to a specific recipe. Spot colour inks can be bought pre-mixed or mixed by the printer. Often used to print money and passports because the spot colour cannot easily be copied.
6 October 2008
Colour Processes - Examples
The first example of printing i wanted to show was the October issue of Computer Arts Project magazine cover. This whole issue is dedicated to print and explains experimentation and certain things related to print. I really like the spot varnish effect. I think it looks really professional and slick. The image I've scanned and uploaded doesn't really show the spot printing, but certain magazines in the word PRINT, the title of the magazine and the trainers in the bottom right of the cover all have been spot varnished. I will have to explain this issue in a post all its own as it was so good and informative.
This piece of print design was designed by the college and it was an invitation to an End of Year Show for my final year at college. This is an example of a spot colour and the circle is metallic gold with a black stock. I liked the simple design and impact the gold has against the black.
This duo-tone image has been in my folder of inspiration for a while now and I've finally got an opportunity to talk about it. The scan doesn't do it any justice, but it has a sort of blue/grey colour range. I like the frame around the portrait and i think the vintage image is strong and memorable.
This second spot varnish example is a bookmark promoting the college which I've had for a while too. I like the spot varnishing so much i had to include it twice!
I don't really think this is an example of moire, but its still a good little optical design that you can never focus on one place for too long as your eye constantly wants to move around.
This final image is a promotional printed piece advertising stock types and colours. I was drawn to the bright vibrant colours, which was probably what they wanted to happen.
This piece of print design was designed by the college and it was an invitation to an End of Year Show for my final year at college. This is an example of a spot colour and the circle is metallic gold with a black stock. I liked the simple design and impact the gold has against the black.
This duo-tone image has been in my folder of inspiration for a while now and I've finally got an opportunity to talk about it. The scan doesn't do it any justice, but it has a sort of blue/grey colour range. I like the frame around the portrait and i think the vintage image is strong and memorable.
This second spot varnish example is a bookmark promoting the college which I've had for a while too. I like the spot varnishing so much i had to include it twice!
I don't really think this is an example of moire, but its still a good little optical design that you can never focus on one place for too long as your eye constantly wants to move around.
This final image is a promotional printed piece advertising stock types and colours. I was drawn to the bright vibrant colours, which was probably what they wanted to happen.
Colour processes - PrintForms LTD.
Having my dad working in the printing industry, owning his own printing company, its always pretty easy to ask about litho printing, papers, ink and processes so my research on Offset litho should be pretty good, even though growing up i took his job for granted and just liked it for all the good quality free paper!
At my dads company - PrintForms LTD they use offset litho printing and they print CMYK and the CMYK plates can be used for four spot colours if the client wants/needs. They also have a two spot colour machine that uses Pantone colours and can have metallic spot colours (gold and silver) Whilst asking about general things to do with the processes i found out that reflex blue ink never dries!! it has to be sealed in using varnish - to make it dry, or oxidising ink. High gloss finishes also need to have an oxidising formula so it dries quickly too (as soon as it comes out of the machine) PrintForms can print short to medium sized jobs and can print 320mm deep 450mm wide and oversized A3+
On a printing note..........
Ive mentioned these badges below on my blog before and i think now is the perfect time to re-mention them. They were created by Effektivedesign
These are the badges before they are cut out and stuck to the metal parts, i just liked the CMYK line up.
At my dads company - PrintForms LTD they use offset litho printing and they print CMYK and the CMYK plates can be used for four spot colours if the client wants/needs. They also have a two spot colour machine that uses Pantone colours and can have metallic spot colours (gold and silver) Whilst asking about general things to do with the processes i found out that reflex blue ink never dries!! it has to be sealed in using varnish - to make it dry, or oxidising ink. High gloss finishes also need to have an oxidising formula so it dries quickly too (as soon as it comes out of the machine) PrintForms can print short to medium sized jobs and can print 320mm deep 450mm wide and oversized A3+
On a printing note..........
Ive mentioned these badges below on my blog before and i think now is the perfect time to re-mention them. They were created by Effektivedesign
These are the badges before they are cut out and stuck to the metal parts, i just liked the CMYK line up.
2 October 2008
Alphabet soup.....update - RGB mode
These images are of my Alphabet Soup imagery I've designed to play around with for the Colour for Print Brief i have been given. I created these in Illustrator and each image is in RGB mode at full Pure R G or B for each respective colour. I thought i would put the RGB experiments up on my blog as on screen is best for RGB, so here ya go........
23 September 2008
Alphabet soup
My theme that i discovered from my summer project was derived from specific parts of what i collected, which was type from things i had come into contact with, which i then categorised into letters of the alphabet. Having to come up with a strap line or sentence to describe my theme was quite difficult for me and during a mini crit somebody suggested the phrase alphabet soup and i thought it would be a fun idea to try and come up with imagery for it. This will be my theme for my exploration into experimenting with colour and print processes.
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