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Are
all Blacks created equal?
Yup,
I knew this heading would create a little stir.
I’m
referring to ink color, of course, and not any groups of people.
In
the world of light, black is created by turning off the light;
it’s the absence of light.
In
the world of print, it’s created by adding all the inks.
Well,
we really don’t want to add all the inks, but this leads me to
what makes a good black in the printing world.
If
you use black in your cover and only use black then we run the risk
of getting almost black. Even if you set a solid 100% black it may
not be enough to give a good, rich, solid black.
The
pressman may have to really pour it on to get it rich enough. The
risk of this is the other colors may also run rich.
One
designer built a “support black” by adding 100 Cyan, 100
Magenta and 100 Yellow to the 100 K (black). I did this, once. The
pressman yelled at me! He couldn’t get it turned down enough and
he had a sticky mess with ink spattering everywhere.
OK,
is there a way to add support to the black and not get a sticky mess?
Yes.
When building your Midnight black or Jet black (or whatever you want
to call it), “mix” your black at C 50, M 50, Y 40, K 100.
Remember to use this where ever you have a large solid black
(don’t use support black on text). The pressman can run his
other colors even and the black will get a boost or a support to make
it a Rich black. If you use unsupported black and missed a spot, it
will look lighter or even charcoal compared to the supported black.
To
answer the question, “Are all Blacks created equal?” They
are NOT! Mix up your own Bold-Beautiful-Black and save that in your
InDesign or Quark master file.
Notice
that we're talking CMYK and not RGB. Your RGB color (or file) is
great for the web and for monitors, but not for the print world.
Disclaimer: Not
responsible for advice, ideas, suggestions and/or
programs. By
mentioning these programs or any other program, I’m in no way
endorsing these or any other programs for you and/or your project.
Any advice, ideas or suggestions and/or programs mentioned are
considered my opinion only and am considered not liable. Not
responsible for sales or lack of sales of your project.
Brian@SunriseBooks.com
SunrisePublishing@gmail.com |
