Colour Variation when using "Darken" transparency

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
December 13, 2021
2 replies
1744 views

Why am I getting a colour variation on screen when using the "Darken" mode in the transparency field.
See attached screenshot.
The "Substrate" spot colour has the "Darken" applied which is layered on top of the colour wedges.
Should the colours of the wedges not display the same irrespective of whether "Overprint Preview" is on or off?
P.S.
I've tried the "Multiply" function as well but there is still a variation in colour albeit not as bad as the "Darken".

This topic has been closed for replies.

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

When working with Spot Colors one should stick, in my opinion, to managing Overprinting with »Overprint …« (in the Attributes Panel) instead of using Blend Modes.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Darken separates the spot in the same way as Overprint and has the advantage that pdf viewers that don't support Overprint (like Apple Preview and the preview in this forum) show the expected preview. Darken also gives a better result when the spot has to be converted to process colors.

Overprint_vs_Multiply_and_Darken.pdf

Pre-PressAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the response Ton.

Your reasoning is correct.
As a Prepress house, our Pdf files we send out for approval are Press ready files, meaning that they are colour separated correctly. We have dozens of clients with different viewing software, thus creating the Preview dilemma you mentioned. We have found in the past that the "Darken" mode worked well for us up until recently when I encountered the colour variation as mentioned in my intial enquiry.
Find attached a sample illustrator file showing the difference between Overprint, Darken and Multiply with Spot colours.

P.S.
We avoid "Multiply" because it changes the values of the underlying colours.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

I suppose the underlying colors are a neutral grey? I cannot reproduce that, there is a slight variation with Overprint on and off, but not a color shift.

Can you share an example file?

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