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Participant
September 28, 2019
Question

White text printed on a color background.

  • September 28, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 4950 views

HI, there is a 'trick' in InDesign, I forgot it where it is.

To make sure that you print a clear white text on a color backgroundInDesign has one option to select in one of the menu tabs. I forgot what is it cold, does anybody knows what I'm talking about.

Usually, (if you don't use this option) text in print (newspapers) would come out off-center and smudged.

Yes, I'm aware of the printing issues and quality of the print.

But this menu option would help a lot and improve quality.

If you have an answer - please let me know.

Thank you

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    3 replies

    Legend
    September 28, 2019

    You may be refering to misregistration, a problem when any of the four plates is slightly displaced from the others. This lack of precision adjustment was most common in newspapers printing and also happens when the paper or film, or other support material stretches in other printing processes. Manual or auto Trapping is what tries to solve or alleviate that problem.

    InDesign has a (Output>) Trap Presets panel.

    Also you can manually apply a thin stroke of the main tint used in the background in Overprint mode.

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 28, 2019

    It's rare to print White, you can do it with Screen printing, blocking and certain specilist desk-top printers, you can't do it with litho printing as the inks are semi-transparent. The effect is normally achieved by reversing the text white out of solid (or tint) colour so that the substrate gives the white text effect.

    Community Expert
    September 28, 2019

    The only thing I do for white text on a dark background in any print is use a Medium or Bold (if the font is thin) and then increase the kerning/tracking... (don't anyone start on difference of kerning vs tracking).

    It used to be a case years ago that thin fonts would have an issue on newspaper printing as the soakage from the ink on the uncoated paper (which is pourous) would cause the letters to fill in - but print has come a long way from those times of 20+ years ago.

    I still use a medium or bold font on a dark background with increased tracking/kerning to space the letters out a bit more.