Invisible Ink

[mannyb49081980]

Question, does anybody know what is the naming convention for the HP invisible ink when working on Indesign? Thx

[Lukas Engqvist]

Normally that is set in the RIP.  I would think it is a Spot colour. Your RIP or printer should have some documentation? Sorry not to have a better answer.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It is typically used as a replacement for the black (K) cartridge in HP printers, so using 100%K on its own layer for management would probably be the right approach. You can't print black and UV at the same time, AFAIK, so it would be a single spot color overprint sent as black but printed in UV.

Or so I *think*. If you're not managing the printing yourself, ask your printer.

But in any case, spot color naming is usually completely arbitrary. The press operator has to set up the ink regardless of its name. You could export a plate in PDF for color name "Bunny FooFoo" and all the printer needs to know is that plate is to be printed using Pantone 17-1937 TCX Hot Pink. (But yes, it would be safer to name the color and plate that...)

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[mannyb49081980]

Thx. Yes this is ok when printing offset. But we'll be printing digital. Hp Indigo 12000

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Yes, I realize that, but even on a digital press there's no standard slot for UV ink. It's simply a matter of rendering a spot color separation and the press/press operator knowing which cartridge slot to assign the spot color to. A 12000 has 5 to 7 carts so you could do fully CMYK plus the UV simultaneously, but I'd be surprised if any part of the setup requires a specific naming protocol for the UV ink.

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[Brad @ Roaring Mouse · Accepted solution]

Check with your vendor. I just checked with my vendor who has a similar device (7800); They just said to create a spot colour called "Invisible Yellow" or "Invisible Blue", whichever one you are using, and they can map it in their RIP accordingly, but your vendor may vary... everyone wants something different. (fyi: The 12000 has 7 ink bays, so they will run CMYK in 4 bays and the special ink in a 5th bay, so all printing occurs at the same time). Just make sure your elements are set to overprint your base art (if that's what you want).

[mannyb49081980]

great. Thx