Maximum Ink Coverage?

[iBrads]

Hi everyone,

I work in the print industry and our flexo press has a maximum ink coverage of 300%. This means all printed images have to be checked and adjusted for the CMYK not to exceed 300% (Solid CMYK = 400%).

I was wondering if there is a feature in Photoshop which can show the areas in a cmyk image which exceed 300%? I was thinking something like the Gamut Warning feature which is used in the RGB colour space to show unprintable colours?

It would be great if Photoshop has this feature and it could be adjustable in its percentage. (Different percentages for different presses/print processes).

Does this feature exist in Photoshop? Or should it be added in to the next upgrade for the print industry?

best regards, Ian

[Eugenio.NYC]

Hi there, do you use the gamut warning and the info panel with total ink?

Regards

E

[iBrads]

I do use the total ink on the INFO pallette, but it's the most saturated area on the image I am trying to find.

Currently the image would be placed in an Illustrator artwork file.

This file is then saved as a pdf with our workflow profile.

The pdf is opened in NEO for minimum and maximum dot checking. (0.7% minimum dot and 300% maximum coverage).

With the tools within NEO I can find the most saturated areas by using a 'gumut' warning filter which can be set at any percentage.

I have to take a 'screen grab' from NEO and place this on a layer within the photoshop image. This will help me identify the most saturated areas to place my Colour Sampler Tool marks.

I'm have to go round 4 programs for this process!!!!

If there was a Ink Coverage Gamut Warning option (like the RGB one) I would be able to fix the image all within Photoshop.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I do use the total ink on the INFO pallette, but it's the most saturated area on the image I am trying to find.

You might be misusing either the term »saturated« or »maximum coverage«.

[Stephen Marsh]

Adjusting ink weight is best performed using appropriate ICC profiles or ICC DeviceLink profiles – however if you are just looking for a visual warning:

http://www.curvemeister.com/downloads/cmyk_tac/index.htm

http://www.curvemeister.com/downloads/cmyk_tac/cmyk_total_ink_limits.atn

http://www.curvemeister.com/downloads/cmyk_tac/dl.php?image=Curvemeister_TIL_Target.tif

[iBrads]

We need to fix the image within the Studio as we send out our artwork to 3rd parties for them to reproduce.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

By the way, a Feature Requests on the issue seems to already exist, you may want to add your vote:

Photoshop: CMYK ink density gamut warning | Photoshop Family Customer Community

[iBrads]

It seems the Feature Request is 5 years old! Surly it should have been incorporated by now?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

What makes you think that?

Have you seen how many votes it got?

The Photoshop team has limited resources (as does Adobe as a whole) and so even feature requests that may have great merit may fall by the wayside if they are deemed to likely benefit an insufficient number of users to justify the investment.

Heck, the Illustrator team had even let a known bug go unfixed for more than a decade …

[iBrads]

On my page it says: Updated 5 years ago and there are only 6 votes displayed?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

6 votes is not a lot so don’t expect a speedy (or even any) implementation of the feature …

If you work for flexo print I assume you work a lot for packaging; that segment might hugely benefit if Photoshop had better spot color implementation (like spot color Layer capabilities) but the number of users who would be affected is minuscule compared to the total number of Photoshop users. So …

[Mike_Gondek]

Most of my colleagues in the industry who work fulltime  do not  participate in forums, voting . Most jobs don't allow you to use the internet  during business hours, and those especially with kids have even less time outside of work hours. Which is a shame as we loose much of our best input.

Students, freelancers or hobbyists are generally more involved with Adobe Prereleases/betas and feedback nowadays, as in the past they screened candidates more and choose fewer participants.

I completely agree TIL, TAC, DMAX  should have been incorporated into all Adobe print products a long time ago. There used to be plug ins for this, but the products I had stopped updating especially after Mac OS 9 went to OS X.

Added my vote, we are now at 7. Please vote link below

Photoshop: CMYK ink density gamut warning | Photoshop Family Customer Community

[c.pfaffenbichler]

You could just open the images in Acrobat whose Output Preview features a TAC indicator.

In Photoshop itself one can use Adjustment Layers to emulate a TAC indicator with some rounding losses, which can be automated with a Script, see

Re: maximum total ink

Please post Photoshop Feature Requests over at

Photoshop Family Customer Community

[iBrads]

I'm very nervous about using scripts!

If I had many files to fix I would probably check it out.

I may give it a go.

[Test Screen Name]

If you work in RGB you can avoid this completely; maximum coverage is limited by the CMYK profile to which you convert (if you convert at all).