- [Instructor] Let's explore a special kind of ink
called a spot color ink.
Spot color inks are used when you need special colors
that go beyond the CMYK color gamut.
Why do you spot colors?
Well, CMYK has a limited color gamut
and there are some colors
that it just can't reproduce faithfully.
When it's important that you render a color perfectly,
for example, brand colors used in logos and identity pieces,
spot colors may be the answer.
If you want to use metallic inks, of course,
they have to be spot colors.
You can't use combinations
of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black,
and make anything that looks metallic.
Fluorescent colors which are very vibrant
have to be accomplished using spot colors.
And then spot colors are used in cases
where there are special requirements for ink behaviors
such as on passports or currency or bonds.
There are new spot color systems.
Here are some of the most commonly used.
The Pantone spot color system
is used in the United States and in Europe,
Toyo and DIC you'll see used in Japan,
HKS is used in Europe,
ANPA is used in newspapers.
But all of those follow the same concept,
that they are trying to create colors
that go beyond the realm of CMYK.
So here you can see a page out of a resource book
called the Pantone Color Bridge.
On the left column, you'll see spot inks.
In the right column,
you see as close as you can get
using combinations of CMYK.
So the left column is solid printed ink,
the right column is halftones CMYK,
and you can see that some of the colors are fairly close,
but some of the darker blues
sort of go gray and not as pretty
when you try to render them in CMYK.
You'll see this with bright oranges
and bright greens and bright purples,
especially bright oranges.
Look at that Pantone 151C
in the lower left column on the right side.
You see how vibrant that is.
And you can see as close as you can get in CMYK.
It's a little bit duller.
When we compare an image that was created
all with CMYK on the left,
it's a nice looking image,
but look on the right.
See how much brighter the orange is,
and especially the greens and the bright reds are,
and also that sort of cerise magenta.
This is why we use spot colors
to achieve these bright, bright hues.
If you want to see how this is built,
let me show you the individual plates.
Here's Pantone 1805,
4985,
806, which is a fluorescent pink,
804, which is a fluorescent orange,
now, it may not look quite that bright on your screen
just because it's being shown over video,
but trust me, it's a very bright fluorescent orange,
and so is this 802 green.
It's very bright green.
When you combine it, this is the composite.
As you begin your design process,
it's best if you know what your color palette will be.
Consult with your printer
to see how you should handle your work.
It's reasonable to expect additional printing costs
because you're adding another plate to the job.
If you're printing photographs
and then you're printing your logo
that includes let's say Pantone 021 orange,
now you're printing five colors,
so it's logical that it's going to cost a little bit more.
Prepare your artwork correctly.
Make sure that what should be process is process
and what should be spot is spot.
Don't choose spot colors
when you know the job will be running as process colors
or the outcome won't quite match your expectations.
If your job does require spot colors,
be prepared for that bit of additional cost,
but know that the bright hues that you wanted
will be printed as you imagined.