When creating documents which require color diagrams and photos, I often get questions about how to set up the color components of a page (headings, titles, and graphic elements) so that they will reproduce accurately. Since there are a few tricks which can help, this month I'll discuss the ways that Frame handles custom colors and color tints.

By default our choices are the base colors Red, Green, and Blue as well as Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Frame also allows the choice of White. Since we often need combinations of those base colors, Frame has the ability to specify Custom Colors through the View/Color Definitions menu item. There we can specify color using the RGB or CMYK color models, as well as choosing from industry standard libraries such as Focaltone or Pantone.

If your project will be printed in color, then you need to understand the difference between Process Colors and Spot Colors. In a nutshell, if you plan on printing with process (CMYK) inks only, use process colors for your color definitions. If the accuracy of your special color is extremely important, then you should print it with another ink (which is more expensive) and your color should be defined as a spot color. Double checking with your printer to find out which is appropriate for your job will likely save a lot of time, money and headache!

Frame also allows for tints of a color to display a shade of gray, for example, rather than pure black. Frame's built-in support of tints is fairly bad. When choosing to display only a percentage of a color, Frame attempts this by applying a rough screen, or polka dot pattern of solid dots to the area, rather than a lighter tint of color to the area. If you'd like an example of this, zoom in on a box filled with 30% of red, green, or blue and you'll understand!

For important colors in our document, we can get around these limitations on tints by defining custom colors which will display at 100% strength, but which are defined to be a lighter color. (in other words, we define a custom color called 50% Black, rather than displaying the system color Black at 50% strength) The result of this is a color which displays as a solid block of color in HTML and PDF, as well as printing with appropriately sized dots in our print (1-color and 4-color) work as well.

When your Frame templates are built following these two tips, you can dramatically improve the quality of your print and electronic deliverables without increasing your cost of production!

Next month I plan on having a list of New Years resolutions for desktop publishers and tech writers. Let me know if you have any suggestions at matt@grafixtraining.com, or 619 275-3963.