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	digital printing


	Nexpress 2100
	Designing For Digital
	Printable Area
	File Preparation
	Variable Data


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	Postcards
	Business Cards
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	Increased Color Ranges
	Real-Time Proofing
	CMYK & Spot Colors
	High-Quality Printing

:: Designing For Digital

Print Gamuts

Gamut is the term used to describe the range of colors that a specific device can produce. If you’re accustomed to designing within the limitations of the traditional color gamut of the CMYK offset process, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that the advanced technology of the NexPress 2100 and DryInks make it possible to exceed that gamut. Your computer monitor, however, can display many colors that are outside the gamut of any printing process, even a 600-dpi digital printer. In the same way, the inkjet or dye sublimation printer you may use to create proofs also has its own distinctive color gamut. The bottom line: what you see on your monitor or on your proof is not necessarily a good indication of the final printed result. The best way to know exactly how your color will look is to ask your printer to proof the job on the NexPress 2100. That’s one of the benefits of digital printing – proofs can be run on the same printer as the final output.

Spot Colors

NexPress software uses spot color mapping and special look-up tables to automatically match Pantone® colors using CMYK DryInks. That means you don’t need to alter or reformulate Pantone and other spot colors. However, if you prefer the control of selecting your own CMYK formula, you can always convert Pantone colors yourself using standard Pantone-to-CMYK charts.

Large Areas of Solid Colors, Tints and Blends

There are several design techniques you’ll want to learn to help improve the way large flat areas of solid colors or tints reproduce on a digital press. To maintain a smooth appearance, introduce a slight pattern to modulate the color. The pattern can take the form of texture, subtle graphics or simple noise. Adding a pattern can also improve color reproduction and eliminate banding. The same holds true for large areas of color blends and gradients.

	Large areas of color

•	Areas of solid color, tints and blends may reproduce better if filtering techniques are used (i.e., noise or texture). Apply from image manipulation software such as Photoshop.

•	Create blends from QuarkXPress, Photoshop or other common desktop publishing applications.

•	Tints should not be less than 10%

•	Limit blends to less than 50% value change over 2-4" for best results.

•	For tints less than 40%, apply a noise filter.

Use All Your Design Options

One of the best ways to optimize quality in large areas is to incorporate imagery, photos, graphics or text in your design right from the start. When you naturally break up large areas of color with design elements, you’re also taking advantage of one of the strengths of working on a digital press – that is, the ability to reproduce high-quality, full-color images.

On a digital press, large areas of solid color, tints or blends may show unevenness or banding.

Adding a subtle pattern to the background or incorporating other design elements may increase the visual attractiveness of the piece.

Text

With digital printing your font choices and sizes are as limitless as they are in conventional printing. And unlike most digital printers, the NexPress 2100 can print 4 point black type clearly and legibly.

Dot Gain
You’ve probably found yourself dealing with optical and mechanical dot gain. With the electrophotographic technology of the NexPress system, the dot gain is constant and a routine calibration controls the dot gain for all conditions. So, you should not have to make any adjustments to your files.

DryInk Coverage

While it would be technically possible to print 100% of each process color for a total coverage of 400%, it’s not necessary or recommended. For the NexPress 2100, the maximum DryInk coverage is 280%. With more excessive coverage, a buildup of layers may become noticeable. If 280% coverage is exceeded in the file, it will be reduced to 280% by the NexPress 2100.

Examples of Maximum Coverage

	Cyan	70%	0%
	Magenta	55%	100%
	Yellow	55%	100%
	Black	100%	80%
	Total	280%	280%

Scanning and Scan Resolution

Scan continuous tone images at a resolution that will provide 300 dpi at the final layout size. Higher resolutions only increase Raster Image Processing (RIP) time with little or no visible improvement in image quality. Perform all scaling, rotation and manipulation of your images in your image editing application before linking them in your layout. Scan line art such as logos, type or illustrations at a minimum of 600, up to 1200, to capture sharp edges. Then straighten it, clean it and scale it down to 600 dpi at final size.

	Scanning

•	Scan continuous tone images for 300 dpi at final size.

•	Scan line art at a minimum of 600, up to 1200.

•	Save all scans in CMYK mode. TIFF or EPS formats are acceptable.

•	Save at 100% of final size.

•	Do not include screen angles or transfer functions.

•	Using compression can result in image degradation.

To Trap or Not to Trap?

The NexPress 2100 offers excellent registration, both front to back and color to color. The RIP can perform autotrapping of all files and can be set up to overprint all black elements. To ensure the best quality for your document, turn off any trapping commands in the page layout program. There are, however, some instances where certain types of trapping can enhance your design for production. When black text or line art appears on a light tint, sometimes a slight halo effect will appear at the edges of the black. One way to correct this is to set your black to overprint the specified tint within the layout application. By doing so, the black will not knock out the background tint and this will minimize the halo effect.

Bleeds

Prepare jobs that bleed in exactly the same way as you would for conventional printing with an extra 3 mm (1/8 inch) to allow for trimming on the bleed edges. For die cut jobs, you may want to increase your bleed to 6 mm (1/4 inch) to anticipate possible movement on finishing device.

Be sure to download our Designing for Success PDF below for future reference and printing.

Designing for success

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