OUGD504: Workshop 1 - Colour as Ink

When working with colour on Illustrator for both web and print, there are several techniques which make designing easier and more efficient if you know the right way to use the tools provided.

One example is to use the swatch palette for consistency and efficiency, saving colour swatches for quick reference and use in different documents.  Another tip is to delete all unused swatches when first opening a new document, which allows a clean palette which can be altered specifically for a particular design or project.

Viewing the swatches as a list lets you see the name of colour and additional information, such as the hex value or RGB colour values.  When adding a new colour to the palette, leave the swatch name as the CMYK percentages so it's easier to refer to at a later point in the design process. The registration colour (usually black) is used for printers marks; used during the printing process but isn't part of the layout/image.

- process colours
- spot colours
- global swatches
automatically updates colours through artwork when you edit it
all spot colours are global
process colours can be global or local

In the swatch palette options, there's an option to add used colours to swatch palette.  This adds all the colours already being used in the document into the swatch palette, which saves time adding them all manually.  You can then edit these colours in swatches, which will change the corresponding colours in the file to match the new swatch.  For example, changing the yellow colour below (in the swatch palette) to an orange will make this object (and all other objects of this colour) to orange automatically.

There are two different ways to view the swatches - the extended version shows the CMYK qualities as well as additional icons on the right hand side.  Added colours from a file have a small white triangle in one corner which distinguishes them from colours made in the swatch palette first before using them in the document.  It's best to edit the swatch rather than selecting the artwork to change its colour.

It also helps to save the swatch library, either by date/ client name/ job/ file, which keeps it organised and makes it easier to find and open the palette.  You can also use this palette in new documents by clearing swatch palette and importing saved swatch palettes. CMYK colours are kept however the tints need to be recreated. Adobe swatch exchange allows swatches to move between different adobe programs which is useful when working in more than one program for a project.

Working with tonal variations - making swatches of one colour different shades.  This tool helps when creating a range of tints to establish consistency within the design.  Show options to create even tints of a certain colour.

Why use spot colour?

- cost efficient and financially better

- whenever it's printed it's exactly the same

- this shows consistency

If using CMYK, then a slight change in the percentages would create a different colour.  You can also print spot colours that can't be achieved using the CMYK gamut.  However, using CMYK and a few spot colours will make the cost of print production enormous because it uses so many inks, rather than just one or two (spot colours) or four if only using cymk to print.

Certain print companies often have slightly different prints, so it's worth communicating with the printer you're working with to talk about stock and colour reference system most suited to their equipment.