Offset planning knows the inks each item prints on each side, so a form never needs more ink units than the press has (see Ink limits, press units and extra passes). Inks come from the artwork file, or you declare them.
What counts as an ink#
- Process plates the artwork actually uses: a black-only item counts one.
- Spot colours, white, metallic, fluorescent and clear inks, one unit each.
- A flood coating (gloss, matte, soft-touch varnish or aqueous) uses the press's coater when it has a matching one, else a printing unit.
- The item's Coating property, when it names a coating (
uv_gloss,uv_matte,aqueous_gloss,aqueous_matte,soft_touch,varnishornone; "Gloss UV" works too), is the item's flood coating and replaces the one in the file, so the coater checks agree with Match on: Coating. If the file has a coating of another kind, preflight says so. Other Coating values ("Gloss", "Matte") only group items. - Cold foil counts a unit for its adhesive and needs a foil unit on the press.
Dies, creases, registration and other technical lines are never inks. Hot foil, emboss, deboss and spot UV are finishes done off press: they don't take a unit (a press set to print spot varnish inline counts it).
Where inks come from#
- Declared inks, when you entered them for the item.
- From the file: the inks the prepress editor read from the artwork, per side.
- Otherwise the item's inks are Not analysed (the file wasn't read yet) or Unknown (an image, or a file that can't be read). Open the item in the 1-up editor, or declare its inks.
The spot colours listed in a file's colour table are never counted on their own: files often list unused swatches.
Declaring inks#
Type the shorthand, or pick inks one by one:
| You type | Front | Back |
|---|---|---|
4/4 |
CMYK | CMYK |
4/1 |
CMYK | K |
4/0 |
CMYK | none |
4/1 + PMS 185 C |
CMYK + PMS 185 C | K |
4+PMS 185 C/1 |
CMYK + PMS 185 C | K |
4/1+PMS 286 C |
CMYK | K + PMS 286 C |
5/0 + PMS 185 C |
CMYK + PMS 185 C | none |
4 is CMYK and 1 is black; names after a + are added to that side. A + with spaces after the whole x/y adds
to the front. Counts 2–3 and 5–8 need exactly the missing names ("5/0" alone asks you to name one more ink). A name
with a slash needs the list form. Declared inks win over the file's; Use file inks switches back and keeps what
you declared.
One ink, one name#
Names are compared by a canonical key: "PMS 185 C", "Pantone 185 C" and "185C" are one ink. C and U versions of a colour, and a number without a suffix, stay different inks, so the plan never under-counts; the preflight names such pairs so you can enter one name if they are the same ink. Gloss and matte varnish, or an underprint and an overprint white, count as separate units.
Unknown inks#
When at least one item's inks are known on an offset job with a press, items with unknown inks are counted as CMYK on each printed side, so they are never free. The preflight lists them. When no item's inks are known, inks aren't checked at all and plans are as they would be without a press.