These are the limits of a screening job as the app enforces them today. A value outside a range is refused where you type it, with the range in the message; a job that breaks a limit shows an error in its checks (see Screening checks and warnings).
Limits#
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Uploaded PDF | Up to 500 MB, not password protected |
| Pages chosen from an uploaded PDF | Up to 50 |
| Preflight of a new job | Up to 90 seconds; try fewer pages if it takes longer |
| Spot plates per page | Up to 10 (technical inks don't count) |
| Plate size | Under 4 GB uncompressed (width × height in device pixels ÷ 8) |
| Resolution | 600–5,080 dpi |
| AM ruling | 50–300 lpi, and at most dpi ÷ 4 |
| FM dot size | 5–100 µm, made as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12 device pixels |
| Ink zones | 1–128 |
| Named inks, technical inks, solid inks in a profile | Up to 60 names each |
| File name template | Up to 200 characters; each file name up to 200 characters |
| Points in a curve entry | 2–33 |
| Measured rows in a curve entry | 2–200 |
| Separations in one curve | Up to 24 |
| Pasted measurements | Up to 256 KB; the first 64 KB is kept |
| Registration targets | Need a margin of at least 6 mm outside the artwork and bleed |
| Keeping a finished job | 30 days after it finishes, then its files are deleted |
The plate size limit means, for example, a sheet of about 77 × 77 in (1.96 × 1.96 m) at 2,400 dpi, or a quarter of that area at 4,800 dpi. The TIFFs themselves are much smaller: they are compressed.
What screening doesn't do yet#
- Rolls. Only sheet layouts can be screened; roll layouts can't.
- Rotated pages with transparency and spots. A page that combines all three can't be screened: remove the page rotation or flatten the transparency first. Rotated pages get no registration marks or plate labels either.
- More than 10 spot plates on a page. Mark die lines, glue and similar inks as technical, or remove spots from the PDF. An unticked spot still counts, because it is still rendered.
- Curve kinds from the editor. New curve always makes a press compensation curve; tone and plate linearisation curves need the API (see Plate curves).
- ISO 18620 curve files. They can't be imported or exported yet (see Press compensation from measurements).
- Front and back. Every plate is a front: the
{side}file name token is always F. - Changing a started job. A job's settings freeze when it starts; use Re-screen with changes (see Running a screening job).