Firstly, the gamut extension colours offered are Orange, Green and Blue. These colours layer with the CMYK toners to extend the gamut of your press while still printing onto media in a single pass. Why extend the gamut? Because it brings into scope more than 93% of the PANTONE PLUS swatch book and, therefore, more of your clients’ brand colours. These designs might once have gone to offset presses, but with the Xerox iGen 5 can be printed digitally with accurate colour representation.
Secondly, we can look at other enhancement colours. Here, it’s essential to understand how the relative positions of the toners affect the end product; it might dictate whether a job can be done in a single pass or whether it would need a multipass. The enhancement colours are Fluorescent Yellow, White and Clear.
Starting with Fluorescent Yellow: this can be printed as a spot, next to or on top of CMYK in a single pass. The position of the toner as the ‘last’ colour, together with its hue, means it can be an overlay as well as blending. Clear can be used as a spot or next to CMYK in a single pass, but it’s not recommended over the top of dark or saturated colours. Clear is often used for spots (not usually floods) for embellishment and security purposes.
White is the most complex colour to use because it offers so many applications. When used as a spot colour only, it can be printed in a single pass. On an iGen 5, a single multipass happens automatically inside the press. A multipass is necessary where White is used next to, over or under CMYK. Sometimes, the design might call for a double hit of White under or over other elements for extra impact. In this last case, manual mode is necessary.
You can do a lot of clever things with White on a Xerox iGen 5 Press. For example, you can use double layers of White for extra opacity – think crisp, bright white snowmen on brightly coloured Christmas cards. It can also be used over CMYK to create an opaque background and more colourful images on otherwise clear window clings, decals and labels. And, of course, like on the C8000W, Versant and Iridesse (although with different possible colours on top), you can use White as an underlay for other colours, really making them pop from the page – even on synthetics.
How do I design for speciality colours on these presses?
There are many resources available to you to support you with getting the most from your press. Visit xerox.co.uk/creative for inspiration and practical design guides, and check our website for upcoming design webinars. In addition, make sure you talk to your account manager about the Genesis Initiative and all the resources it offers you as a Xerox Beyond CMYK customer.
If I invest, will you shout about it?
Of course, if you would like us to share! Tag us on our socials and we’ll share your creations. In addition, don’t forget to sign up for Xerox’s Global Locator, which offers a directory of all printers offering Beyond CMYK print, helping you connect with new customers.
Finally, to answer our initial question: does toner position matter?
Yes. There is no question that the relative position of the toners influences how we can use the respective devices to get the best creative effects. This is especially true for speciality colours, often used as underlays or overlays rather than (or as well as) blends. Different presses are designed for different market segments and with different applications in mind. For that reason, we can’t assume the toners will always appear in a ‘standard’ order in all Xerox devices or that the same speciality colours are available on every device.
It’s especially important not to assume that the Xerox PrimeLink Vivid Kit and Xerox Versant Vivid Kit utilise the same colour order. The PrimeLink has Gold first; the Versant has White first. This variation makes the machines suited to different applications, with the PrimeLink great for side-by-side embellishments in one pass and the Versant perfect for white underlays as well.
Learn more:
Our specialists are standing by to answer your questions. We’ve got lots of resources we can share with you, including interactive presentations, videos and print samples. Just fill in the form, and we’ll be in touch.
For information on changing toners on all the different Xerox devices, we recommend the Xerox Support YouTube Channel.
