Requesting spot colors using SeparationColorNames and SeparationOrder

This page applies to Harlequin v13.1r0 and later; both Harlequin Core and Harlequin MultiRIP.

In modern usage (since PostScript language Level 3), you can use the page device key SeparationColorNames.

SeparationColorNames is an array that specifies the Separation color spaces for which separations are to be produced. This array can contain either names or strings, or a mixture of the two. If the name used in a [/Separation name ...] setcolorspace operation is included in this array, that colorant is used rather than the alternate (typically process color) space.

The process colors are included by default, so are not required in this array. (Note that the process color names are Cyan and so on, not ProcessCyan and so on, as the Level 1 conventions referred to them).

Once the spot color separations required have been specified, the names can be put in the SeparationOrder array to determine where and if they are actually produced. For example:

            <<
              /Separations true
              /SeparationColorNames [ (Gold) ] % or we could say [ /Gold ]
              /SeparationOrder [ (Gold) /Black /Cyan /Magenta /Yellow ]
            >> setpagedevice