Spot colors

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

Spot colors (also known as custom colors or Pantone colors) have two representations: (1) As a tint of a custom ink, and (2) as a tint of some combination of the process inks (in fact of any arbitrary color space). PostScript-language jobs may use spot colors for metallic inks, varnishes, and die lines. In general, if a separation for the spot color is requested, the tint of the custom ink is used; otherwise the color is rendered in the process separations.

Omitting a spot color separation is different from not requesting it at all. In the first case, knockouts are typically generated in the process separations where spot-colored objects are drawn, but in the second case the approximating process color tints are drawn.

In order for a spot color separation to be rendered, the spot colors must be declared as such so that they are recorded on the display list as spot colors, and the RIP must be informed that the separation is to be produced.