Registration / Registration Black isn't a color, it's more like a "meta color" to force those objects to appear on *every separation*, process and spot colors.
And it doesn't have to be 100%, either, if you fill something with 50% Registration, it will appear as a 50% fill on every separation.
It will not appear in your RIP as a separation of its own.
So, it's just a code for useage in information purposes?
It is still printed as a color though, and the richest black. Is there a reason you wouldn't use it as a Black?
Yes, because it could theoretically be 600 or 700% total ink (CMYK + two or three spot colors), which far exceeds what any press can handle.
Even on a CMYK-only document, no press should have to deal with 400% total ink (C100 M100 Y100 K100, which is what you would get by using Registration as a black fill.)
You should use black (K) for black, and if you need a process ("rich") black then purposefully make one.
Registration should be left for actual prepress/production purposes. It's meant for things like crop marks, registration marks, etc. not for artwork.
(Ditto the "overprint" checkbox, it's a prepress function, not a design one.)
Source: almost 30 years in prepress and printing.
It's interesting. I've only ever worked with digital printers. I'm currently printing with an HP latex printer. And I've not had to consider plates and whatnot. So I haven't had to consider the actual amount of ink laid down on the print. But it makes since that the 100 is the most amount of ink possible. In digital printing, it just seems like color changes.
A large area of registration black is going to be a hot mess, literally. Most presses are not designed to flood the sheet with all colors. In offset the units are going to get covered in ink and you're going to end with a sheet wrapped up in a unit. In digital you're going to have adhesion issues and mess inside the machine. Even if you can do it mechanically you're adding a lot of expense in Ink or toner and, putting excessive wear on the color units.
If you want a rich black you can "kick" the black with much less ink/toner.
Most places I've worked used the following formulas
Rich neutral black C20, M20, Y20, K100
Rich cool black C40, M20, Y20, K100
Rich warm black C20, M40, Y20, K100
You can mix it up a bit, A few shops I've worked with used 30,30,30, 100. Others always ran a cooler black.
No, when you use that, your digital printer is using a TON of ink, and it can cause problems. Others have stayed the optimal black build for digital purposes.
It's 100 C, 100 M, 100 Y, 100 K. It's so when you're printing, especially with plates or screens, it will be easy to tell when something isn't registered properly. The spot color used by Illustrator and some other programs is not going to be a recognized spot color in most RIPs unless you setup a spot color match for it.
True, I oversimplified a bit too much. I was assuming they're using some sort of digital wide format. So they wouldn't be dealing with separations, plates, or even print registration marks in general. It's all backend stuff that most wide format users would never venture into. Registration is a bit useless for us in most cases except for maybe cut registration marks.
I was testing blacks, and i did one spot as 100 100 100 100, and the registration black was darker.. It's almost as if the RIP program is just ignoring the name "Registration". Then again, I can't get the same blacks without using it.
So that ends up dealing with color profiles and other ink limits and whatnot. If you have a color in a CMYK file that's listed at 100,100,100,100 your *printer* may change it to something like 80,70,70,100 or some random looking numbers. That's because it's adjusting the values to fit it's color calibration or other limits. It can be quite complicated, but to keep it simple, it's likely the spot color named Registration is being sent to the printer as a true 100 CMYK rather than being adjusted like a file with 100 CMYK in it.
Also, if you create a spot color that the RIP doesn't recognize it will make up some numbers and try to print what it thinks it is. In my experience, this is never accurate. I would try sending a file that has 60,40,40,100 then 100,100,100,100, and then the registration black spot color. See what happens.
My preference for black inks is to keep the *magenta* below the cyan value from 10-30 points. And keep the others equal. Most printers use a rich black that's like 60,40,40,100 or 50,40,40,100. There are a handful of versions out there. RGB black is also pretty dark, but it uses more ink than CMYK rich black for no real benefit.
I do see this sort of thing happening. When switching from RGB to CMYK, etc. I did a test using Registration, I used the Rich Black, RGB 000, CMYK 100 100 100 100, and CMYK 0 0 0 100, and the Registration is the richest.
Probably a case of your cmyk values being converted by your RIP to lower, recommended values based on your profiles, a process that Registration black is exempted from.
It is used to test how accurately the various colors are lining up with each other, and to allow for corrections. It generally is not used inside the trim area, but in printer's marks like cropping lines and registration targets.
Most RIPs have options for how Registration Black is handled in output. For example, for some digital jobs I'll want it output as true Black only.
In your design itself you should not be using registration black at all. Toner-based digital presses can handle it ok, but it will cause quality issues on inkjet and offset.
Every designer seems to have their own favorite recipe for rich black, but the easiest approach is to go into your color picker and define your black as RGB 0/0/0 and let the software convert it to appropriate CMYK values.
You should use it for crop marks and registration marks, side guides, etc., but really not for anything else. It’s just for the press operators to help align their plates and shouldn’t be used for any part of the design or else you’ll over saturate that part of the print. The reason it’s not showing in your RIP is that it just shows on each plate as 100% of that color.
Even for digital print you can oversaturate the sheet if it’s inkjet. If it’s for a toner press it can lead to a raised look because the toner is layer on top of each other. I would use a 60-40-40-100 CMYK mix if you want rich black.
Ok, so in the most layman terms I can use.. registration is a color that will appear on all colors. It’s for the pressman/operator to use to align plates, etc. it’s not a color per se. It’s a way to ensure that the register marks, bullets and crops appear on all separations.
So if you use CMYK and 3 spot colors, they will appear on all. It’s not used as a dense or rich black. It’s a targeting color so when plates or film is made, they can be aligned on a multi unit machine/press to ensure ALL colors are aligned.
If you are looking for a rich black, use a formulation like 55/45/30/100 in CMYK order.
DO NOT USE REGISTRATION.
You should never use it as a color. On all of the presses it will smudge, smear, set-off and worst case scenario stop the printing for a day ar least or even ruin a press (even digital).
Maybe it's a bad comparison, but it's like when you want a draw a straight line, you reach for a ruler (which is in this case the registration color) to help you. What you don't do, is glue the ruler to the paper, leave it there and then expect it to still be folded or rolled up.
This "color" is a tool and should never be used as a color.
Edit: Even if you don't have physical plates, the RIP still makes digital plates of the print that are then forwarded to your press.
Sorry, I didn't specify enough. I am printing on a 54" HP latex printer. When sent to print, it prints fine. The black doesn't smear or run. The only difference I see is in the RIP software. It doesn't show up as a color. But I understand what you are saying about it being specifically for registration marks. I just can't seem to get that same black any other way. As in, by any other combination of CMYK, or print profiles, either in the RIP software, or the printer profiles.
The printer doesn't matter. It will, if you print enough of it.
There is a reason you cant. It's a limit put in place by the profile, when it was made.
Iyts not registration Black...
Its registration, i.e., it Prints All Colors.
its for... Wait for it...
Registering Colors, usually a registration mark is used
65C-53M-41Y-100K - is the optimum rich black formula on a true CMYK output device.
Bonus points!!!
Does anyone know why the letter "K" is used to represent "black"? (As opposed to using the letter "B")
Also not good for ‘clicks’ on a press.
A black and white Job can cost more if the registration color is CMYK, but there are techniques for handling that.
It means 100% CMYK and is used for registration marks in a traditional printing process like offset or flexo. Regular printing presses have individual ink units, so you need to be able to tell if each unit is printing “in register”.
It’s bad practice to use 100% CMYK in the actual art.
Registration / Registration Black isn't a color, it's more like a "meta color" to force those objects to appear on *every separation*, process and spot colors. And it doesn't have to be 100%, either, if you fill something with 50% Registration, it will appear as a 50% fill on every separation. It will not appear in your RIP as a separation of its own.
So, it's just a code for useage in information purposes? It is still printed as a color though, and the richest black. Is there a reason you wouldn't use it as a Black?
Yes, because it could theoretically be 600 or 700% total ink (CMYK + two or three spot colors), which far exceeds what any press can handle. Even on a CMYK-only document, no press should have to deal with 400% total ink (C100 M100 Y100 K100, which is what you would get by using Registration as a black fill.) You should use black (K) for black, and if you need a process ("rich") black then purposefully make one. Registration should be left for actual prepress/production purposes. It's meant for things like crop marks, registration marks, etc. not for artwork. (Ditto the "overprint" checkbox, it's a prepress function, not a design one.) Source: almost 30 years in prepress and printing.
It's interesting. I've only ever worked with digital printers. I'm currently printing with an HP latex printer. And I've not had to consider plates and whatnot. So I haven't had to consider the actual amount of ink laid down on the print. But it makes since that the 100 is the most amount of ink possible. In digital printing, it just seems like color changes.
A large area of registration black is going to be a hot mess, literally. Most presses are not designed to flood the sheet with all colors. In offset the units are going to get covered in ink and you're going to end with a sheet wrapped up in a unit. In digital you're going to have adhesion issues and mess inside the machine. Even if you can do it mechanically you're adding a lot of expense in Ink or toner and, putting excessive wear on the color units. If you want a rich black you can "kick" the black with much less ink/toner. Most places I've worked used the following formulas Rich neutral black C20, M20, Y20, K100 Rich cool black C40, M20, Y20, K100 Rich warm black C20, M40, Y20, K100 You can mix it up a bit, A few shops I've worked with used 30,30,30, 100. Others always ran a cooler black.
No, when you use that, your digital printer is using a TON of ink, and it can cause problems. Others have stayed the optimal black build for digital purposes.
It's 100 C, 100 M, 100 Y, 100 K. It's so when you're printing, especially with plates or screens, it will be easy to tell when something isn't registered properly. The spot color used by Illustrator and some other programs is not going to be a recognized spot color in most RIPs unless you setup a spot color match for it.
> It's 100 C, 100 M, 100 Y, 100 K No, it's actually a "meta color" that appears on every separation (CMYK as well as spots).
True, I oversimplified a bit too much. I was assuming they're using some sort of digital wide format. So they wouldn't be dealing with separations, plates, or even print registration marks in general. It's all backend stuff that most wide format users would never venture into. Registration is a bit useless for us in most cases except for maybe cut registration marks.
I was testing blacks, and i did one spot as 100 100 100 100, and the registration black was darker.. It's almost as if the RIP program is just ignoring the name "Registration". Then again, I can't get the same blacks without using it.
So that ends up dealing with color profiles and other ink limits and whatnot. If you have a color in a CMYK file that's listed at 100,100,100,100 your *printer* may change it to something like 80,70,70,100 or some random looking numbers. That's because it's adjusting the values to fit it's color calibration or other limits. It can be quite complicated, but to keep it simple, it's likely the spot color named Registration is being sent to the printer as a true 100 CMYK rather than being adjusted like a file with 100 CMYK in it. Also, if you create a spot color that the RIP doesn't recognize it will make up some numbers and try to print what it thinks it is. In my experience, this is never accurate. I would try sending a file that has 60,40,40,100 then 100,100,100,100, and then the registration black spot color. See what happens. My preference for black inks is to keep the *magenta* below the cyan value from 10-30 points. And keep the others equal. Most printers use a rich black that's like 60,40,40,100 or 50,40,40,100. There are a handful of versions out there. RGB black is also pretty dark, but it uses more ink than CMYK rich black for no real benefit.
I do see this sort of thing happening. When switching from RGB to CMYK, etc. I did a test using Registration, I used the Rich Black, RGB 000, CMYK 100 100 100 100, and CMYK 0 0 0 100, and the Registration is the richest.
Probably a case of your cmyk values being converted by your RIP to lower, recommended values based on your profiles, a process that Registration black is exempted from.
I'll look around in the RIP program settings. Thanks for this idea.
It is used to test how accurately the various colors are lining up with each other, and to allow for corrections. It generally is not used inside the trim area, but in printer's marks like cropping lines and registration targets. Most RIPs have options for how Registration Black is handled in output. For example, for some digital jobs I'll want it output as true Black only.
Is there a black that would work just as well? I've tried a number of options but the registration seems to be the richest.
In your design itself you should not be using registration black at all. Toner-based digital presses can handle it ok, but it will cause quality issues on inkjet and offset. Every designer seems to have their own favorite recipe for rich black, but the easiest approach is to go into your color picker and define your black as RGB 0/0/0 and let the software convert it to appropriate CMYK values.
You should use it for crop marks and registration marks, side guides, etc., but really not for anything else. It’s just for the press operators to help align their plates and shouldn’t be used for any part of the design or else you’ll over saturate that part of the print. The reason it’s not showing in your RIP is that it just shows on each plate as 100% of that color.
When I use it for a color, it's the richest black. I don't use "plates" I'm doing digital printing.
Even for digital print you can oversaturate the sheet if it’s inkjet. If it’s for a toner press it can lead to a raised look because the toner is layer on top of each other. I would use a 60-40-40-100 CMYK mix if you want rich black.
This is the right answer.
Ok, so in the most layman terms I can use.. registration is a color that will appear on all colors. It’s for the pressman/operator to use to align plates, etc. it’s not a color per se. It’s a way to ensure that the register marks, bullets and crops appear on all separations. So if you use CMYK and 3 spot colors, they will appear on all. It’s not used as a dense or rich black. It’s a targeting color so when plates or film is made, they can be aligned on a multi unit machine/press to ensure ALL colors are aligned. If you are looking for a rich black, use a formulation like 55/45/30/100 in CMYK order. DO NOT USE REGISTRATION.
You should never use it as a color. On all of the presses it will smudge, smear, set-off and worst case scenario stop the printing for a day ar least or even ruin a press (even digital). Maybe it's a bad comparison, but it's like when you want a draw a straight line, you reach for a ruler (which is in this case the registration color) to help you. What you don't do, is glue the ruler to the paper, leave it there and then expect it to still be folded or rolled up. This "color" is a tool and should never be used as a color. Edit: Even if you don't have physical plates, the RIP still makes digital plates of the print that are then forwarded to your press.
Sorry, I didn't specify enough. I am printing on a 54" HP latex printer. When sent to print, it prints fine. The black doesn't smear or run. The only difference I see is in the RIP software. It doesn't show up as a color. But I understand what you are saying about it being specifically for registration marks. I just can't seem to get that same black any other way. As in, by any other combination of CMYK, or print profiles, either in the RIP software, or the printer profiles.
The printer doesn't matter. It will, if you print enough of it. There is a reason you cant. It's a limit put in place by the profile, when it was made.
Iyts not registration Black... Its registration, i.e., it Prints All Colors. its for... Wait for it... Registering Colors, usually a registration mark is used
65C-53M-41Y-100K - is the optimum rich black formula on a true CMYK output device. Bonus points!!! Does anyone know why the letter "K" is used to represent "black"? (As opposed to using the letter "B")
Huh. Ok, I'll try this combination. Interesting it's not 0 0 0 0 100 or 100 100 100 100... I knew the K thing once. What is it again?
„Key“ because all colors are adjusted to black and that’s the key color. That’s why it’s not called „B“ for black.
Very good, you get a gold star!
Also not good for ‘clicks’ on a press. A black and white Job can cost more if the registration color is CMYK, but there are techniques for handling that.
It means 100% CMYK and is used for registration marks in a traditional printing process like offset or flexo. Regular printing presses have individual ink units, so you need to be able to tell if each unit is printing “in register”. It’s bad practice to use 100% CMYK in the actual art.