HexWare Primer 2002 Mac.qxd - Pantone

DESIGNER
HEXACHROME ®
PRIMER

PANTONE ®
Simplify the Hexachrome ® process with
PANTONE ® HexWare ®
Hexachrome is an ultra high fidelity six-color
process printing system developed by Pantone,
Inc. and introduced in 1995. With
Hexachrome, you can now reproduce rich,
vibrant solid colors, realistic skin tones and
elegant pastels. The Hexachrome color
gamut exceeds that of CMYK, allowing you
to achieve the same vibrant colors on press
that you design with on your computer.
This lets you bring your print and Web
designs even closer!
In Hexachrome, the existing CMYK primaries
were modified to be more chromatic inks, and
orange and green were added to the traditional
equation. In addition to reproducing more brilliant
continuous-tone images, Hexachrome is capable of
accurately reproducing over 90% of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM ® Colors, almost
twice the number that can be obtained using conventional four-color process printing.
Now you can combine vector artwork and logos with photographic images and reduce the
need and cost of bump plates and spot colors.
PANTONE HexWare is a software plug-in toolset for Adobe ® Photoshop ® and Adobe
Illustrator ® for creating and editing color palettes, performing color corrections and
separations and previewing images to help you achieve the extraordinary results
Hexachrome can offer. This document will give you an overview on the steps required to
create, color correct, separate and print Hexachrome designs. This includes image
separations using the Adobe Photoshop plug-in called PANTONE HexImage ® , creating
vector art in Adobe Illustrator with the PANTONE HexVector ® plug-in, and creating a layout
in QuarkXPress 5 with Hexachrome colors.
The prepress workflow for Hexachrome is similar to traditional CMYK, but color
management systems need to be properly set up and plug-ins are required to enable
support for Hexachrome in applications that do not have built-in support. The printing
workflow is the same as conventional process printing except that there is six of
everything instead of four. Pantone has worked with key industry partners to create a
smooth workflow from start to finish. Please visit www.pantone.com/hexachrome for an
updated list of Pantone-approved Hexachrome proofing and printing devices.
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HexImage ®
PANTONE ® HexImage ®
Fig. 1 - ColorSync Profiles
1) Scanner software is not yet capable of
separating directly into Hexachrome.
Therefore, it is important to save your
scanned images as RGB or L*a*b* files in
order to retain the maximum range of
colors the scanner can detect.
The RGB image will be separated in Adobe
Photoshop with PANTONE HexImage,
which uses a color-managed workflow
(ColorSync for Macintosh or Windows ®
ICM) for conversion to Hexachrome. It is
important, therefore, to make sure that you
have the necessary ICC profiles installed
on your computer before you begin.
HexWare will install Hexachrome ICC
compatible profiles created by Pantone for
a variety of printing conditions. These
profiles can be used for the separations or
profiles can be created using third party
profiling software solutions.
Fig. 2 - HexImage Separation Window
2) For the HexImage demonstration, we will
use an RGB image that was previously
scanned. HexImage will separate the
image based on the ICC profiles that are
selected for source and separation.
If the source is an original scanned photo
with an embedded profile, upon opening
the image in Adobe Photoshop, the
scanner profile should be converted to your
RGB working space within your Color
Settings in Adobe Photoshop. (Pantone
recommends using Adobe 1998 as the
RGB working space.)
Selecting Embedded/Working Space as the
source profile instructs HexImage to use
either the embedded profile or the same
settings that are specified in the Adobe
Photoshop RGB or CMYK Setup.
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HexImage ®
PANTONE ® HexImage ®
Fig. 3 - HexImage Separation Profiles
3) Separation profiles contain the color
characteristics which affect the output of
the printer or printing press, including ink
set, dot gain, screening and paper stock.
Here you should choose the separation
profile that best describes the printing
process you will be using. You can also
create your own profiles for your specific
printing conditions.
Next, you can select Perceptual (for
images), Relative Colorimetric, Saturation
or Absolute Colorimetric as the Rendering
Intent. Perceptual is best suited for
photographic images, while Relative
Colorimetric is better to use when
separating artificially created images with
many bright and chromatic colors.
The preview window allows you to check
ink densities throughout the image (see
Fig. 2). After changing selections, clicking
the “Update Preview” button will update the
preview window with new ink densities.
Once you are satisfied with your selections,
simply click on the "Separate" button.
Fig. 4 - HexImage Global Color Correction
4) HexImage generates a new multichannel
document that contains the sixchannel
Hexachrome separations. (Keep
in mind that Adobe Photoshop does not
provide support for the Hexachrome color
space, so the preview may not be
accurate. However, the previews within the
HexImage windows are accurate.)
Now you can go to the Filter menu and
select HexImage Color Correction.
HexImage allows you to do either global
(see Fig. 4) or local (see Fig. 5). After
color corrections are made, you can apply
the color correction to the Hexachrome
image.
The separated document should be saved
as a DCS2.0 file for placement into Quark
or other applications.
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PANTONE ®
HexImage ®
Fig. 5 - HexImage Local Color Correction
HexImage uses the spot color function in
Adobe Photoshop where the color
information in each channel is specified to
create a composite image.
Each channel is colored with the L*a*b*
values of the standards for Hexachrome,
based on the printing method specified in
the Separation profile. To disable one or
more of the channels in the preview, deselect
the eye icon.
If necessary, you can now adjust curves,
levels and masks using the familiar Adobe
Photoshop tools. There are many powerful
tools within Adobe Photoshop that work
with HexImage Color Correction such as
the History Brush.
5) HexImage also has the ability to
generate an accurate high resolution RGB
proof. Saving this file can serve many
purposes. All of the color corrections that
were done are saved in addition to the
profiles being embedded in the file.
Some examples of the usefulness of this
feature include repurposing the document
for multiple purposes, such as for the Web,
reconverting back to Hexachrome or
converting for regular CMYK process
printing.
Fig. 6 - Proof HexImage Document Window
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HexVector
PANTONE ® HexVector ®
Fig. 7 - HexVector All Tabs Showing
1) We created the text for our design in
Adobe Illustrator. The PANTONE
HexVector plug-in was developed because
Adobe Illustrator does not provide support
for Hexachrome.
HexVector enables you to create your own
Hexachrome process colors. Custom
Palettes can be created, saved and
shared.
HexVector also provides access to the
PANTONE Hexachrome libraries on coated
and uncoated stock, as well as the
PANTONE Solid in Hexachrome colors
which provide Hexachrome values for
PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM Colors.
This can eliminate the need to use
additional spot colors. These colors can be
used with all objects you create in Adobe
Illustrator.
Previously created documents and artwork
can also be converted into Hexachrome
with the “Convert All” button.
Fig. 8 - HexVector Hexachrome Mixer Tab
2) HexVector allows you to create your own
Hexachrome mixes if necessary. Just click
the New Color button and adjust the slider
bars of the Hexachrome base colors as
desired or type in specific numeric values.
When you click the “Add Color” button, the
new color is added to the currently selected
Custom Palette. Clicking “Make Swatch”
adds the color to the Adobe Illustrator
swatch list.
When mixing colors in Hexachrome, it is
most efficient to use neighboring colors in
the hue circle. (For example, if you are
creating a yellowish-green color, simply use
yellow and green. Red colors are best
mixed with orange and magenta, while
yellow and magenta can be used to
achieve a slightly cooler red.)
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HexVector
PANTONE ® HexVector ®
Fig. 9 - HexVector Hexachrome Libraries
3) Colors can also be added from the
Hexachrome libraries that are provided with
HexVector.
The PANTONE Hexachrome Coated and
Uncoated Libraries each contain 2000
colors that comprise the PANTONE
Hexachrome Color System printed on
coated and uncoated paper.
The PANTONE Solid in Hexachrome library
consists of 1091 PANTONE MATCHING
SYSTEM Colors that are converted to
Hexachrome and uses Pantone-specified
screen percentages for optimal
representation of the PANTONE Colors.
Individual colors can be selected or multiple
colors can be selected at a time. The colors
can be added to the currently selected
Custom Palette or to the Adobe Illustrator
swatch palette.
4) HexVector allows you to create, name
and save custom color palettes. These
palettes are saved inside the HexVector
folder and can be shared with other users or
with clients that also have HexVector 2.0
installed on their system. In addition, these
palettes are cross-platform and can be
shared between Macintosh and Windows
users with HexVector installed.
Fig. 10 - HexVector Custom Palettes Tab
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PANTONE ® HexVector ®
Fig. 11 - HexVector
Profiles Tab
Fig. 12 - HexVector Separation Profiles
5) This window enables you to use ICCbased
color management in order to
properly color manage the Hexachrome
separation process. It is where you will set
your source and separation profiles, which
HexVector will use to create six-color
separations and render a proof.
When you click “Convert All,” all non-
Hexachrome colors that are used in the
document are converted to their equivalent
Hexachrome color values, excluding non-
PANTONE Spot Colors. Refer to the Chart
on the following page for more detail. All of
these colors are then added to the Adobe
Illustrator document swatch list.
The same operation is performed when
you choose “Export As HexVector” and
“Make Document Palette.” “Convert All” has
the added benefit of updating the preview
of the document.
Another function in this window is “Make
Proof.” This actually serves two purposes.
One is to make proofs based on the
profiles selected so that you can compare
different colors spaces (source and
separation.) Each time “Make Proof” is
selected a new layer will be added to the
layers tab in Adobe Illustrator. Turning the
eye icon on and off on the layers tab will
allow you to see the differences between
profiles.
The second purpose of “Make Proof” is to
provide a composite preview when placed
into page layout applications. If you
“Export as HexVector” without making a
proof the preview will appear incorrect
when placed into other applications but
WILL print correctly.
Fig. 13 - HexVector Make Proof
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PANTONE ®
HexVector ®
Fig. 14 - Export As HexVector
Fig. 15 - HexVector Profiles Tab
6) You have two options now that you are
ready for output. You can “Export as
HexVector” which will save the file as a
HexVector file. HexVector is not a file
format in the usual sense but it is rather a
manipulation of Adobe Illustrator artwork to
achieve the effect of using Hexachrome
base colors only.
The file that is created can now be dropped
into page layout applications that support
Hexachome.
The other option at this point is to print
directly from Adobe Illustrator. By default,
the Adobe Illustrator Color Settings is set to
“Emulate Adobe Illustrator 6.0.” We
recommend leaving this setting as the
default. This essentially leaves color
management turned off. HexVector
handles the color management during
conversion. In the Separations window,
you have to be sure that the “Convert to
Process” checkbox is UNchecked. (See
Fig. 15)
If you already use color management,
continue to do so. The only extra step
required in a color-managed workflow is
that a CMYK profile MUST be selected in
the Print Dialog window as the Print Space.
(See Fig. 16) This will allow Illustrator to
correctly output the Hexachrome separated
art.
Keep in mind that Hexachrome requires a
separated workflow. Therefore, when
printing from Illustrator you will be
prompted to print as a composite document
and you MUST select NO.
Fig. 16 - HexVector Separation Profiles
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PANTONE ®
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress
Fig. 17 - Quark Color Management Settings
Fig. 18 - Quark Hexachrome Colors
Fig. 19 - Quark Multi-ink Colors
1) Layout for this piece was performed
using QuarkXPress 5, as it is a popular
application and provides support for
Hexachrome.
In order to use Hexachrome in
QuarkXPress, you need to make sure that
Quark was installed with the Quark CMS
extension active. When the Quark CMS is
installed, a new menu option is available in
the "Preferences" sub-menu under "Edit."
The Color Management option has to be
activated and a Hexachrome profile needs
to be specified as Separation printer.
Other Color Management Preference
settings do not need to be set if you are only
outputting pre-separated Hexachrome
images and objects.
2) The pre-separated DCS2.0 image that
HexImage generated in Adobe Photoshop is
placed in QuarkXPress. The designed text
from Adobe Illustrator is a HexVector EPS
image and gets placed into QuarkXPress
the same way you normally place CMYK
EPS images.
In QuarkXPress, the six Hexachrome
primaries are not displayed in the color
palette by default; you don't need to have
them there in order to print Hexachrome
separations. The primaries can, however,
easily be selected in the Edit Color window
under the "Multi-Ink" color model.
To mix your own Hexachrome colors in
Quark select the “Multi-Ink” color model,
then select “Hexachrome” under “Process
Inks.” Select one Hexachrome color in the
list, select “Shade” and proceed to any
value in list or select “Other” and type in
your own values.
It is best to always add PANTONE
Hexachrome Black because the “normal”
QuarkXPress black is separated into a rich
CMYK black.
The Hexachrome color libraries built into
QuarkXPress can also be used to color text
and vector objects and are available in the
color model pop-up menu.
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PANTONE ®
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress
3) When the images are placed and
graphic elements in QuarkXPress are
added and colorized with Hexachrome, the
next step is to output the separations.
When you access the print dialog from the
File menu, click on Separations to make
them active, then click on the Output Tab. As
you will see, QuarkXPress automatically sets
the screen angles for conventional screening.
In Hexachrome separations, the green and
magenta inks are never used together; the
same is true for cyan and orange. The result
is that these color pairs can share one angle
each without any risk for moiré patterns in
the image.
Fig. 20 - Quark Separations
4) When working in Hexachrome, you will
sometimes come across images that have
not been created for Hexachrome. (We
added one here just to show the example;
it is a CMYK EPS file.)
In such a case, QuarkXPress will ask you
whether to print both the CMYK plates and
the Hexachrome plates or to simply merge
the CMYK plates onto the Hexachrome
plates. Choose to output Hexachrome only.
The imagesetter will provide you with six
pieces of film from which you can make a
color proof and later go to press and print
with Pantone-licensed Hexachromeidentified
inks.
Fig. 21 - Quark Multi-Process Document
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© Pantone, Inc., 2002
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