PSDTUTS Updates

New PLUS Tutorial - Create Vibrant Illustrations Using Special Inks

Posted: 10 Dec 2008 06:41 PM PST

This is a new addition to the PSDTUTS PLUS section. Learn all about how to design and prepare your Photoshop files for printing with specialty inks and UV gloss varnishes from an expert in the field. Mark takes you through the details you need to know in order to create professional results. Learn more at the jump!

New Exclusive PLUS Tutorial on Creating Photoshop Files for Printing Special Inks

This new PLUS Tutorial is titled "Create Vibrant Illustrations Using Special Inks," by Mark Mayers. He is a freelance illustrator and designer based in Cornwall, UK. He has worked for leading publishers worldwide and now PSDTUTS.

Offset printing is composed of four spot colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black) commonly referred to as CMYK. Some colors are impossible to reproduce with CMYK alone, such as metallics and fluorescents, other colors such as vivid oranges and greens are problematic. Nowadays many commercial printers have five or six color presses, so it's not uncommon for designers to integrate one, or even two extra spot colors. It's also important that a clients' brand color remains consistent, so spot colors are often used because their inks adhere to exact formulas, giving accurate results every time.

Take a look at your local newsstand and you'll see many magazines that have been printed with additional inks or special print finishes. Adding spot colors to an InDesign or Illustrator document is a relatively simple task – but this tutorial guides you through the process of integrating two fluorescent inks as well as a UV gloss varnish in Photoshop. While this is a complex task, you’ll learn step by step how to accomplish this.

Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! A preview of the final image is below. You can view the large version here.

This is a Complex and Detailed Tutorial

Learn all about how to design and prepare your Photoshop files for printing with specialty inks and UV gloss varnishes from an expert in the field. Mark takes you through the details you need to know in order to create professional results and work with your printer. Below is an example from this tutorial of the knocked out areas and the files set up for printing. Below that is a a video that gives an example of what the reflection on the varnish would look like if printed. It’s created with Esko Visualizer, which is a tool to create these type of demos.

Members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now!

Spot Colors Illustration from Sean Hodge on Vimeo.

PSDTUTS Plus Membership

As you know, we run a premium membership system here called PSDTUTS Plus that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the PSD files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! If you’re a member you can log in and download the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!

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