{"course":{"slug":"vector-and-print","title":"Vectors, Logos and Things That Get Printed","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print","level":"beginner","track":"create"},"lesson":{"slug":"spot-colours-and-plates","title":"A spot colour is a plate, and a plate is money","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/spot-colours-and-plates","position":32,"of":73,"minutes":9,"answer":"A spot colour is a physically mixed ink on its own plate, which buys consistency, out-of-gamut reach and economy on low colour counts at the cost of a plate.","keyIdea":"A spot colour is a physically mixed ink on its own plate, which buys consistency, out-of-gamut reach and economy on low colour counts at the cost of a plate, and a spot must be defined as a spot swatch and then verified in the separations, because a spot that exports as process is a silent failure."},"body":{"format":"markdown","text":"## What a spot ink is\n\nA **spot colour** is an ink mixed to a recipe before it goes on the press, and printed from its own unit. Not simulated from four process inks: a physically different ink.\n\nThat buys three things process cannot:\n\n- **Consistency.** The same mixed ink on ten different jobs at ten different suppliers gives the same colour. A CMYK build depends on the press, the paper and the day.\n- **Reach.** Metallics, fluorescents, and saturated colours outside the CMYK gamut. There is no CMYK build for silver.\n- **Economy on short colour counts.** A two-colour job (black and one spot) needs two plates and two units. Printing the same job in process needs four of each, and costs more.\n\nAnd it costs: **each spot is an additional plate, an additional unit and an additional wash-up.** On a job already running four-colour process, adding a fifth spot is a real line on the quotation. Ask before you specify it.\n\n> Figure: What a plate adds on a 1,000-piece run. Bars (per cent of the two-colour price): One colour 78; Two colours 100; Four-colour process 133; Process plus one spot 151. A short run is dominated by setup rather than ink: each plate carries plate cost, make-ready and a wash-up. On a 100,000-piece run the same four bars are almost level, which is why the honest advice is short run, few colours; long run, colours are cheap.\n\n## The Pantone situation, stated plainly\n\nPantone's colour libraries were removed from Adobe's applications in **2022**. Using the current libraries inside Illustrator, InDesign or Photoshop requires a separate paid Pantone Connect subscription. The physical guide books were already expensive and are recommended to be replaced periodically because the printed inks fade.\n\nWhat this means practically:\n\n- **You do not need Pantone to work.** Most small and mid-size shops work from their own printed CMYK charts and their own mixed-ink books.\n- **You do need a shared reference.** Whatever you and the printer both hold (their chart, a physical swatch, a printed sample of the previous job) is the reference.\n- **A Pantone number is still the lingua franca**, and an ink mixer can mix to one from the formula regardless of what software you used. If a client's brand sheet says PANTONE 2925 C, that is actionable; you do not need the library installed to write it in a note to the printer.\n\nFree alternatives for getting a defined spot into a file: define your own named spot swatch (below), and specify the reference in words on the docket.\n\n## Defining a spot so it stays a spot\n\nThe mechanic matters, because a \"spot\" that exports as process is worse than useless.\n\n- **Scribus**: Edit ▸ Colours & Fills ▸ New, name it, and tick **Spot Colour**. Scribus will keep it as a separate separation through PDF export. This is the strongest free path.\n- **Illustrator**: Swatches panel ▸ New Swatch ▸ Colour Type: **Spot Colour**. The swatch gets a small dot in its corner.\n- **CorelDRAW**: choose a colour from a spot palette, or Palette Editor to create one; it exports as a named separation.\n- **Inkscape**: no true spot colour support. You can name a colour, but it exports as process. For spot work, lay out in Scribus.\n\nThen **verify** in the exported PDF. Acrobat Pro's Output Preview ▸ Separations lists every plate. Free equivalent:\n\n```bash\ngs -q -o /dev/null -sDEVICE=inkcov job.pdf     # per-page CMYK coverage\ngs -o sep-%d.tif -sDEVICE=tiffsep job.pdf      # one file per separation, spots included\n```\n\n`tiffsep` writes a file per plate and names the spot ones. If you see a file you did not expect, you have an accidental extra plate; and that is a cost the client will find on the invoice.\n\n## Tints of a spot\n\nYou can screen a spot ink like any other: 100%, 60%, 30% of the same ink gives you three tones from one plate at no extra cost. This is how good two-colour work gets its range, and it is the subject of the next lesson.\n\nTints of a spot are subject to the same dot gain as anything else, and a spot at 20% on uncoated behaves exactly like 20% cyan.\n\n## When to convert a spot to process\n\nConvert when: the job is already full process, the colour is inside the CMYK gamut, and the client has not specified a tolerance you cannot meet otherwise.\n\nKeep the spot when: the colour is out of gamut, it is metallic or fluorescent, the job is one or two colours anyway, or the brand requires cross-supplier consistency.\n\nSay which you have done, in writing, on the docket. \"Logo blue supplied as a spot, please convert to process\" is a clear instruction. Leaving an unexplained fifth plate in the file and hoping is not."},"check":{"question":"A designer defines the brand colour in Inkscape, names the swatch \"Brand Blue Spot\", and exports a PDF for a two-colour job. The printer quotes for four plates. What has happened?","options":[{"text":"The printer's RIP does not read swatch names, so every named colour is quoted as a separate plate regardless of its type.","correct":false,"tempting":"RIPs read separation names perfectly well. The quote reflects what is actually in the file, not a failure to read names."},{"text":"Inkscape has no spot support, so the named swatch exported as a CMYK build across four separations.","correct":true},{"text":"The PDF was exported as PDF/X-4, which converts all spot colours to process to keep transparency live.","correct":false,"tempting":"PDF/X-4 preserves spot colours; it is about live transparency and colour management, not about flattening separations."},{"text":"The swatch was defined in RGB rather than CMYK, and RGB colours are always separated into four plates by the RIP.","correct":false,"tempting":"An RGB colour does get converted, but the underlying problem is that the tool never created a spot separation to begin with: a CMYK swatch in Inkscape would behave the same way."}]},"prev":{"slug":"halftones-and-dot-gain","title":"Why your 20% tint printed at 30%","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/halftones-and-dot-gain"},"next":{"slug":"one-and-two-colour-work","title":"Getting a whole design out of two inks","url":"https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/one-and-two-colour-work"},"authorship":"Founder and series editor: Dr Mustafa Mun. Written by AI models to a written standard. Exam keys checked blind by a second model: 3,665 of 3,666 agreed. Academic review invited.","review":{"status":"Draft, open for academic review"},"cite":"Addaly (2026) 'A spot colour is a plate, and a plate is money', in Vectors, Logos and Things That Get Printed. Edited by M. Mun. Addaly. Available at: https://addaly.com/learn/vector-and-print/spot-colours-and-plates (Accessed: 13 October 2026).","licence":{"name":"CC BY-NC-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/"},"reader":{"schema":1,"title":"A spot colour is a plate, and a plate is money","courseTitle":"Vectors, Logos and Things That Get Printed","module":{"index":4,"slug":"colour-for-print","title":"Colour that survives the press"},"answer":null,"keyIdea":"A spot colour is a physically mixed ink on its own plate, which buys consistency, out-of-gamut reach and economy on low colour counts at the cost of a plate, and a spot must be defined as a spot swatch and then verified in the separations, because a spot that exports as process is a silent failure.","hero":{"kind":"figure","figure":{"t":"figure","label":"Figure","figure":{"type":"bars","unit":"per cent of the two-colour price","title":"What a plate adds on a 1,000-piece run","series":[{"label":"One colour","value":78},{"label":"Two colours","value":100},{"label":"Four-colour process","value":133},{"label":"Process plus one spot","value":151,"highlight":true}],"caption":"A short run is dominated by setup rather than ink: each plate carries plate cost, make-ready and a wash-up. On a 100,000-piece run the same four bars are almost level, which is why the honest advice is short run, few colours; long run, colours are cheap."},"alt":"Figure: What a plate adds on a 1,000-piece run. Bars (per cent of the two-colour price): One colour 78; Two colours 100; Four-colour process 133; Process plus one spot 151. A short run is dominated by setup rather than ink: each plate carries plate cost, make-ready and a wash-up. On a 100,000-piece run the same four bars are almost level, which is why the honest advice is short run, few colours; long run, colours are cheap."}},"blocks":[{"t":"h2","id":"what-a-spot-ink-is","runs":[{"text":"What a spot ink is"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"A "},{"text":"spot colour","b":true},{"text":" is an ink mixed to a recipe before it goes on the press, and printed from its own unit. Not simulated from four process inks: a physically different ink."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"That buys three things process cannot:"}]},{"t":"ul","items":[[{"text":"Consistency.","b":true},{"text":" The same mixed ink on ten different jobs at ten different suppliers gives the same colour. A CMYK build depends on the press, the paper and the day."}],[{"text":"Reach.","b":true},{"text":" Metallics, fluorescents, and saturated colours outside the CMYK gamut. There is no CMYK build for silver."}],[{"text":"Economy on short colour counts.","b":true},{"text":" A two-colour job (black and one spot) needs two plates and two units. Printing the same job in process needs four of each, and costs more."}]]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"And it costs: "},{"text":"each spot is an additional plate, an additional unit and an additional wash-up.","b":true},{"text":" On a job already running four-colour process, adding a fifth spot is a real line on the quotation. Ask before you specify it."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"the-pantone-situation-stated-plainly","runs":[{"text":"The Pantone situation, stated plainly"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Pantone’s colour libraries were removed from Adobe’s applications in "},{"text":"2022","b":true},{"text":". Using the current libraries inside Illustrator, InDesign or Photoshop requires a separate paid Pantone Connect subscription. The physical guide books were already expensive and are recommended to be replaced periodically because the printed inks fade."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"What this means practically:"}]},{"t":"ul","items":[[{"text":"You do not need Pantone to work.","b":true},{"text":" Most small and mid-size shops work from their own printed CMYK charts and their own mixed-ink books."}],[{"text":"You do need a shared reference.","b":true},{"text":" Whatever you and the printer both hold (their chart, a physical swatch, a printed sample of the previous job) is the reference."}],[{"text":"A Pantone number is still the lingua franca","b":true},{"text":", and an ink mixer can mix to one from the formula regardless of what software you used. If a client’s brand sheet says PANTONE 2925 C, that is actionable; you do not need the library installed to write it in a note to the printer."}]]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Free alternatives for getting a defined spot into a file: define your own named spot swatch (below), and specify the reference in words on the docket."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"defining-a-spot-so-it-stays-a-spot","runs":[{"text":"Defining a spot so it stays a spot"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"The mechanic matters, because a “spot” that exports as process is worse than useless."}]},{"t":"ul","items":[[{"text":"Scribus","b":true},{"text":": Edit ▸ Colours & Fills ▸ New, name it, and tick "},{"text":"Spot Colour","b":true},{"text":". Scribus will keep it as a separate separation through PDF export. This is the strongest free path."}],[{"text":"Illustrator","b":true},{"text":": Swatches panel ▸ New Swatch ▸ Colour Type: "},{"text":"Spot Colour","b":true},{"text":". The swatch gets a small dot in its corner."}],[{"text":"CorelDRAW","b":true},{"text":": choose a colour from a spot palette, or Palette Editor to create one; it exports as a named separation."}],[{"text":"Inkscape","b":true},{"text":": no true spot colour support. You can name a colour, but it exports as process. For spot work, lay out in Scribus."}]]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Then "},{"text":"verify","b":true},{"text":" in the exported PDF. Acrobat Pro’s Output Preview ▸ Separations lists every plate. Free equivalent:"}]},{"t":"code","lang":"bash","label":"Bash","text":"gs -q -o /dev/null -sDEVICE=inkcov job.pdf     # per-page CMYK coverage\ngs -o sep-%d.tif -sDEVICE=tiffsep job.pdf      # one file per separation, spots included"},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"tiffsep","code":true},{"text":" writes a file per plate and names the spot ones. If you see a file you did not expect, you have an accidental extra plate; and that is a cost the client will find on the invoice."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"tints-of-a-spot","runs":[{"text":"Tints of a spot"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"You can screen a spot ink like any other: 100%, 60%, 30% of the same ink gives you three tones from one plate at no extra cost. This is how good two-colour work gets its range, and it is the subject of the next lesson."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Tints of a spot are subject to the same dot gain as anything else, and a spot at 20% on uncoated behaves exactly like 20% cyan."}]},{"t":"h2","id":"when-to-convert-a-spot-to-process","runs":[{"text":"When to convert a spot to process"}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Convert when: the job is already full process, the colour is inside the CMYK gamut, and the client has not specified a tolerance you cannot meet otherwise."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Keep the spot when: the colour is out of gamut, it is metallic or fluorescent, the job is one or two colours anyway, or the brand requires cross-supplier consistency."}]},{"t":"p","runs":[{"text":"Say which you have done, in writing, on the docket. “Logo blue supplied as a spot, please convert to process” is a clear instruction. Leaving an unexplained fifth plate in the file and hoping is not."}]}],"check":{"question":[{"text":"A designer defines the brand colour in Inkscape, names the swatch “Brand Blue Spot”, and exports a PDF for a two-colour job. The printer quotes for four plates. What has happened?"}],"options":[{"text":[{"text":"The printer’s RIP does not read swatch names, so every named colour is quoted as a separate plate regardless of its type."}],"correct":false,"tempting":[{"text":"RIPs read separation names perfectly well. The quote reflects what is actually in the file, not a failure to read names."}]},{"text":[{"text":"Inkscape has no spot support, so the named swatch exported as a CMYK build across four separations."}],"correct":true,"tempting":null},{"text":[{"text":"The PDF was exported as PDF/X-4, which converts all spot colours to process to keep transparency live."}],"correct":false,"tempting":[{"text":"PDF/X-4 preserves spot colours; it is about live transparency and colour management, not about flattening separations."}]},{"text":[{"text":"The swatch was defined in RGB rather than CMYK, and RGB colours are always separated into four plates by the RIP."}],"correct":false,"tempting":[{"text":"An RGB colour does get converted, but the underlying problem is that the tool never created a spot separation to begin with: a CMYK swatch in Inkscape would behave the same way."}]}],"order":[3,0,1,2],"why":null},"prev":{"slug":"halftones-and-dot-gain","title":"Why your 20% tint printed at 30%","minutes":9},"next":{"slug":"one-and-two-colour-work","title":"Getting a whole design out of two inks","minutes":8}}}