Color separation: preparing a clean flexo file

A clean separation is half of a successful plate. Here are the basics to prepare a flexo file with no nasty surprises.

Stay in CMYK + controlled spot colors

Make sure no RGB remains and that spot colors (Pantone) are named properly and merged when duplicated. One forgotten spot color means one plate too many.

Overprint and black

• Text black goes to overprint to avoid white lines at registration.
• Rich black is reserved for large solids, never for small text.
• Check overprint on thin rules and small type.

Technical white and substrate

On film or non-white substrates, the printing white is a dedicated spot color. It "carries" the colors — don't forget it.

Check channel by channel

Before the proof, open the separations one by one. It's the only way to catch text sent to the wrong channel. Two minutes of checking saves hours.