Set up a publication for spot- or process-color printing

Be sure that you talk with your printing service before changing the color options in your publication.

Keep in mind also that you will want to choose final colors from a color-matching system that your printing service supports. Microsoft Publisher provides the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM, which you can use to specify spot or process colors.

Work with a printing service to choose colors

Before you begin designing a publication for commercial printing, you'll want to discuss with your printer whether to use process color, also known as CMYK color, or spot color. Microsoft Publisher supports process- and spot-color printing, and provides all the tools your commercial printing service needs to prepare your color publication for printing. After you make a decision about color, you can design your publication for the type of color printing you've chosen.

Choosing process- and spot-color printing   In most cases, your decision to use process color, spot color, or a combination of spot and process color will be based on the printing issues that you discuss with someone from a commercial printing service. These issues include the following:

The number or range of colors that will best suit your publication

Spot color printing uses variations, or percentages, of black and one or more colors. Spot colors are typically used in publications to:

Spot color is always a good choice when color graphics serve as an accent, rather than as the focus or subject, of your publication.

Process-color (CMYK) printing, which can reproduce all colors on the printed page, is often used when a publication:

Process color might be used, for example, in a brochure that focused on illustrating a product with detailed artwork and photographs.

The cost of producing the publication

Typically, a process-color publication is more expensive to produce than a spot-color publication. Every color in a process color job must be created on a separate color plate, and the cost per publication increases if you are printing only a small number of publications.

Spot color costs have a wide range, but they are flexible. For example, a printer can create screen tints of spot colors, rather than separate plates, and thus vary the colors without increasing printing costs.

The cost of producing a publication also depends on the type of paper used for printing, the complexity of the publication's graphics, and on the number of publications that will be produced.

Set up a publication for spot-color printing

  1. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color Printing.
  2. In the Print all colors as box, click Spot color(s).
  3. Add, Modify, or Delete the spot color(s) you want.

Note    In Publisher, black is automatically included in spot color printing. If you choose black plus one spot color, Publisher converts all colors except for black in your publication to tints of the spot color. If you choose black plus two spot colors, Publisher changes objects that exactly match spot color 2 to 100 percent of that color. All other colors in the publication change to tints of spot color 1. You can, however, fill selected objects or text with spot color 2.

How?

If you are working with a commercial printing service to produce your publication, be sure you go over any color changes you want with someone from the service.

Fill an object or text with a PANTONE process color

Before you begin this task, make sure your publication is set up for process-color printing (Tools menu, Commercial Printing Tools, Color Printing).

  1. Right-click the object or the text you want to fill, and then click Format <object>. For example, to fill an AutoShape, click Format AutoShape.
  2. Click the Colors and Lines tab.
  3. Under Fill, click the arrow next to the Color box, and then click More Colors.

  4. Click the Custom tab.
  5. In the Color model list, click PANTONE.
  6. Click the PANTONE Process tab.
  7. Select the color you want, and then click OK.

    You can select colors by clicking a color swatch. If you know the color name, you can type it in the Find Color Name box.

Fill an object or text with a PANTONE spot color

  1. Set up your publication for spot-color printing and specify a PANTONE spot color.

    How?

    1. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color Printing.
    2. Click Spot Color(s).
    3. Click Add to add a new PANTONE spot color, or click Modify to change an existing spot color.
    4. Click the Custom tab.
    5. In the Color model list, click PANTONE.
    6. Click the PANTONE Solid tab.
    7. On the Custom tab, click PANTONE in the Color Model list.
    8. On the PANTONE Solid tab, click the color swatch you want.
    9. To select an additional spot color, click Add.

  2. Right-click the object or text you want to fill, and then click Format.
  3. Under Fill, click the arrow next to the Color box, and then click the color you want on the palette.
 

Set up a publication for process-color printing

  1. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color Printing.
  2. In the Print all colors as box, click Process colors (CMYK).

Publisher converts all colors in text, graphics, and other objects to CMYK values, and then creates four plates, regardless of the color model originally used to create the colors.

Note   Some colors that appear on your screen cannot be matched exactly to a CMYK color. After setting up for process-color printing, be sure to evaluate the publication for color changes. If a color does not match the color you want, you can change the color of individual objects in the publication.

How?

If you are working with a commercial printing service to produce your publication, be sure you go over any color changes you want with someone from the service.

Fill an object or text with a PANTONE process color

Before you begin this task, make sure your publication is set up for process-color printing (Tools menu, Commercial Printing Tools, Color Printing).

  1. Right-click the object or the text you want to fill, and then click Format <object>. For example, to fill an AutoShape, click Format AutoShape.
  2. Click the Colors and Lines tab.
  3. Under Fill, click the arrow next to the Color box, and then click More Colors.

  4. Click the Custom tab.
  5. In the Color model list, click PANTONE.
  6. Click the PANTONE Process tab.
  7. Select the color you want, and then click OK.

    You can select colors by clicking a color swatch. If you know the color name, you can type it in the Find Color Name box.

Fill an object or text with a PANTONE spot color

  1. Set up your publication for spot-color printing and specify a PANTONE spot color.

    How?

    1. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color Printing.
    2. Click Spot Color(s).
    3. Click Add to add a new PANTONE spot color, or click Modify to change an existing spot color.
    4. Click the Custom tab.
    5. In the Color model list, click PANTONE.
    6. Click the PANTONE Solid tab.
    7. On the Custom tab, click PANTONE in the Color Model list.
    8. On the PANTONE Solid tab, click the color swatch you want.
    9. To select an additional spot color, click Add.

  2. Right-click the object or text you want to fill, and then click Format.
  3. Under Fill, click the arrow next to the Color box, and then click the color you want on the palette.