Printing > Trapping

 

Trapping

When the inks used for adjacent objects print out of register, unsightly gaps or color shifts appear between the objects. Trapping compensates for misregistration by expanding a lighter object to slightly overlap a darker one. You can choose to create a spread or choke trap, or manually trap objects. You can also use the Trap Xtra to apply trap settings more easily.

Traditionally, trapping is a prepress task handled by a commercial print shop. Designers and production artists can use drawing tools in FreeHand to create traps, or they can leave this task to prepress professionals.

An alternative to trapping is to apply the Spread Size printing option to objects with Basic strokes and fills for more information, see Setting separations options.