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Chokes and spreads
When two colors meet, the darker color defines the visual edge and determines the direction of the trap. You can minimize the visual impact of traps by creating a choke to trap a dark foreground object to a light background or by creating a spread to trap a light foreground object to a dark background.
To create a choke:
1 |
Select the dark foreground object. |
2 |
Apply a Basic stroke with a width equal to twice the size of the trap and use the light background color as the stroke color. |
3 |
Choose Window > Inspectors > Stroke and select Overprint. |
4 |
Choose Window > Inspectors > Fill and deselect Overprint. |
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To create a spread:
1 |
Select the light foreground object. |
2 |
Apply a Basic stroke with a width equal to twice the size of the trap and use the light foreground fill color as the stroke color. |
3 |
Choose Window > Inspectors > Stroke and select Overprint. |
4 |
Choose Window > Inspectors > Fill and deselect Overprint. |
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To trap a foreground object to a dark background object:
1 |
Select the foreground object and choose Edit > Clone. |
2 |
Apply a Basic stroke with a width equal to twice the size of the trap and use the foreground object's fill color as the stroke color. Check Overprint in the Stroke inspector for the stroke. |
3 |
Choose Edit > Cut. |
4 |
Select the dark background object and choose Edit > Paste Inside. |
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To trap a foreground object to a light background object:
1 |
Select the foreground object and choose Edit > Clone. |
2 |
Apply a Basic stroke with a width equal to twice the size of the trap and use the light background color as the stroke color. Check Overprint in the Stroke inspector for the stroke. |
3 |
Choose Edit > Cut. |
4 |
Select the background object and choose Edit > Paste Inside. |
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To create a trap using the Trap Xtra:
1 |
To trap text, first convert the text to paths: Select the text and choose Text > Convert To Paths. |
2 |
Select the objects with Basic strokes and Basic fills that will overlap. |
3 |
Choose Xtras > Create > Trap. |
4 |
Enter the width of the trap. |
5 |
Select Reverse Traps to force traps to spread when they would normally choke. |
6 |
Select a Trap Color Method: |
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Use Maximum Value to create a trap color that is the strongest tint available in the document. |
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Use Tint Reduction and enter a percentage value to specify a trap color tint. |
7 |
Click OK. |
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