Esko Flexo Tools User Guide
Flexo Tools is a software for Adobe Photoshop that helps you visualize certain print characteristics, like dot gain and total area coverage, to detect possible printing problems. It also includes tools like FlexoClean and FlexoFix to improve the printing quality of images on a flexographic press.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe
Photoshop
User Guide
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop ii
Contents
1. Copyright Notice.......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Installing the Flexo Tools......................................................................................................................................................... 6
3. Flexo Tools Setup........................................................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Starting a Trial.....................................................................................................................................................................7
3.1.1 Starting a Trial On-line........................................................................................................................................8
3.1.2 Starting a Trial Off-line: Creating a Trial Request.....................................................................................9
3.1.3 Starting a Trial Off-line: Loading a Trial Response................................................................................11
3.2 Activating your Software..............................................................................................................................................12
3.2.1 Activating On-line...............................................................................................................................................13
3.2.2 Activating Off-line: Creating an Activation Request............................................................................. 14
3.2.3 Activating Off-line: Loading an Activation Response...........................................................................17
3.3 Using the License Manager........................................................................................................................................18
3.4 Choosing a DeskPack Folder.................................................................................................................................... 19
4. Where to find the Flexo Tools.............................................................................................................................................20
5. ViewX Layers...............................................................................................................................................................................22
5.1 Working with viewX Layers.........................................................................................................................................23
5.1.1 Creating viewX Layers......................................................................................................................................23
5.1.2 Deleting viewX Layers...................................................................................................................................... 24
5.1.3 Using the viewX Layers................................................................................................................................... 25
5.2 ViewX Flexo Plate Preview layer...............................................................................................................................25
5.3 ViewX Flexo Print Preview layer............................................................................................................................... 26
5.4 ViewX TAC Preview layer.............................................................................................................................................27
6. The FlexoClean Filter...............................................................................................................................................................29
7. The FlexoFix Filter.................................................................................................................................................................... 32
8. Viewer............................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
8.1 Welcome to Viewer........................................................................................................................................................ 34
8.2 Define Press Settings....................................................................................................................................................34
8.3 The Viewer window........................................................................................................................................................34
8.3.1 Navigating in the Preview............................................................................................................................... 35
8.3.2 Separation visibility............................................................................................................................................35
8.3.3 Measure Ink Densities...................................................................................................................................... 36
8.3.4 Quality Control.....................................................................................................................................................37
9. Press Settings.............................................................................................................................................................................40
9.1 Making new Press Settings........................................................................................................................................ 40
9.2 Viewing, Editing and Removing Press Settings..................................................................................................42
Contents
9.3 About High Precision Percentages..........................................................................................................................42
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
1. Copyright Notice
© Copyright 2012 Esko Software BVBA, Gent, Belgium
All rights reserved. This material, information and instructions for use contained herein are the property of Esko Software BVBA. The material, information and instructions are provided on an AS IS basis without warranty of any kind. There are no warranties granted or extended by this document.
Furthermore Esko Software BVBA does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the use, or the results of the use of the software or the information contained herein. Esko
Software BVBA shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages arising out of the use or inability to use the software or the information contained herein.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Revisions may be issued from time to time to advise of such changes and/or additions.
No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a data base or retrieval system, or published, in any form or in any way, electronically, mechanically, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without prior written permission from Esko Software BVBA.
This document supersedes all previous dated versions.
PANTONE
®
, PantoneLIVE and other Pantone trademarks are the property of Pantone LLC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Pantone is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated. © Pantone LLC, 2012. All rights reserved.
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
Portions of this software are copyright © 1996-2002 The FreeType Project (www.freetype.org). All rights reserved.
Portions of this software are copyright 2006 Feeling Software, copyright 2005-2006 Autodesk Media
Entertainment.
Portions of this software are copyright ©1998-2003 Daniel Veillard. All rights reserved.
Portions of this software are copyright ©1999-2006 The Botan Project. All rights reserved.
Part of the software embedded in this product is gSOAP software. Portions created by gSOAP are
Copyright ©2001-2004 Robert A. van Engelen, Genivia inc. All rights reserved.
Portions of this software are copyright ©1998-2008 The OpenSSL Project and ©1995-1998 Eric
Young ([email protected]). All rights reserved.
This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http:// www.apache.org/).
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Acrobat logo, Adobe Creative Suite, Illustrator, InDesign, PDF,
Photoshop, PostScript, XMP and the Powered by XMP logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
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States and other countries.
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Portions of this software are owned by Spatial Corp. 1986 2003. All Rights Reserved.
JDF and the JDF logo are trademarks of the CIP4 Organisation. Copyright 2001 The International
Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4). All rights reserved.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
The Esko software contains the RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm.
Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
Microsystems in the U.S. and other countries.
Part of this software uses technology by BestTM Color Technology (EFI). EFI and Bestcolor are registered trademarks of Electronics For Imaging GmbH in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Contains PowerNest library Copyrighted and Licensed by Alma, 2005 – 2007.
All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Correspondence regarding this publication should be forwarded to:
Esko Software BVBA
Kortrijksesteenweg 1095
B – 9051 Gent [email protected]
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
2. Installing the Flexo Tools
• Open the
Photoshop.mpkg
package on the installation disk and follow the instructions on screen.
This will install the Flexo Tools in your Adobe Photoshop ® Plug-Ins folder and the License
Manager in your Applications folder.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3
3. Flexo Tools Setup
1. After installing the Flexo Tools, launch Photoshop and go to File > Automate > Flexo Tools
Setup...
2. You have two licensing options for the Flexo Tools. You can either:
• Start a 30 days trial (see
Starting a Trial
),
• Activate your license, if you have one (see
Activating your Software
).
Note: If you already have activated your license but want to modify or deactivate it, use the
License Manager. See
Using the License Manager
.
3. Choose a DeskPack Folder. See
Choosing a DeskPack Folder
.
3.1 Starting a Trial
1. In the Flexo Tools Setup dialog, click the Start Trial... button.
This opens the Start Trial Assistant.
2. Click Continue.
3. Choose to either:
• Start a trial on-line or
• Start a trial off-line.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3.1.1 Starting a Trial On-line
1. In the Start Trial Assistant, choose Start a trial on-line.
2. Fill in your EskoArtwork Account Name and Password.
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Note: If you don’t have an EskoArtwork Account, click the Create a new EskoArtwork Account link to create one.
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3. Click Continue.
This starts a 30 days trial for the Flexo Tools.
Note: You can see the number of trial days remaining in the Flexo Tools Setup dialog and in the
License Manager.
3
3.1.2 Starting a Trial Off-line: Creating a Trial Request
1. In the Start Trial Assistant, choose Start a trial off-line.
2. Choose Step 1: Create a trial request.
3. Fill in your EskoArtwork Account Name.
Note: If you don’t have an EskoArtwork Account, go to
http://www.esko.com/licensing/ createaccount
to create one.
4. Save the trial request file created automatically using the Save As... button.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
5. Click Continue then Done.
6. Go to
http://www.esko.com/licensing/activation
, select the Manual Product Activation option and click Continue.
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7. Browse to the
Flexo Tools_ActivationRequest.xml
file you saved earlier.
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3
Note: Your browser needs to accept cookies. To set this in Safari, go to Safari > Preferences >
Security and choose Always for the Accept cookies option.
8. Fill in your EskoArtwork Account Name and Password and click Continue.
This shows a trial product key for the Flexo Tools.
9. Click Continue to download a response.xml
file.
3.1.3 Starting a Trial Off-line: Loading a Trial Response
1. In Photoshop, go back to File > Automate > Flexo Tools Setup... and click Start Trial...
2. In the Start Trial Assistant, choose Start a trial off-line.
3. Choose Step 2: Load a trial response.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
4. Browse to the response.xml
file you downloaded earlier.
5. Click Continue then Close.
This starts a 30 days trial for the Flexo Tools.
Note: You can see the number of trial days remaining in the Flexo Tools Setup dialog and in the
License Manager.
3.2 Activating your Software
You need a permanent product key to activate your Flexo Tools.
1. In the Flexo Tools Setup dialog, click the Activate... button.
This opens the Activate License Assistant.
2. Click Continue.
3. Choose either:
• On-line activation or
• Off-line activation.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3
3.2.1 Activating On-line
1. In the Activate License Assistant, choose On-line activation.
2. Fill in your Product Key.
3. Fill in your EskoArtwork Account Name and Password.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
Note: If you don’t have an EskoArtwork Account, click the Create a new EskoArtwork Account link to create one.
4. Click Continue.
You can now use the Flexo Tools.
3.2.2 Activating Off-line: Creating an Activation Request
1. In the Activate License Assistant, choose Off-line activation.
2. Choose Step 1: Create an activation request.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3
3. Enter your Product Key.
4. Fill in your EskoArtwork Account Name.
Note: If you don’t have an EskoArtwork Account, go to
http://www.esko.com/licensing/ createaccount
to create one.
5. Save the activation request file created automatically using the Save As... button.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
6. Click Continue then Done.
7. Go to
http://www.esko.com/licensing/activation
, select the Manual Product Activation option and click Continue.
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8. Browse to the
Flexo Tools_ActivationRequest.xml
file you saved earlier.
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
3
Note: Your browser needs to accept cookies. To set this in Safari, go to Safari > Preferences >
Security and choose Always for the Accept cookies option.
9. Fill in your EskoArtwork Account Name and Password and click Continue.
This shows your product key for the Flexo Tools.
10.Click Continue to download a response.xml
file.
3.2.3 Activating Off-line: Loading an Activation Response
1. In Photoshop, go back to File > Automate > Flexo Tools Setup... and click Activate...
2. In the Activate License Assistant, choose Off-line activation.
3. Choose Step 2: Load an activation response.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
4. Browse to the response.xml
file you downloaded earlier.
5. Click Continue then Close.
You can now use the Flexo Tools.
3.3 Using the License Manager
• To open the License Manager:
• In Photoshop, go to File > Automate > Flexo Tools Setup... and click License Manager...
• Go to your
Applications
folder and double-click
EskoArtwork Local License
Manager.app
.
• With the License Manager, you can:
• Activate your license, if you have one, using the Activate License Assistant (see
Activating your Software
).
• Deactivate your license, for example if you want to transfer it to another computer.
• Repair one or several license, if they happen to be broken.
• Save a Licenses Report (that can be useful in case your computer crashes or is stolen).
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
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For more information on deactivating or repairing licenses, and saving a Licenses Report, please see the
Using the EskoArtwork Server License Manager
user guide.
3.4 Choosing a DeskPack Folder
Before you can work with any of the Flexo Tools, you need to specify a DeskPack Folder. This folder is used internally by the Flexo Tools to store settings.
• Use the Choose... button to select an existing folder or to create a new one to use as DeskPack
Folder.
Note:
If you are running several copies of the Flexo Tools on a network, we recommend that you use the same DeskPack Folder for all copies. With this setup, all Flexo Tools can use the same Press
Settings.
If you also have DeskPack products on Adobe Illustrator
®
, we suggest that you use the DeskPack
Container as DeskPack Folder.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
4. Where to find the Flexo Tools
1. Open a CMYK image in Photoshop.
2. Go to File > Automate , and you will see the Flexo Tools:
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
Use the Press Settings... to store technical parameters of the output process (RIP, platemaking, press, inks and substrate). Having all Flexo Tools use the same Press Settings guarantees a consistent retouching workflow.
Use the viewX Layers... to visualize certain print characteristics, to help you detect possible printing problems.
Use the Viewer to get a very accurate separation viewer. See
See
Press Settings
and
ViewX Layers
for more information.
Note:
You can find other Flexo Tools in the Filter > DeskPack menu.
Use the FlexoClean... filter to clean up the separations and prevent scattered dots or holes on the plate.
Use the FlexoFix... filter to improve the printing quality of images on a flexographic press.
For more information, see
The FlexoClean Filter
and
The FlexoFix Filter
.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
5. ViewX Layers
ViewX Layers are Photoshop layer-sets, created by the Flexo Tools. You can find them under File >
Automate . They can help you visualize certain print-characteristics. This makes it easier to detect possible printing problems.
There are three ViewX Layer sets, each serving a different purpose:
1. Flexo Plate Preview: shows a single separation as a processed flexo-plate. This makes it easy to
see where there will be dots and where there will be no dots in the highlights. (
2. Flexo Print Preview: shows the effect of highlight dot gain on a composite image. Shows the
desaturation and tonal jumps in the image due to the dot gain of the first dot. (
3. TAC Preview: shows where the sum of densities exceeds the TAC limitation of the printing
Please refer to
After you created one or more viewX layers, you can easily show and hide the effect by showing and hiding the viewX layer.
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Caution:
• When flattening the file when one of the viewX layers is visible, the adjustment will be calculated into the separations. This is probably not the intention. Make sure to toggle the viewX layers invisible prior to flattening or saving to a flat file-format (Esko-Graphics CT, EPS, ... ).
• The visible viewX layer will affect the number of the densitometer in the Info palette. To measure the real densities, hide the viewX layer.
• viewX layers are adjustment layers. Photoshop does not support adjustment layers on multichannel images. That's why the viewX layers are only available on composite CMYK images.
The Viewer is an alternative way to check printing characteristics and measure pixels, without the limitations mentioned above. The Viewer is explained here:
on page 34. For more specific
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop info on the Flexo Print or Flexo Plate preview in the Viewer, you can go directly to
on page 37
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5.1 Working with viewX Layers
5.1.1 Creating viewX Layers
To create viewX layers, go to File Menu > Automate > viewX Layers ... A dialog pops up:
Press: shows the list of all press-configurations. See
on page 40 on how to edit these configurations.
Flexo Plate Preview Layer: toggle this on if you want a Flexo Plate Preview layer. When the selected press has no first dot setting, this checkbox is disabled. (More on
ViewX Flexo Plate Preview layer
on page 25).
Plate Color: pick the plate color that is to be used for the preview. This is strictly a visual setting.
Just pick the one you like.
Flexo Print Preview layer: toggle this on if you want a Flexo Print Preview Layer. When the selected press has no highlight dot gain settings, this checkbox is disabled. (More on
on page 26).
TAC Preview layer: toggle this on if you want a TAC Preview layer. (More on
on page 27).
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
Highlight when TAC is above x %. Areas in the image will be highlighted if the local sum of densities is higher than the value you select here. If there is a TAC-limit set for the selected press, that value will be shown by a marker on the scale. You're free to use a different setting for the visualization.
A little marker indicates the TAC limit specified in the selected press settings. See
on page 40.
Press OK to create or modify the viewX layers. The different layer sets will be created.
Tip:
The content of the viewX layers are controlled by Flexo Tools. So after creating the viewX layers, we strongly recommend to close them in the Layers palette.
5.1.2 Deleting viewX Layers
To delete one or more of the viewX layers, go to File Menu > Automation > viewX Layers... and toggle off the layers you no longer need. Another way to quickly delete all viewX layers, is by hiding
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop the viewX layers and using the Photoshop functions Delete Hidden Layers or Flatten Image.You can also drag the viewX layers to the trash button.
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5.1.3 Using the viewX Layers
ViewX layers work much like regular Photoshop adjustment layers: when toggled visible, an adjustment layer applies an effect on all underlying visible layers. The other layers are not really changed, only the visualization and the densitometer measurements are affected.
Caution:
Make sure the viewX layers are not visible when you merge layers. When regular layers are merged or flattened together with adjustment layers, the adjustments are calculated into the result. This can also happen when changing the image mode or saving to an unlayered file.
Caution:
The color values in the Info palette are incorrect when the viewX layers are visible.
ViewX layers are not completely like Photoshop's adjustment layers: viewX layers cannot be selected or changed since they are managed by Flexo Tools and created with the 'viewX layers...' option. You can only hide/show them. There can only be one viewX layer visible at a time.
The Viewer is an alternative way to check printing characteristics and measure pixels, without the limitations mentioned above. The Viewer is explained here: . For more specific info on the Flexo Print or Flexo Plate preview in the Viewer, you can go directly to
5.2 ViewX Flexo Plate Preview layer
This viewX layer shows the selected channel as a processed flexo plate.
With the flexo plate preview, areas on the plate with dots can be easily distinguished from the areas without dots. There can only be one channel selected when this viewX layer is visible.
The Flexo Plate Preview Layer will use the first dot percentage from the
40. Pixels with a percentage lower than the first dot percentage will be shown as areas without
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop dots. Pixels with a percentage equal or higher than the first dot percentage will be shown as areas with dots.
5.3 ViewX Flexo Print Preview layer
This viewX layer shows the effect of highlight dot gain on the image.
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This effect is equivalent with curve adjustment. To determine this curve, the Flexo Print Preview Layer will use the first dot and the highlight dot gain settings from the selected press. Going from light to dark, the Print Preview layer will display percentages below the first dot percentage as 0%. The first dot percentage will be shown darker (using the First Dot prints As value). Towards the midtones this darkening effect will fade out until the Range value. Percentage larger than Range, are displayed unchanged.
See also:
on page 40.
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
5
5.4 ViewX TAC Preview layer
This viewX layer clearly highlights the areas in the image where the sum of the densities exceeds the total area coverage limit of the printing substrate.
This limit-value is chosen when
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
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6. The FlexoClean Filter
The FlexoClean filter is an image filter that prevents scattered dots or holes on the plate by cleaning up the separations. You can run the filter on one or on all CMYK channels. All selected channels will be cleaned (independently from each other). Multi-channel images can also be cleaned, but then you have to filter the channels one at a time.
To open the filter, choose Filter Menu > DeskPack > FlexoClean.
A dialog will pop up:
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On the right hand side are the filter parameters. Pressing OK (or hitting the enter key) will apply the filter on the current Photoshop selection. Pressing Cancel (or hitting the escape key) will close the dialog. On the left hand side of the dialog there is the possibility to compare the original image with a preview of the filter.
Press: Shows the list of all press-configurations. See
Press Settings
on how to edit these configurations.The first dot percentage value from the selected press will be used by the filter to determine where there will be dots on the plate. The filter will also make sure that all highlight percentages below the first dot percentage are pulled down to 0% or pulled up to the first dot percentage.
Cut off Highlights Below: Normally the plate making process will cut off the highlights below the
First Dot Percentage (see
Making new Press Settings
). With this slider however you can influence this cut-off point for this image: All pixels with a percentage below this value will be set to 0% so that they will definitely not generate dots on the plate. If you choose a value of 0%, the highlights will not be cut-off at all and the plate will have dots everywhere.
Remove Scattered Spots: When this toggle in on, the filter will scan the selected channels one by one, looking for groups of pixels that will end up as an isolated dot or group of dots on the plate.
When such a group of pixels is found the filter will replace it by 0% pixels.
Radius: Spots will only be removed if they are smaller than the given radius.
Maximum Density: Spots will only be removed if the darkest pixel of the spot is not darker than this given value.
Fill Holes: When this toggle is on, the filter will scan the selected channels one by one, looking for groups of pixels that will end up as an area without dots completely surrounded by dots. When such a group of pixels is found, and it is not too big, it will be replaced by pixels that yield the smallest stable dot, filling the hole. Radius: Holes will only be filled if they are smaller than or equal to the given radius.
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
Preview Area: On the left, there is a big preview area, where a preview of the filter's result is shown.Use the Plus and minus buttons below to change the zoom. Click and drag in the preview image to pan and show a different part. Just click and hold in the preview image to see the original image. This can be used to compare the filter's result with the original image.
Channel: Choose which channel(s) to view in the preview area. This only affects the visualization in the preview area, not the effect of the filter.
Preview: The image in the preview area can be shown with one of the viewX visualization modes:
• Image (default): No visualization mode, the preview (and original image) is shown with normal
Photoshop visualization.
• Flexo Plate Preview: The image in the preview area is shown as a flexo plate. The effect is the same as with the
ViewX Flexo Plate Preview layer
• Flexo Print Preview: The image in the preview area is shown with extra dot gain in the highlights.
The effect is the same as with the
ViewX Flexo Print Preview layer
Color Values: use the mouse pointer in the filter's preview area to measure the color values. The first column are the original values, the second column are the values after the filter will be applied
(see
About High Precision Percentages
on page 42).
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Note:
The selected preview mode will always affect the preview areas display. So when you click inside the preview area, the original image will also be displayed with the selected preview mode.
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7. The FlexoFix Filter
The FlexoFix filter is an automatic way to improve the printing quality of an image on a flexographic press.
To start the FlexoFix filter, choose FlexoFix from the DeskPack submenu of the Filter menu. This will open a dialog:
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On the right hand side are the filter parameters. Press OK (or hit the Enter key) to apply the filter on the current Photoshop selection. Pressing Cancel (or hit the Escape key) to close the dialog.
Press: Shows the list of all press-configurations. See
on page 40 on how to edit these configurations.
Channel Actions: For each selected channel, there is a list of possible actions to choose from. For regular CMYK images (with a 'skeleton' Black channel), the default actions will give you the best results.
For composite selection:
• Save Detail and Saturation: this means that the filter will raise all percentages above the first dot percentage and will compensate for the dot gain in the highlights. This compensation is done in a context-sensitive way to ensure that the detail and contrast of the original image is maintained.
In some areas the midtones will be raised to compensate for de-saturation that results from the remaining highlight dot gain in the other channels.
• Save Saturation: this means that the filter will raise all percentages above the first dot percentage and will compensate for the dot gain in the highlights. In some areas the midtones can be raised to compensate for de-saturation that results from the remaining highlight dot gain in the other channels.
• Shorten: this action will remove highlight dots from the plate, sacrificing some highlight detail.
• None: the filter will not change this channel.
For single channel selection, there is no such thing as 'saturation' so the list is slightly different:
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
• Save Detail: this means that the filter will raise all percentages above the first dot percentage and will compensate for the dot gain in the highlights. This compensation is done in a contextsensitive way to ensure that the detail and contrast of the original image is maintained.
• Shorten: this action will remove highlight dots from the plate, sacrificing some highlight detail.
• None: the filter will not change this channel.
Shortening Range: applies to the shorten action and specifies how far the highlights will be shortened. All highlights below this value will be reduced to 0%.
Color Values: use the mouse pointer in the filter's preview area to measure the color values. The first column are the original values, the second column are the values after the filter will be applied
(see
About High Precision Percentages
on page 42).
7
In this example (a composite orange), the Cyan is slightly lightened, as a partial compensation for the highlight dotgain. The remaining highlight dotgain of the Cyan will still desaturate the composite color, to compensate for this desaturation Magenta and Yellow especially are raised. The shorten action removed the marginal amount of Black in this pixel. For a more in depth study of the FlexoFix actions, please read the extra FlexoFix documentation on the installation CD.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
8. Viewer
Viewer is available in Flexotools and Ink Tools version 12.0.211 and later. To upgrade from version
12.0, you can visit
https://mysoftware.esko.com
8.1 Welcome to Viewer
Benefits of using Viewer
Viewer is a very accurate separation viewer with a lot of extra production tools. It eliminates the need for separated proofs and will help you to avoid bad plate-making.
In this preview, you have access to advanced tools such as the Densitometer.
To open the Viewer window, choose File > Automate > Viewer...
8.2 Define Press Settings
Before you can start working with Viewer in a meaningful way, you should define your Press Settings.
Without basic information on the properties of the press you are using, Viewer cannot simulate accurately.
You can open the Press Settings window by selecting Press Settings... in the fly-out menu of the
Quality Control section, or choose File > Automate > Press Settings
on page 40
8.3 The Viewer window
To open the Viewer window, choose File > Automate > Viewer...
When opening a document, or changing to a different job, Viewer will (re)calculate the Preview. Viewer will only work when the active document is a CMYK or Multichannel image, at 8 bits per channels.
Otherwise the Viewer will show a warning "The current document is not in the CMYK or Multichannel mode".
When changes are made in the Photoshop document, you have to click the Refresh button for the changes to become visible in Viewer.
Note: Viewer will take the Photoshop Layer visibility into account, but will disregard Photoshop's
Channel visibility settings.
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
By clicking the Minimize button, the Viewer window is minimized, showing only the Maximize button.
You can maximize the Viewer window by clicking the Maximize button. If you choose File > Automate
> Viewer... the Viewer window will be maximized and refreshed.
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8.3.1 Navigating in the Preview
The Viewer window shows the preview of your document in the left pane, and the list of used inks in the right pane of your Viewer palette.
At the bottom of the palette, you will find:
1. a Pan tool (see below), a Zoom tool (see below) and a Densitometer tool (see
Measure Ink
Densities
)
2. a zoom-in and zoom-out button and a field showing the current zoom percentage.
3. the Refresh button.
4. the Minimize button.
Zoom in - zoom out
To zoom in the preview pane of the Viewer palette, select the zoom tool and just click, and the view will zoom in using the clicked point as center point.
To zoom out, click while holding the ALT key pressed, and the view will zoom out using the clicked point as center point.
You can also drag a rectangle to zoom in, and the new viewport will be a closest match to the rectangle you dragged.
You can also use the default Photoshop shortcuts: cmd-0 to fit the image in the window, cmd-1 to set the zoom factor to 100%.
To pan the view, select the Pan tool or hold down the spacebar and drag a line in the preview pane.
The view will move the direction and the length of the line you drag.
8.3.2 Separation visibility
In the Ink list, you can:
• Click the eye icon in front of a separation/color name to show or hide it.
• Alt-click an eye button to quickly hide all other separations and go in single-separation mode. Altclick the same eye button again to show all separations.
• You can also use the Photoshop shortcuts: Cmd-2 to show all separations, and Cmd-3 to show only the first separation, Cmd-4 for the second, etc.
• Double-click an ink to open the Display Inks window (for CMYK inks) or Spot Color dialog for spot colors. See
Display Inks
or
Spot Colors
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Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
If only one ink is selected, you can choose in the fly-out menu of the Separations section if you want to see the single separation
• in RGB, using the actual color
• in grayscale, as the image might appear on film / plate
• in grayscale but inverted
8.3.3 Measure Ink Densities
Densitometer
In the middle of the right side of the Viewer window, you can see the Densitometer section. You can show or hide the section by clicking the triangle in front of it.
• Select the Densitometer tool, and click on an area of your document to measure the separation densities in that area.
Every time you click, a new measering point is set. The densities are shown to the right of each separation, and the color patch in the Densitometer section shows the measured color.
• Use the left and right arrow buttons to browse through the different measuring points. The according densities and color patch will be shown
Note: If you are zoomed in and navigate to a measuring point not in the Viewer window, the
Preview will pan to show the selected measuring point.
• Click the Remove button (X) or use backspace to delete the current measuring point.
• Change the Size of the current measuring point by clicking the up and down arrow. If the size is set to e.g. 3, the densitometer will take the average density of a 3 by 3 pixel area.
Note: When creating a new measuring point, the current Size will be used.
• Select Show bubbles to show the measured densities next to every measuring point.
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When in Flexo Print or Flexo Plate preview, the bubble will show a black dot next to the density for channels with a percentage equal or higher than the first dot percentage.
The densities of separations that are not visible, are shown dimmed in the bubbles.
8.3.4 Quality Control
Registration Error
The Registration Error Preview is a simulation of a design printed with registration errors. It can be very helpful to see if trapping is applied sufficiently and correctly.
Use the slider to set the Registration Error, or enter a value in the input field.
The separations are randomly shifted. In fact, all separations are moved exactly the distance of the
Registration Error, but all under a random angle.
If you want to see another random registration error simulation, click the Simulate Again button.
In the example above, you can see a small area of a job in regular preview (left) and with registration errors (right). In this case, you can clearly see no trapping was applied, so white lines appear at the registration shifts.
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Flexo Print
This Viewer preview mode shows the effect of highlight dot gain on the image.
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This effect is equivalent to a curve adjustment. To determine this curve, the Flexo Print Preview will use the First dot and the Dot gain in highlights settings from the Press Settings (see
Going from light to dark:
• The Flexo Print Preview will display percentages below the First visible dot percentage as 0%.
• The First visible dot percentage will be shown using the First Dot Prints as percentage.
• Percentages above the First visible dot percentage will be shown darker.
• Towards the midtones this darkening effect will fade out until the Range value.
• Percentages above the Range value are displayed unchanged.
Flexo Plate
If you change the Viewer Preview mode to Flexo Plate, a single separation (by default the first in the list) will be shown as a simulated flexo plate.
Note:
In this Preview mode, only one separation can be viewed at a time.
Note: This gives a preview similar to using ViewX layers.
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
8
First Visible Dot
The Flexo Plate preview will use the First Visible Dot percentage from the press settings (see
on page 34).
Pixels with a percentage lower than the First Visible Dot percentage will be shown as areas without dots.
Pixels with a percentage equal or higher than the First Visible Dot percentage will be shown as areas with dots.
Plate Color
The Flexo Plate preview predicts how clean your flexo plates will be. Especially in very light or very dark areas, you could end up with isolated dots or holes on the flexo plate, and those areas are difficult to hold on the plate or the substrate.
You can choose the plate color (Cyrel® Red, Blue, Green or Safran Yellow, or a High Contrast
Blue&White) to match the type of plate you are using.
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9. Press Settings
The Flexo Tools allow you to create and maintain a list of press configurations. Each configuration holds technical parameters of the output process (RIP + platemaking + press + inks + substrate).
You can guarantee a consistent retouching workflow by having all Flexo Tools use the same press configuration.
There is always one press setting called 'Default' which can be edited but not removed.
The Press Settings Dialog
You can view and edit the press settings by selecting Press Settings... in the Automate submenu of the File menu. This will open the Press Settings dialog.
9.1 Making new Press Settings
Press New..., this will show the New Press dialog:
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Name: Enter the name of the new press setting.
First Dot: You can specify which first percentage that yields a dot on the plate. Toggle First Dot on
and enter the first percentage. As you can see, the percentage value has a decimal digit (see
Note:
The percentage you enter here is a job-percentage. It corresponds with the grayvalue of the pixels in the digital file that yield the first dot on plate when the RIP and platemaking are in normal operational conditions. This means after the DGC has been set up completely. The value does not correspond with any measurement that has been made prior or during DGC set up, nor does it correspond with any densitometer measurement on plate or on print. In fact, this value is (implicitly) chosen by the person who set up the DGC and plate-making. See the FlexoFix whitepaper for more details. Typical values range from 0.4% to 1.6%.
Note:
When you don't specify a first dot, you won't be able to use the following Flexo Tools using this press setting:
• The
ViewX Flexo Plate Preview layer
ViewX Flexo Print Preview layer
on page 26
•
•
Dot gain in highlights: When you specified a first dot job percentage, you can (optionally) specify how dark it actually prints. Toggle on Dot Gain In Highlights and specify the dot gain parameters.
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First dot prints as: Here you can enter the dot gain of the first dot. Typical values range from 5% to
15% depending on the substrate. The value is a job-percentage that will print on an ideal reference press as dark as the first dot prints on this press.
The images that are supplied to you are made to look good on an offset press with typical offset dot gain. Your color management is also configured to display the image on your screen with typical offset dot gain. In that case, when you enter 10% here, you're saying that your flexo press prints its first dot as dark as the ideal offset press is printing a 10%.
Range: The previous value measured the amount of dot gain in the highlights, this value expresses how far this effect penetrates into the midtones. Typically plate making is configured in such a way that the mid-tones print like an offset press.
Note:
When you don't specify Dot Gain In Highlights, you won't be able to use the following Flexo Tools:
ViewX Flexo Plate Preview layer
•
Limited Total Area Coverage: Total Area Coverage is the sum of percentages of the different channels on the same location. A higher total area coverage means more ink on top of each other. If you want you can specify the maximum amount of ink that the substrate can take on the same spot.
Toggle on Limited Total Area Coverage and specify the maximum amount.
9.2 Viewing, Editing and Removing Press Settings
Use the Copy... button to create a duplicate of the selected press settings.
Use the Edit... button to edit existing Press Settings. You can also double click a press.
Use the Remove button to delete the selected Press Settings.
Caution:
Removing press settings might also affect other workstations. See
Flexo Tools Setup
.
Note:
The default press setting cannot be removed, you can, however, edit it.
9.3 About High Precision Percentages
The Flexo Tools user interface often makes use of percentages with a decimal digit. Internally
Photoshop has an 8-bit precision, yielding 256 different possible grey-values. A single grey value in an image may make the difference between a dot or no dot on a flexo plate. Wherever this precision is needed, the Flexo Tools will use percentages with a decimal digit.
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4
...
254
255
Grayvalue
2
3
0
1
Percentage
0.0%
0.4%
0.8%
1.2%
1.6%
...
99.6%
100.0%
Flexo Tools for Adobe Photoshop
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Key features
Visualize print characteristics
Detect printing problems
Improve print quality
Clean up separations
Create ViewX Layers
Flexo Plate Preview
Flexo Print Preview
TAC Preview
Frequently asked questions
ViewX layers are Photoshop layer-sets that help you visualize certain print characteristics.
There are three types of ViewX Layers: Flexo Plate Preview, Flexo Print Preview, and TAC Preview.
To create viewX layers, go to File Menu > Automate > viewX Layers... A dialog pops up that allows you to select the type of ViewX layer you want to create.
To delete one or more of the viewX layers, go to File Menu > Automation > viewX Layers... and toggle off the layers you no longer need. Another way to quickly delete all viewX layers, is by hiding the viewX layers and using the Photoshop functions Delete Hidden Layers or Flatten Image.You can also drag the viewX layers to the trash button.
