Colour matching digital prints to analogue production prints which have gone through various finishing processes such as chemical embossing or lamination can prove to be a tricky task. Colour Correction Layers can help you to achieve a better match between these two printing processes. These layers can be used in a document to visually adjust and balance the colour to better reflect how the file will look after the finishing processes have been applied, bringing the digital proof much closer to a finished production print.
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Getting started
When using Colour Correction Layers, we recommend using AVA’s overprint system in 16 bit mode, as this gives a noticeable improvement to the detail in the shadows of your file. To do this, go to the AVA Menu and select Inspectors… > Overprint, and tick the 16bit option:
If you are using a custom overprint method, or Reflectance 16, the Colour Correction Layer must be at the bottom of the Layers Palette to work. If you are using Reflectance 3 as your Overprint Method, the Colour Correction Layer can appear anywhere in the layer order.
You can also show the Design Gamut Warnings as you adjust these layers. This will help you to gauge if the corrections you are making to your file remain within your output profiles.
How to use Colour Correction Layers
Add a Colour Correction Layer to your file using the Add Layer button in the Layer Palette, highlighted in the snapshot below.
Balance: a set of colour balance sliders help you to adjust the highlights, shadows and mid tones of your file.
For best results, you should have a digital design on screen, and a production version of the file in front of you. Holding the production print at 45º to the screen, manually adjust the sliders in the Balance section of the Colour Correction Layer.
Corrections are made to the highlights, shadows and mid tones of a design.
The top slider in each section adjusts the overall lightness. The second slider is then used to make the design appear blue or more yellow, and the third slider is used to make the design appear more green or more red.
The slider at the very bottom of the control pane is used to adjust the overall saturation of a design.
Tip: To get started, use the sliders to adjust an overall colour balance of the Mid tones. Lightening the shadows and adjusting their colour balance is useful for image printing. Occasionally, you may need more than one Colour Correction Layer in your file. For example, to generate a sepia tone effect, add a colour adjustment layer and set the saturation to 0. Then add another one and drag the Blue/Yellow slider for the mid tones towards a little towards yellow. Then drag the Green/Red slider for the mid tones a little towards red.
LUT: This stands for Look Up Table. Some correction tables can be loaded from other softwares. More information about this is coming soon.
Because these colour corrections are layer based, they only apply to that specific file, and leave all your other designs undisturbed. Should you wish to use the settings of this colour correction layer in other designs, you can use a Custom Palette to save the settings in. This also makes the sharing of settings between colleagues quick and easy.
Sharing the settings
- Open an existing palette, or create a new one by selecting File > New Palette
- Save the palette to your hard drive
- Add a Colour Correction Layer to your document and, referring to a production print, balance its sliders until the design on screen looks like the production print
- When the desired result is achieved, drag the handler from within the settings pane, to the Palette you opened
- A button will be added to your Palette. Name the button appropriately (ideally give it the name of the process it simulates). From now on, you will be able to apply these settings to other designs simply by clicking on the relevant.
Tip: Email the palette to friends and colleagues, or save to a shared folder. We recommend compressing the file in the Finder ahead of doing either of these, as it can prevent the file from corrupting in the transfer process