View settings

There are three view settings:

• Application - the selected settings are used as default for all designs in the application.
• Document - when choosing the Document option, the “custom setting” box needs to be activated in order to modify the settings. The chosen settings will only be applied to the active file.
• View - when choosing the View option, the “custom setting” box needs to be activated in order to modify the settings. The chosen settings will only be applied to a selected window or view, such as an object in the Layout Window or a secondary (sub) window. This can be useful for comparing design changes.
  
  For example, if you have two or more objects/colourways on the page, you can set different Tone, Gamut or Ink Coverage Warning displays for each object using the Warnings Inspector set to the 'View' option.

1. In the Layout Window, add two colourway objects
2. Select one object to apply a different tone warning to
3. Open the Warnings Inspector and set the View Setting to View
   
   

4. Tick the “custom setting” and set the High and Low Tone levels required.  This information can be obtained from your production team.
5. As you can see below, the two identical Layout objects are displaying different tone warnings. The first object is not showing any whereas the second object has a High Tone set to 72 (displayed in blue) and a Low Tone warning of 13 (displayed in green). These alert the designer to areas which will not print as expected in production.

Tone warnings

This feature identifies areas within designs where particular tones will not print how they appear on screen.

If keeping within the constraints of certain tonal density percentages is critical to you and your production, the tone warnings can be displayed in selected colours in areas of tone that are outside these specified limits.  Choose a display colour which will stand out from the rest of the design.

In the Warnings Inspector, ensure the Tone tab is selected. High and low tone warnings are available so that you can set the limits for each end of the tonal range relating to your specific production set up.

The default tone warnings are: High tone 100% and Low tone 0%.

At these defaults the window is effectively inactive because you cannot have a single pixel that is above 100% or below 0% tone.

If a pixel in a design measures a higher tone than the high tone percentage set, then the selected colour is shown on the design in those areas. The same applies for colours below the low tone percentage. If the selected colours do not show up very well on a particular design, they can be changed like any other colour block in the software, by double clicking on the relevant colour box to access the active colour file.

Try setting the High tone level to 85% and the Low tone level to 25%. Go to View Menu and switch on Show Tone Warnings.

Now, view a separated design and you will see flat areas of colour on top of the tonal layers in any areas that are 85% tone and above or 25% tone and below.

You can Gamma these areas to bring the tones within the desired range, and until the warnings disappear.  The warnings will change in real time as the gamma curve is change.

Once you have set up the Tone warnings in the Warnings preference window, you can switch them on and off easily in the View Menu.

Show Tone warnings switches the warnings on or off in all design windows - not just the one you are currently viewing. This allows you to leave the percentages set up all the time and just use them as and when you need to. The state of this menu item is remembered by the software, if the menu is ticked when you quit AVA it will be ticked when AVA is launched, causing your design to open with the Warnings on. Simply deselect Show Tone Warnings to switch these off.

Gamut warnings

Gamut Warnings can be viewed in the Design Window as well as on individual layer blocks. Colours and overprinting areas that you view in the software can be viewed with gamut warnings on them so that it is easy to see when a colour is outside of a chosen output device gamut.

The Gamut Warnings are displayed tonally. This gives you a better idea of how far the colours are out of gamut and which areas are affected as items further 'out of gamut' are shown in a darker tone.

Setting your output device gamut

The CMS Controller holds the profile for the printer you are going to be outputting your artwork to, and if you are using the AVA Multiview Picker, this is the gamut from which you pick your colours, safe in the knowledge that they will print as you see them on the screen*. If you are not using the AVA Multiview Picker, it is very easy to pick colours outside your printers gamut. If this happens, a warning symbol will appear on the colour block for that layer in your Layer Palette.

* A colour match can only be guaranteed if your settings and ambient lighting are correct.

However, if someone else is going to be printing your artwork, it makes sense to have a warning should a colour you pick goes out of their gamut.

To do this, you need to acquire a copy of their printer profile.  This can be via a shared server, or e-mailed to you.

Once you have their profile, go to AVA Menu > Settings > Overprinting.

Tick 'Soft Proofing and Printer Gamut Warnings Profile', then drag the profile into the space below this option.

Activating the warnings

In the Warnings Inspector, ensure the Gamut tab is selected.

• Monitor and Printer - shows either the monitor or printer (or both) gamut areas in the design in the colour selected in the window.
• Show Over Design - allows you to see the out of gamut areas on top of the image or layers.
• Threshold dE - indicates the starting point at which the Gamut warning should appear based on the Delta-E differences between the colour in the design and the colour achieved on the monitor, the printer gamut or both.
• Max dE - indicates the maximum Delta-E at which the Gamut Warnings shouldn’t appear based on the Delta-E differences between the colour in the design and the colour achieved on the monitor, the printer gamut or both.
• Gamut Warnings on Colour Blocks - displays small warning symbols on any layer whose colour chip is out of the monitor or printer gamut.
• Printer dE - specify the tolerance for the gamut warnings
• Default Views to Show Gamut Warnings - switches Design Gamut Warnings on in the View menu as defaultIf 'Default Views to Show Gamut Warnings' is switched off, go to the  View Menu and tick Design Gamut Warnings to switch these on.When multiple layers overprint each other, they create a new combined colour, and it is this colour which often falls outside of the printer gamut and causes problems.

Design Gamut Warnings help you to identify these areas within your design,   giving you the opportunity to correct them before sending the design to production.These warnings can be printed from the Layout Window. Simply view the information needed and print it.

Ink coverage warnings

This feature is helpful for limiting the total amount of ink that is overprinted in order to reduce ink costs or more importantly, ensuring that the total ink does not saturate the substrate.

In the Warnings Inspector, ensure the Ink Coverage tab is selected. Change the ink coverage colour by double clicking on the colour chip or by dragging a new colour to it.

The Maximum Total Coverage refers to the total ink cover of all layers within the design. Because each layer can potentially lay down 100% ink, this total multiplies for each layer in the file.  You may find that in production the maximum ink you can put down on the substrate is 130%. If you had three layers covering 100% of the area, the ink coverage at this point would be 300%, and would therefore over-saturate the substrate.  By ticking this option and entering 130 into the Maximum Total Coverage dialogue box, the software will highlight any areas of the design where the coverage exceeds that stated.

The Info Window can be used to display the actual Total Ink Coverage of all selected layers. This is represented by a “T” which can be seen in the snapshot below.

The calculation of the Total Ink Coverage is the sum of all the active layer densities. Simply activate your layers, select Info from the Window Menu and use the Pipette Tool to measure the Total Ink Coverage in different areas of your design.

Select the warnings

It is possible to make a selection from the warning areas on a design. This makes a selection of all colours that are out of gamut or all tones in a design that are above or below a certain percentage.

• Set the Low tone warning to your desired percentage
• Go to Edit Menu > Select > Warnings. A selection will be shown around the low tone warning area on the last visible layer.
  
  
  
• Go to Edit Menu > Gamma to adjust the low tones within the selection