It seems easy enough to go through your document and select a spot color, but be careful, spot colors can get tricky! For example, did you know that selecting Pantone 123C (coated) for one element and Pantone 123U (uncoated) for another adds an additional color to your job? That’s because various graphics programs view 123C and 123U as separate, distinct colors (even though that is not your intention). What’s the danger? Each unique color selection will output on a separate piece of film or plate rather than on the same piece of film or plate. Ouch! That can cost you money!
Always make sure that your spot colors are named the same. Also, remember to check your imbedded (imported) files to make sure that those spot colors have the same names as your page spot colors. An easy way to check this common error is to run color split lasers. If you have a 5-color job, you should have 5 lasers for each page. If you have any more (or fewer) lasers than you have colors for your job, you most likely have a problem with your spot color names. To cut costs on pesky alterations, simply fix this before sending the file. Tricky spot colors will rue the day they mess with us!
