Blend PMS with 4/C Pro

[purrlions]

Hi,

We use Illustrator to build files for a 6 color press. Normally this means CMYK + 2 spot colors.

C,M,Y & K can all be blended together in percentages ranging from 0-100%. Spot colors can be used by themselves in values ranging from 0-100%.

My question is, can Spot PMS colors be blended with CMYK values in Illustrator? I know about transparency, and you could 'fake it' by overlaying a transparent Spot overtop a CMYK blend. But is there a way to add another slider to the blend swatch, and be able to blend whatever colors I want? ie, 4 colors + a spot? Blend two spots together by themselves? Any combination I want? If I'm not explaining this well, let me know. Thanks in advance,

 

[itchybug]

Purr:

Other than "faking" it, I can't think of any way to do this.

You could do a search for a plugin that may be out there, but from within Illustrator I don't think there's a way.

Even disregarding the lack of presence of a fifth and/or sixth slider, the way 4-c process is built for print (it's not just dots lined up by chance), where would the fifth and/or sixth color's dots go on the rosettes? To see what I mean, look at a 4-c print with a strong magnifier, and look how the colors are organized.

HTH

Bert

Bert Philippus -

http://www.itchybug.com