#SEYBOLD
2 messages in this thread
The OVERPRINT command in Illustrator will ONLY work on a separation…when
you Preview or print the image (on a color printer), any "overprinted"
objects will be opaque (like normal).
The fact is that PostScript (the language, that is) doesn't support
transparent color; when you fill/stroke something, it completely covers
whatever it's on top of.
Transparency _could_ be acheived through creative programming, but it would
get VERY complicated (if you've ever creaed a transparent or reflective
effect yourself in Illustrator, you'll know what I mean). It would
essentially entail having illustrator mask off the "tinted" area and adding
a percentage of color to every object in the clipping path…this could
mean MASSIVE amounts of printing time, however.
So don't be hard on the vendors…it's not their fault.
I always try not to be TOO hard on anybody (hard, sometimes — never too
hard).
HowEVER, this does raise a significant problem.
If I intend to use a color printer to produce a proof of an image that is
to be printed by 4/c separations, I expect it to look like the final image
(within the limits of resolution). If I must resort to separation negatives
and color key or chromalin, the color printer provides little benefit.
I don't have a solution to this problem, perhaps it to develop a driver
which generates the separations within the RIP, before laying down each
color. Each of the machines I saw lays down the color in 4 separate
passes.