Creo demonstrates Spotless printing

Creo Inc. and KBA North America Inc. recently demonstrated Creo Spotless printing live in the KBA booth at Graph Expo in Chicago. Spotless printing by Creo delivers the visual impact of spot colors using process inks instead of spot inks. The Spotless solution comprises two products: Spotless 4 for CMYK, or Spotless X for 6-color printing. Both are designed to make spot color replacement easy and accurate; helping printers to dramatically reduce the use of special inks in the pressroom.
‘Spotless printing leverages the process stability of Creo squarespot thermal imaging with the color stability and image fidelity delivered by Creo Staccato screening,’ explains Mark Nissen, Spotless product manager, Creo. ‘Spot colors are automatically converted to process colors, with the particular print conditions (such as press, paper, and ink set) taken into account. Not only does this eliminate the costs involved with running special inks in the pressroom, and allow a broader spectrum of colors to be used on a single job, but printers can also instill a higher level of confidence in their customers by accurately predicting – in prepress – what the colors will look like on press.’
The Creo Spotless X software was running on a Creo Prinergy workstation, with Spotless printing running live on the new version of the KBA Rapida 105 B1 (41”) sheetfed press. The demo job incorporates 26 spot colors, which are converted to process colors before printing.
The Spotless 4 Software uses a conventional CMYK ink set to create screen-tint builds that emulate spot colors within the process-color gamut. It converts spot colors (originating in standard libraries or measured from physical samples) to process builds it also allows printers to offer customers more color options than before and designers can specify dozens of spot colors in a single file. It should also facilitate accurate client-side proofing with a desktop proofer in a remote location.
The Spotless X software increases the range of spot colors that can be represented in the proof and on press. It uses a CMYK-based customizable six-color ink set. Spotless software can also be used with other six-color systems, such as FMsix and PANTONE Hexachrome. Spotless places these solutions in a composite workflow, allowing automatic color management and trapping.