Spot colour, finishing & engraving

You can use colours not included in the CMYK colour space – the so-called spot colours – to print certain products. Additional finishing options for promotional items include varnish, foil and engraving. For all these processes, you have to follow certain specifications when setting up the artwork.

UV colour

Create another colour field in the layout program and assign the respective colour to the desired design elements.

Swatch name: “UV”
Colour type: spot colour
Colour mode: 100 % Magenta

The share of the UV colour must not exceed 30 % of the total area.
Before exporting the print file, set all UV design elements to “Overprint”.

Please also note the information under "Data info" on the product pages in our online shop.

Spot colour

To achieve a specific colour that is not included in the CMYK colour space, you can use Pantone or HKS spot colours for certain products:

Brochures
Catalogues
Stationery
Envelopes
Presentation folders (with flaps)
Posters (as of 150 g/m² art print paper)
Many promotional items (only Pantone spot colours)

Create an additional colour swatch in the design program and assign the colour to the design elements in question unless otherwise specified.

Swatch Name: This field should contain the name of the selected Pantone or HKS spot colour.
Color Type: Spot
Color Value: Any

Promotional items:

Metallic and neon colors are not possible. Printing with gold and silver colors is possible.
Due to the variety of different substrates, there may be slight colour deviations between the selected spot colour and the actual print result.

Different paper types and have different properties. Recycled papers tend to have a greyish/yellowish tint, whereas offset papers or art papers can have a white or bluish appearance. Order our paper sample book to experience the different paper types, paper weights and finishes up close to help you determine which substrate best suits your needs.

We will convert spot colours to CMYK if

the product was ordered without spot colours or
if spot colours are not available for the product ordered.

Spot Relief varnish

Add another colour field in the layout program and assign the respective colour to the desired (possibly duplicated) design elements.

Swatch name: “coating”
Colour type: spot colour
Colour mode: 100 % Cyan

Please observe the following when creating design elements:

Line weight: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Font size: min. 14 pt (thinnest line in the typeface: min. 1 mm)
Space between elements of the relief varnish: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Distance to the final format and all punched, grooved and creased lines: min. 3 mm
Due to the coating, colours may appear differently.

Before exporting the print file, set all relief varnish design elements to “Overprint”.

Please also note the information under "Data info" on the product pages in our online shop.

Spot UV coating

Add another colour field in the layout program and assign the respective colour to the desired (possibly duplicated) design elements.

Swatch name: “coating"
Colour type: spot colour
Colour mode: 100 % Cyan

Please observe the following when creating design elements:

Line weight: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Font size: min. 14 pt (thinnest line in the typeface: min. 1 mm)
Space between elements of the relief varnish: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Distance to the final format and all punched, grooved and creased lines: min. 3 mm
Due to the coating, colours may appear differently.
All elements to be UV coated must be set to “overprint”.

Spot silver finish

Add another colour field in the layout program and assign the respective colour to the desired (possibly duplicated) design elements.

Swatch name: “silver”
Colour type: spot colour
Colour mode: 100 % Cyan

Please observe the following when creating design elements:

Line weight: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Font size: min. 14 pt (thinnest line in the typeface: min. 1 mm)
Space between elements of the relief varnish: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Distance to the final format and all punched, grooved and creased lines: min. 2 mm

Spot finish with hot foil

Create an additional colour swatch in the design program and assign the colour to selected parts of your design (which may have been duplicated).

Swatch Name: "foil"
Color Type: Spot
Color Mode: 100 % Cyan

Please use the following values when setting up the design elements:

Line width: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Font size: min. 14 pt (the thinnest line in the type face: min. 1 mm)
Space between elements of the finish: min. 3 pt (1.06 mm)
Distance to the finished size and to any die-cut lines, scores and creases: min. 2 mm
All elements to be finished with hot foil must be set to "Overprint"

Printing white for promotional products

Add another colour field in the layout program and assign the respective colour to the desired (possibly duplicated) design elements.

Swatch name: "white"
Colour type: spot colour
Colour mode: 100 % Magenta

Please observe the following when creating design elements:

Recommended line width: min. 0.3 mm
Please bear in mind that the carrier material can show through when printing with white ink.

Please bear in mind that you have to submit a vector file for many promotional items. Read the article "Submitting vector graphics – how does it work?" to learn how to convert existing images to vector graphics.

Printing promotional items with gold and silver spot colours

We print gold and silver spot colours using the following Pantone inks:

Gold: Pantone 871 C
Silver: Pantone 877 C

Create an additional colour swatch in the design program and assign the colour to the design elements in question.

Swatch name: "gold" or "silver"
Colour type: spot
Colour value: any

When creating design elements, also use the following settings:

Recommended line width: min. 0.3 mm

Laser engraving

Create an additional colour swatch in the design program and assign the corresponding colour to the design elements in question.

Swatch name: "Laser"
Color Type: Spot
Color Value: Any

When creating design elements, also use the following settings:

Recommended min. line width: 0.3 mm
The colouring of the design elements is not relevant because there is no colour involved in the engraving process.

Blind embossing (letterpress)

Create an additional colour swatch in the design program and assign the corresponding colour to the design elements in question.

Swatch name: "letterpress"
Color Type: Spot
Color Value: 100 % Cyan

When creating design elements, also use the following settings:

Recommended min. line width: 3 pt (1,06 mm)
Distance between elements: at least 3 pt (1,06 mm)

You need help with creating the spot colour?

Our “How to set up spot finish in my artwork files” tutorial shows you how to correctly create elements and layers in InDesign using the example of silver finished design elements.