Sometimes your design may have close or tight registration even though the colors don't touch. A shift on the press could cause those colors to overlap. Talk to your printer if you are unsure about just how close is too close.
Trapping
By Jacci Howard Bear, About.com Guide
Avoid Touching or Almost Touching Colors
Colors that are not touching but very close can cause registration problems too.
Design with the intention of avoiding the need for trapping. If you are printing letterhead with red and blue elements make sure that the two colors never meet each other. If there is enough space between the two colors then any slight misregistration won't usually be noticeable.
Prev
- When Colors Touch
- Avoid Touching or Almost Touching Colors
- Use Common Process Colors to Close Gaps
- Overprint Black to Prevent Gaps
- Basic Trapping Terminology
- Chokes and Spreads Fill the Gaps
- Knockouts May Require Trapping
- Overprinting / Surprinting Avoids Need to Trap
- Manual and Automatic Trapping
Suggested Reading on File Preparation
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