Fine Print

Fine Print Knowledge Center

The online guide to print and design.

Introduction
A Brief History of Printing
PrePress
Planning and Strategy
Design Tips
Color Management
File Submission
Proofing
Materials and Stocks
Inks
Platemaking
Types of Printing
Offset Lithography
Digital Printing
Screen Printing
Gravure
Thermography
Flexography
Letterpress
Large Format
Specialty Printing
3D Printing
Promotional
Security Printing
Green Printing
Types of Finishes
Coatings
Binding
Folding
Scoring
Die Cutting
Embossing
Foil Stamping
Perforations

Under Color Addition

A method of darkening areas of a printed image by adding colored inks, used when making color separations from RGB to CMYK data.

The process works as follows: cyan, magenta and yellow portions are added in shadows and black is accordingly removed.

Under color addition is generally done to make the blacks look darker which increases the tonal range.

Not all achromatic portions, however, are replaced with black, rather a portion of black is generated according to the principle of chromatic composition from the primary colors cyan, magenta and yellow.

The aim is to enhance neutral image depths (gray tones) where the density of black is insufficient.