Adrian Ontiveros
There are many different printers and RIP software's that work with spot colors for automatically printing special inks. Being able to use spot colors as a fill on our vector (PDF, EPS & AI) exported production files would allow us to save a lot of time and money on file preparation/automation. When you have production file that already has the spot color layers in place then you can simply send that file to the RIP software with no manual/human touches needed.
I think spot colors can be used just like Patterns are used in templates now
1. It could be used to offer/upsell specialty inks such as:
· Clear ink (Glossy or Matte)
· White ink
· Primer or Adhesion promoter
· DTF (Direct to Film)
· Puffy print
· Metallic ink
· Textured areas
· Fluorescent/Neon ink
· Hydrochromic/Color Changing ink
· Heat sensitive ink
2. Integrating industry-standard color libraries
It could be used with Pantone and other industry standard color libraries directly in our templates and save a lot of time and work on the backend for printers who need to color match client logos/branding or to make sure they are printing the right colors consistently over time.
3. Enhancing cut contour functionality
It could also be used for cut contour lines. (which I think someone else already requested as a feature for stickers) Many RIP software's also use spot colors as the stroke/outline for cut lines, this would open up the option to add cut lines for printers that also cut after they print. Stickers and DTF (Direct to Film) are huge right now and they all rely on cut contour lines. This would save the print operator from having to then take the production file and manually add cut contour layers/lines before they produce them.
If production files came with those spot colors, you could potentially have a print ready file.
  1. Clone the text or dynamic vector you want to be a special ink
  2. Change the color fill of the element to be spot color
  3. Adjust its order in the layers if necessary
  4. In some cases it may also be beneficial for the printer if the production file layers were separated and exported as multiple files, In this case you can simply create multiple pages in your Customily template and clone/mirror the elements on the new page, then change the color fill to the appropriate spot color. Ensuring consistent element IDs will allow text updates to propagate across all layers in real time
For preview you can either:
· Hide the cloned elements to simply show the original element as is (for primer or flood white)
· Hide the original elements and change the fill on the cloned elements to a Customily pattern (for instances like Metallic inks that affect the look of the finished product)
· Show both and use the cloned elements as an accent to the original element
Either way you are making your live preview more representative of the final product—ultimately increasing conversion rates
I'm currently doing something similar to this in my templates using specific CMYK color values instead and using multiple files on my templates/production files and it has allowed me to receive 4 production files so I can print on a complicated product that requires me to use Primer, White ink, CMYK and then Clear ink as an accent.
Customily can spit out all 4 files and I simply send them straight to my printer and hit print with no adjustments needed at all.
Applying spot colors in the same manner would be an absolute game-changer.