Color Replacement Introduction

Color Replacement Introduction

Color Replacement is used a variety of different applications in Digital printing. ErgoSoft RIPs offer several different ways to replace colors in your digital printing files for different applications and filetype. Be it pixel replacement in your TIFF files, Spot Color replacement in EPS or automatic white printing in your PDF files, the ErgoSoft RIP has you covered.

Due to the potential complexity of replacement operations and major differences in how different file types need to be handled, Color Replacement in ErgoSoft RIPs is handled in several different functions, each tailored to a use case and offering features suited to that use case. The intricacies of different formats unfortunately also mean that some features may not be available for some filetypes or applications.

The types of Color Replacement available in ErgoSoft RIPs are:

Pixel Color Replacement: Replaces colors in a raster image based on pixel colors, letting you e.g. replace every pixel in an image that has the color 40 40 40 40 with a pixel of the color 10 10 10 10.

Spot Color Replacement / Named Color Replacement: Replaces Spot Colors in image files automatically by specifying the color name and a replacement color value. Regardless of what the original color is, a color with the specified name will always be replaced by the specified value.

Print White Ink or Finish: White Inks, Finishes, Varnishes etc. are a common application in a lot of workflows. In ErgoSoft RIPs, white inks can be adressed by specifying a Spot color replacement for white, by automatically generating white layers, and through Extra channels.

Extra Channels: Replaces colors on a color channel basis by letting you adjust values for individual channels (e.g. the Cyan channel in an EPS) or assigning additional alpha channels to an ink slot so the content of the channel is printed with that ink.

Pure Colors: Forces certain colors to avoid color management, ensuring that these colors are printed purely with a single ink/color.

You can find a lot of useful information and tips in our Color Replacement Playlist on the Ergosoft Youtube Channel.

    • Related Articles

    • Pixel Color Replacement

      Probably the method most people think about first when thinking about color replacement. Pixel color replacement uses pixel color values to identify and replace color in an image either by selecting it from the image itself, or by specifying a color ...

    • Introduction to Color Calibration

      One of the main tasks of a RIP Software is to ensure accurate color output. This is achieved by adjusting the colors in an image file during the rastering process to appear exactly as you expect. This is necessary because no two printer/ink/media ...

    • Measure Color

      With Measure Colors, Ergosoft lets you use your Spectrophotometer to conduct spot measurements of colors and displays their color value. This can be useful if you want to doublecheck the numerical values of a printed color, or pick up a color value ...

    • Color Equalizer

      The Color Equalizer offers several tools to help you adapt and harmonize the print behavior of several Print Environments and ensure matching outputs. With the Color Equalizer, you can calculate a reference Target Density to ensure the opical density ...

    • Generate Color Books

      Generate Color Books lets you create a color chart in either Lab or RGB color and to customize the chart in color tones, color variance, dimensions and color management used. You can even generate aco and swb Color Books for use in Photoshop and ...