Elevating Print Precision: RGB+Spot Colour Support in Blackmagic

In the world of professional printing, colour accuracy is everything. Historically, integrating spot colours accurately into an RGB colour management workflow has long been a frustrating challenge. That’s why we’re excited to introduce a game-changing new feature in Blackmagic that not only makes this process seamless but, quite frankly, revolutionary. Let’s dive into why this matters and how it can transform your print precision.

Understanding the Challenge with Spot Colours in PDFs

When a spot colour is defined in a PDF, it’s stored separately from the process colours, typically with its name and device values (often CMYK or RGB). In rare cases, a designer may embed an ICC colourspace when saving the PDF file for more precise conversion, but most workflows rely on assumed device values, which can compromise colour accuracy.

In most instances, when printing from a desktop app, the spot colour values are merged into the RGB or (more often) CMYK process colours, losing their precision. The spot colour essentially becomes part of the job’s process colour mix, often resulting in inaccurate or inconsistent reproduction. This is where Blackmagic offers a smarter solution.

What Makes Blackmagic Different

Serendipity's Blackmagic is already able to recognise and isolate spot colours, handling them separately from process colour data within CMYK workflows. Our software matches the spot colour name defined in the design file to a spot colour database within Blackmagic, ensuring the stored name and its values are correctly aligned with the spot colour in the file.

This process maintains the integrity of the spot colour and merges it with the final print output after the PDF’s process channels have been colour managed, ensuring precise reproduction on a calibrated output device. This avoids the colour inconsistencies that can happen with generic or factory-provided output ICC profiles.

This approach mirrors the precision demanded in high-end printing, where spot colours often represent brand-critical hues like those used in corporate logos or special effects inks such as metallics or fluorescents. The result? More reliable, predictable colour output—every single time.

Now, Blackmagic takes this a step further.

Our latest innovation allows for the separate colour management of spot channels while maintaining a fully RGB PDF workflow from start to finish. This means that even if your design environment and assets are RGB-based, you can confidently include and manage spot colours without converting the entire file to CMYK.

This is a feature currently unique to Blackmagic, giving designers and print professionals a significant advantage. It means fewer surprises on press and a smoother creative-to-production pipeline.

Real-World Benefits

The benefits of this innovative feature aren’t just technical—they’re practical and impactful. Here’s what this means for real-world printing projects:

• Consistent, precise spot colour reproduction: No more colour shifts or compromises—what you see is what you print. Spot colours remain true to their intended appearance, independent of process colour fluctuations.
• Streamlined RGB+Spot workflow: Simplify even the most complex print jobs without sacrificing accuracy. Designers can stay in an RGB creative environment, if that is their preference, without worrying about spot colour handling downstream.
• Higher Print Quality: Retaining the RGB colourspace allows for an expanded output gamut, making prints more visually striking and faithful to the original design. Meanwhile, spot colours maintain their precision, ensuring brand colours are accurate and impactful.
• Avoid generic ICC profiles: Print with confidence knowing that your output is tailored to your calibrated device and media, not a one-size-fits-all factory ICC profile.
• Time and cost savings: Minimise trial-and-error printing cycles and reduce the risk of costly colour mismatches.

Why This Matters for Print Professionals

For branding and design professionals, meeting client expectations for colour accuracy is essential. Whether working on packaging, marketing materials, or fine art prints, achieving precise colour reproduction is critical to a project’s success.

This new feature does not eliminate the need for a traditional CMYK workflow, but introduces a parallel RGB workflow that can be used in conjunction with, or alongside, an existing CMYK process, offering even more flexibility to print professionals.

By enabling independent spot colour management within a purely RGB workflow, Blackmagic reduces the risk of colour shifts, improves production reliability, and enhances the overall value of our colour management and RIP software. This added precision and flexibility ensure that your printed output reflects your creative vision with uncompromising accuracy.

Blackmagic’s ability to seamlessly manage both RGB and spot colours, solves a long-standing challenge in PDF print workflows. Don’t settle for colour compromises—try the new RGB+Spot Colour Support and elevate your print precision to the next level. Experience the difference Blackmagic can make.

Contact us today for a demo or to learn more, and see firsthand how this innovative feature can transform your print production process.

The RGB+Spot Colour Support functionality is best suited for printers that accept RGB input, specifically those qualified as Printer’s Screening, Precision Dot and HTM in Blackmagic.

For more detailed setup instructions, refer to the Serendipity Knowledge Base article. This new feature is available with all Blackmagic products (Version 9.1 and above).