Huh? If
you've always worked with a desktop printer or strictly one
color jobs you may not quite understand register or close
register or the need for trapping and how it affects
your final printed job.
When you
print from your color inkjet printer the color is all applied
at once. Each color generally ends up just where you expected.
It doesn't work that way on a commercial printing press. When
your document consists of more than one color of ink the page
may have to pass through the printing press two or more times
as each color is applied to the paper.
Presses
aren't perfect. They run at incredibly fast speeds. Sometimes
the paper or the plates applying the ink may shift. It might
be a tiny, tiny little shift -- but it can throw off your design
enough to be noticeable. For example, a white gap may appear
between a green letter that is supposed to be touching a blue
box. When this happens your color is out of register
-- things just don't align properly.
So how do
you prevent having your work come off the printing press out
of register? By avoiding the need for trapping. The best alternative
to trapping is to simply print using all one color or never
allow your colors to touch or get too close.Explore other alternatives
to trapping.
