Specifying overprint colors

Overprint colors are two unscreened inks printed on top of each other. For example, when a cyan ink prints over a yellow ink, the resulting overprint is a green color. The order in which inks are printed, as well as variations in the inks and paper, can significantly affect the final results.

To help you predict how colors will look when printed, use a printed sample of the overprinted inks to adjust your screen display. Just remember that this adjustment affects only how the overprint colors appear on-screen, not when printed. Before adjusting these colors, make sure that you have calibrated your monitor following the instructions in Creating an ICC monitor profile.

To adjust the display of overprint colors:

1. Choose Image > Mode > Duotone.
2. Click Overprint Colors. The Overprint Colors dialog box displays the combinations that will result when the inks are printed.
3. Click the color swatch of the ink combination you want to adjust.
4. Select the color you want in the color picker, and click OK.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the overprint inks appear as you want them. Then click OK.