Print mark
Print marks are used in printing to control the print for color, position and quality. They are usually positioned on the edge and later cut away. Among the classic print brands include crop marks , registration marks , Beschnittzugabenmarken and color bar , in desktop publishing , if necessary. Get (DTP) Name of color separation , file name and date of creation added. Print marks can be created manually or automatically in the respective DTP programs such as InDesign , PageMaker , QuarkXPress or Scribus .
Print marks are to be distinguished from printer marks .
Historical print marks
In the case of historical prints, the print marks are mostly still present, mainly custodians and sheet signatures , in order to make collating work easier for the manual binder .
Classic print marks
- Trim marks / fold marks
- Crop marks are placed outside the document page along the side edges of the mirror and show how the sheet should be trimmed after printing. Fold marks are on the sheet within the mirror between columns and show where the sheet has to be folded ( folded ). Trim marks are set with a continuous line and fold marks in a dashed line with a thickness of 0.25 point , length 5–7 mm with a 3 mm distance to the usable area and the side edge, results in min. 11–13 mm bleed allowance.
- Bleed marks
- are brands that indicate which additional space is to be allowed for the trim. The strokes are printed to set up the cutting machine or to check the positioning of the cuts. The space attached outside the planned page as a precaution is called a bleed allowance. Ideally, this will not be printed, but could end up on the page using all tolerances.
- Registration marks
- (also register ) are usually lines, crosses or circles for the exact positioning of the individual colors to each other.
- Color control strips
- are image strips with all printing colors. They usually have fields for CMYK in graduated opacity and some combinations of colors.
Print marks of the DTP
- Name of the file and date
- are automatically output in most programs.
- Name of the color separation
- specify the process or spot colors with which the color separation is to be printed, for example cyan, magenta, yellow, black or HKS 45 .
Example: DTP combination stamp
The combined cutting, registration and color mark (see picture) can be placed manually in the layout (as a CMYK-TIFF or CMYK-EPS file), e.g. B. in the case of multiple uses of commercial printed matter on one printed sheet.