Repeat for Separations Mark

A Repeat for Separation Mark is a type of Dynamic Mark that is repeated a number of times, based on the inks used in the document. You can load one of the default Repeat for Separations Mark sets (see Working with Mark Sets) or you can create a Repeat for Separations Mark by selecting a combination of objects and select Create Repeat for Separations Mark from selection (see Create a Mark from Selection). The selected objects become the Mark Content, which is repeated for every separation.

The Repeat for Separations Mark can contain nested Marks. See Nested Marks

You can for example create a Custom Mark of a 100% filled square, and a Text Mark containing the Ink Name of the 1st separation as Smart Text. Combining those two into a Repeat for Separations Mark, you can create a color patch for each separation, with the respective separation name next to it.

Use the Mark Inspector to set all parameters.

• Underneath a preview of the Mark Content is the Edit Content button. If you want e.g. to edit the Text Mark included in the Repeat for Separations Mark, you can click the Edit Content button. See Editing a Mark. You can also double-click the Mark while holding the Alt key.

  Note: When editing the content of a Repeat for Separations Mark, you can't change the color of included Text Marks or Custom Marks to Dynamic Color or Darkest Color, these will always use Static color.

• In case your selection contained more than one separations when creating the Mark, you can use the Repeat dropdown to select the separation you want to use in your Mark.

• By default the Repeat for Separations Mark will create one Mark for every separation on the page. Use the For dropdown to choose what separations to include:

  • All Separations
  • Artwork Separations
  • Artwork Separations and Varnish
  • Processing Step Separations (See Processing Step Layers)

• Enable Subset of Separations to select specific separations from the result of the For setting above, based on the index. You can enter for example "1-6", or "3,4,6", or "1,4-6". If the Subset of Separations is disabled, all separations defined using the For setting will be included.

• Other separations defines what to do with the other separations in your content: either remove, keep as Static color, or map to the darkest separation.

  In the example underneath, the original object had a fill in Cyan and a stroke in Magenta. The result for the various setttings in a CMYK + Pantone Orange document will look like this:

  1. Original
  2. Repeat: Cyan, Other Separations: Remove
  3. Repeat: Cyan, Other Separations: Static
  4. Repeat: Magenta, Other Separations: Map to Darkest
  
  
  
  
  
  Tip: It is advised to keep the Mark content as simple as possible. Using the same separation for all of the included objects is recommended.

Positioning the Repeat for Separations Marks

The positioning of the Repeat for Separations Marks is set by three different factors:

• 1. The relative positioning of the objects within the Mark Content. It is recommended to make the positioning of Marks within the content dynamic by attaching them to each other.

     This can be done either before creating the Mark, or by using Edit Content. See Editing a Mark

     In the example underneath, the distance between the square and the text is set in the Mark Content

  2. The Repeat Direction, which defines the direction, positioning and offset / gap of the different instances of the Mark. See Repeat Direction

     In the example underneath, the distance between the cyan instance and the magenta instance is defined in the Mark Inspector in the Repeat Direction.

  3. In the Transformation Inspector you can set the positioning of the complete Repeat for Separations Mark, i.e. the complete block of all instances. See Mark positioning

     In the example underneath, the position of the complete Mark (attached to the Trim Box) is defined in the Transformation Inspector.