Page 207 - Xara Designer Pro X17

Color Handling 207

The alternative, less expensive way, is to use PANTONE 4-COLOR PROCESS colors,
which use a mix of the standard CMYK inks to re-create a given color, sometimes called
a Process Color. This is less exact because mixing CMYK inks to create a given color is
not as reliable as using a solid pure ink of the required color. However it provides a way
of ensuring much more accurate color reproduction than judging colors by eye or
assuming your computer monitor screen or inkjet printer is accurate (computer screens
and desktop printers vary quite considerably).

Xara Designer Pro X also supports both type of PANTONE color system. You can use
them as spot or solid colors or use the PANTONE 4-COLOR PROCESS library which
defines exact mixes of CMYK colors. You can find the PANTONE color libraries in the
COLORGALLERY.

Using a PANTONE color
To use a color from a library either:

• Just drag & drop the color from the COLOR Gallery onto the object to which you wish to
apply the color (for other ways of applying colors from the COLOR Gallery, see Color
handling (on page 189)).
• Or in the COLOR Gallery, drag the color you want to use from the library section up to
the section for your current document. This lets you copy several colors in one
operation. (See Galleries (on page 61) for details of selecting items in a gallery.)
This copies the library color into the document and displays it on the color line.

You cannot delete, rename or redefine colors in the color libraries. However, you can
change copies of colors used in your document.

Note: Altering a PANTONE COLOR BRIDGE color will cause it to become a process
(CMYK) color.

Important notes when using PANTONE colors

PANTONE colors (and CYMK colors in general) are useful for reproducing a known
color. There is no other reason to use CMYK or PANTONE colors, and for all normal use
we recommend using HSV or RGB colors.

If you use any of the Xara Designer Pro X transparency effects on or over any CMYK or
PANTONE color, the color will be modified by the transparency process (which mixes
any transparent colors with those underneath the object) and will not produce the
expected PANTONE color. This is an unavoidable consequence of the way transparency
works.

So a simple rule if you require a PANTONE COLOR BRIDGE color or a specific CMYK
color value (and that includes the use of pure K shades of gray) is to not use
transparency, feathering, soft shadows, bevels or Live Effects on or over these objects.
Doing so will result in that object or portion of the object being processed as RGB colors
and so will result in color shifts.