Our printing units are equipped with up to 8 inkers. This does not mean we can always print 8 colours; due to technical printing restrictions it is possible that one colour has to be printed with 2 separate plates.
For full coverage areas (i.e. background) to print, an extra (relief) plate must be used.
White ink may need to be printed with 2 plates to achieve sufficient colour strength.
Halftones, fine texts and images in combination with a solid colour for the background need to be split into 2 plates because of different machine settings and film thickness of ink.
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-cmyk.png)
Process colours (CMYK)
Files should not be supplied as CMYK and require conversion to Individual Spot Colours
![](https://www.ardaghmetalpackaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/colours-fulltone.png)
Spot colours
The spot colours have a tonal value of 100%, e.g. Pantone 435 C
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-transparent.png)
![](https://www.ardaghmetalpackaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/colours-fulltone-2.png)
It is not possible to create a different colour by printing two or more colours on top of each other.
Only Spot Colours can be used for Printing
Our printing machines are equipped with 8 ink units, however we recommend to set up layout files with a maximum of 6 different colours.
Layout with 6 different colours.
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-layout.png)
*Pantone live references should be selected from the Pantone Live directory.
Repro with 8 printing separations.
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-repro.png)
*Pantone live references should be selected from the Pantone Live directory.
Layouts with less than eight colours bring some benefits.
- Layouts with less than eight colours will lead to better conditions during printing.
- With this split of elements we can achieve a good halftone performance and a good ink transfer on high surface elements at the same time.
- Large areas of single colour will need to have a Relief Plate created and will take up an extra Inker Station.
- It is recommended that Screenwork is split onto a separate Plate from solid areas to allow better ink control.
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-white.png)
Definition of spot colour WHITE on screen: (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 0) printing colour
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-basecoat.png)
Definition of SUBSTRATE on screen: (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 20) no printing colour
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-technical-inks.png)
Definition of TECHNICAL INKS on screen: (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 100) no printing colour
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-white.png)
Definition of spot colour WHITE on screen: (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 0) printing colour
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-basecoat.png)
Definition of SUBSTRATE on screen: (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 20) no printing colour
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-technical-inks.png)
Definition of TECHNICAL INKS on screen: (Cyan: 0, Magenta: 0, Yellow: 0, Black: 100) no printing colour
![](https://ardaghimagelibrary.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/AMP/Graphics+Portal/Design+Portal+web+assets/colours-base-white.png)
Please make sure there is a clear definition about white or substrate elements.
Printed white is a printing colour and needs an extra separation.
Please also create an extra separation for the substrate colour.