| Many people consider graphic designing as a costly | | | | you can use to enhance your printed design output. |
| occupation to deal with, and perhaps you would too if | | | | You can also print text onto coloured or foil labels and |
| you weren't aware of these design tricks that can | | | | then stick them in your printed pieces. |
| keep your budget at a minimum! Read on to find out | | | | 9.Creative Scissors and Punches- Scissors and paper |
| how you could save money but still enhance your | | | | punches with unusual edges can be very useful in your |
| coloured designs. | | | | low-budget pursuits as they can give your design that |
| For a number of people, one factor that makes a | | | | creative edge it might be lacking in the end. The |
| design costly is the need to use numerous colours. | | | | scissors can also prove to be a money-saving |
| Spot colour designs are definitely exciting as process | | | | alternative to costly die cuts. |
| designs; however, extras are needed if you'd want | | | | Save On Printing Cost With Two Inks |
| your designs to stand out among others. In this article, | | | | Ever wondered if those black and white photographs |
| along with learning how to save on ink costs, you'll | | | | in the magazines are really composed of only two |
| encounter several useful tricks that can be easily | | | | colours? You might have if you didn't notice that the |
| applied to get those stunning designs without burning a | | | | colours are sometimes also closer to brown or pale |
| hole in your pocket. If you haven't yet encountered | | | | yellow. |
| ideas of making one or two colours look like many | | | | There's an easy and simple way to create this effect |
| colors, then this list of tricks is for you! | | | | ¾ the duotone process. |
| Here are a few ingenious ideas on how to save | | | | Duotone (from the word 'duo') simply means two |
| money and still maximise the colour on your designs: | | | | colours. This technique is often used to make |
| 1.Overprinting Colours to Create a Third Colour - Here's | | | | monochromatic prints. It is done by adding a colour tint |
| a tactic based on a principle you must have learnt in | | | | to black and white images. Both black and grey ink are |
| school. Simply follow the principle of mixing colours on | | | | used to smooth out or allocate different colours to |
| canvas to the world of printer technology. The result is | | | | specific parts, and increase tonal range from lightest to |
| simple: once a colour prints over another, a third colour | | | | darkest. |
| is created. You can use this technique to create a | | | | Duotone also covers monotone, tritone and quadtone. |
| number of colours form a limited number of colours. All | | | | Monotone (from the word 'mono') refers to images |
| you need is a basic understanding of how colours | | | | that have only one colour; and while tritone images use |
| work. You might consider looking up into a color wheel, | | | | three colours, quadtone images contain four colours. |
| and then, coordinate your printer well for the desired | | | | Both tritone and quadtone images primarily use the |
| overprinting results. | | | | Overprint Colours button. This option allows you to |
| 2.Your Paper's Colour as a Third Colour - Technology | | | | control the interaction of your ink. |
| has surely brought interesting innovations to the world | | | | To give your image the duotone affect in Photoshop, |
| of paper production. We owe many coloured and | | | | go to Image, then to Mode, and select Duotone. If you |
| designed papers to this technology, and wouldn't it be a | | | | are using RGB or CMYK, you'll have set your |
| waste to let go of simple uses of this technology! By | | | | workspace to grayscale first. To do so, select Image |
| taking advantage of them, you may save a lot simply | | | | > Mode and choose Grayscale. |
| by having your needed colour already in the paper you | | | | Next, select Image > Mode > Duotone. A dialog |
| are using. Solid papers with a slightly different colour | | | | box will appear, which will allow you to select the |
| than those with traditional white or cream can bring | | | | colours you want. |
| dazzling results for your printout designs. | | | | Open the Colour Picker by clicking on the colour |
| 3.Tinting Your Colours - You can take advantage of | | | | swatch. Then, click on the Custom button. A pop-up |
| this technique by using a variety of tints on one or two | | | | menu will open, allowing you to select the colour and |
| colours you are using. Tinting creates an effect of | | | | type of ink. |
| multiple colours since a 10% of a certain colour is | | | | If you want to modify your work, simply re-open your |
| different than 80% of it. You can have about 20 | | | | Duotone dialog box. To do this, go to Image > Mode |
| different colours simply by experimenting on colour | | | | > Duotone. |
| tints! | | | | Most commonly used duotone combination includes |
| 4.Duotones - Duotone photographs are those that are | | | | black and yellow; black and medium-blue; black and |
| printed in two colours only. If you experiment enough | | | | cyan; and black and brown. |
| with duotones, you might come up with subtle effects | | | | The duotone technique is often used to make black |
| similar to sepia tones to colourful poster photos. | | | | and white images richer. If you compare grayscale and |
| 5.White Text on Solid or Tinted Boxes - Instead of | | | | duotone images, you will notice a difference in the |
| using a different colour for text that is placed inside a | | | | colours. Along with adding the accent colour, |
| solid or tinted box, try white as your font colour. With | | | | Photoshop changes the hue of all the pixels. |
| this technique, you will also be able to use reverse text | | | | When you browse through the image details, you'll find |
| sparingly. | | | | that there is only one channel, even if you're using two |
| 6. Although rubber-stamping can be a good way to | | | | colours. This is so because Photoshop uses Duotone |
| save money, it is a very time-consuming affair. Use | | | | curve. To access Curve, go to Image > Mode > |
| your creative skills to innovate rubber stamps, | | | | Duotone. The Duotone Curve option is placed on the |
| especially if you're on a scrap-booking project. | | | | left of the colour swatch. Click on the box of the ink |
| 7.Laser foil for Your Laser Printer - Many | | | | that you want to edit. |
| manufacturers produce and sell foils that could go | | | | If you want to adjust the colour through Photoshop's |
| along very well with your laser printer. A few also sell | | | | Curve Adjustment, simply select Image > Adjust |
| ones that that you can master copy. Copy the foil and | | | | > Curves. You can also change the tonal value by |
| use it with a copier on your inkjet printer. However, | | | | clicking and dragging on the line or by entering numbers |
| keep in mind that this can be a time-consuming piece | | | | on the field. |
| of work. | | | | Remember, you do not have to limit your combination |
| 8.Stickers and/or coloured foil labels - There are | | | | to black and gray; you can use any two different |
| various coloured stickers and foil labels on market that | | | | colours to achieve the duotone effect. |