Metallic print effects

Adding an extra colour to your print job can greatly enhance the overall look of your final piece. Using metallic Pantone colours is just one way of doing this, and there are hundreds of colours to chose from so you don't have to stick to the standard golds or silvers.

Pantone colours can be used in a number of different ways. Perhaps you could turn all of your text silver, or use a metallic colour on flat areas, such as logos or graphic shapes. When working with Pantone colours within an image, you have two options - you could use the Duotone feature, which mixes two spot colours applied to an image or, as shown in the following tutorial, you can create an extra spot channel within a CMYK image.

By using the latter, you can utilise the full colour range while enriching the image with the metallic Pantone or, right at the other end of the scale, when you have a one-colour job to print. Metallic Pantones are perfect for this situation, because they help you to turn a dull, one-colour design into a stunning piece of work. Here's how to do it.

Click here to download the support files ( 4MB)

Click here to download the tutorial for free