Example Built with Kernel FX Ships with Voro as an example. It may change between versions.

Purpose

Printer separates the picture into ink plates and reproduces it using a selected printing process. Physical sheet size controls the scale of dots, paper fibres and plate errors. Print Rate can hold each finished impression while the input keeps moving.

Use

Place Printer under Effects in the Image view and connect artwork to image. Choose Process and Ink Plates, then set Print Detail. Adjust Sheet Width to make the printing structure larger or smaller relative to the picture.

Set Print Rate to a positive value for a sequence of held prints.

Inputs and outputs

• image is the artwork.
• field shifts local plate registration through Field Register.
• spot provides coverage for a spot ink when Spot Source is Input.
• out shows the sheet or the selected plate view.

Controls

• Process selects Offset, Newspaper, Risograph, Block Print, Inkjet or Laser.
• Print Rate at -1 prints every incoming frame. Zero prints once and holds. Positive values set impressions per second.
• Ink Plates selects one to five inks. Two and five plates include a spot ink.
• Print Detail, Print Threshold and Dot Gain shape the marks.
• Ink Load changes density. Misregistration moves the plates apart; Feed Slur smears them along the feed.
• Paper Stock, Paper Texture and Sheet Width define the sheet.
• Imperfection Variance changes errors between impressions. Zero keeps them repeatable.

Notes

Raising output resolution resolves the same physical sheet more finely. It does not shrink the dots. Use View to inspect individual plates before changing the spot colour or registration.

Ports

Inputs

• image image required
  RGBA
• field image
  2 channels
• spot image
  single channel

Outputs

• out image
  RGBA

Parameters

Printer

Mix (Mix) Float op('printer').par.Mix

Blend from untouched artwork to the observed print.

Default:

1

Range:

0 to 1

Process (Process) Menu op('printer').par.Process

Choose the imaging and transfer process: offset rosette, newspaper, risograph, threshold block, stochastic inkjet, or ordered laser.

Default:

offset

Options:

offset, newspaper, risograph, block print, inkjet, laser

Print Rate (Printrate) Float op('printer').par.Printrate

Impressions per second. -1 prints every incoming frame, 0 prints once and holds, and positive values reprint at that rate while holding each finished sheet between impressions.

Default:

-1

Range:

-1 to 120

Imperfection Variance (Variance) Float op('printer').par.Variance

How much plate register, local ink acceptance, and ink-film weight differ from one impression to the next. Zero preserves the exact repeatable print.

Default:

0

Range:

0 to 1

Imperfection Scale (Variancescale) Float op('printer').par.Variancescale

Millimetre scale of the coherent pressure and ink-acceptance variation on each sheet.

Default:

2.5

Range:

0.05 to 40

Seed (Seed) Int op('printer').par.Seed

Repeatable identity for the sequence of impression imperfections.

Default:

17

Range:

0 to 99999

Ink Plates (Colours) Menu op('printer').par.Colours

One through five physical ink plates: black; black plus spot; CMY; CMYK; or CMYK plus spot.

Default:

4 colours

Options:

1 colour, 2 colours, 3 colours, 4 colours, 5 colours

Print Detail (Detail) Float op('printer').par.Detail

Process-relative imaging detail. Each process maps this to an honest physical ruling, from coarse block cells to fine digital dots.

Default:

0.5

Range:

0 to 1

Print Threshold (Threshold) Float op('printer').par.Threshold

Moves the plate threshold. In Block Print this is the hard carve/ink cutoff; in screened processes it opens or closes midtones.

Default:

0

Range:

-1 to 1

Dot Gain (Tvi) Float op('printer').par.Tvi

Midtone coverage gained or lost through the selected imaging and transfer process.

Default:

0.06

Range:

-0.15 to 0.4

Ink Load (Inkload) Float op('printer').par.Inkload

Solid ink-film thickness. It changes material density rather than simply grading brightness.

Default:

1

Range:

0.2 to 2.5

Bleed / Bite (Inkedge) Float op('printer').par.Inkedge

Microns of boundary wander: clean dots at the low end, fibrous riso bleed and carved block bite at the high end.

Default:

30

Range:

0 to 300

Misregistration (Misregister) Float op('printer').par.Misregister

A single physical plate-register error in microns. Each ink moves in its own deterministic direction; black stays the reference.

Default:

0

Range:

0 to 3000

Feed Slur (Slur) Float op('printer').par.Slur

Directional transfer slip in microns. On a press it is blanket slur; in digital modes it becomes feed-direction smear.

Default:

0

Range:

-600 to 600

Screen Angle (Angleerror) Float op('printer').par.Angleerror

Plate-angle error in degrees. It disturbs rosettes, creates moire, and rotates ordered digital structure.

Default:

0

Range:

-15 to 15

Field Register (Fieldmm) Float op('printer').par.Fieldmm

Maximum local plate-spread displacement from the field input, in millimetres. Zero ignores the optional field.

Default:

0

Range:

0 to 12

View (Tap) Menu op('printer').par.Tap

Observe the final sheet, CMY plates, black plate, spot plate, or bare paper.

Default:

sheet

Options:

sheet, cmy plates, black plate, spot plate, paper

Paper & Ink

Sheet Width (Viewwidth) Float op('printer').par.Viewwidth

Physical image width in millimetres. Raising output resolution resolves the same sheet rather than shrinking its dots or fibres.

Default:

110

Range:

25 to 1000

Paper Stock (Stock) Menu op('printer').par.Stock

Coated, uncoated, or newsprint substrate. Stock changes scatter, minimum printable dot, tone gain, and fibre response.

Default:

coated

Options:

coated, uncoated, newsprint

Paper White (Paperwhite) Float op('printer').par.Paperwhite

Reflectance of the bare stock.

Default:

1

Range:

0.45 to 1.2

Paper Warmth (Warmth) Float op('printer').par.Warmth

Moves the stock from cool white toward yellowed fibre without tinting ink solids directly.

Default:

0

Range:

-1 to 1

Paper Texture (Texture) Float op('printer').par.Texture

Strength of paper reflectance, local ink acceptance, and ink-film mottle.

Default:

0.1

Range:

0 to 1

Fibre Scale (Fibresize) Float op('printer').par.Fibresize

Dominant paper-fibre scale in millimetres.

Default:

0.42

Range:

0.04 to 8

Light Scatter (Scatter) Float op('printer').par.Scatter

Microns light spreads sideways inside the paper. This is optical dot gain in a physical length, not a brightness push.

Default:

40

Range:

0 to 200

Ink / Water (Water) Float op('printer').par.Water

Positive values starve ink; negative values let ink scum into non-image paper. Digital processes reinterpret it as deposition cleanliness.

Default:

0

Range:

-1 to 1

Overprint (Trap) Float op('printer').par.Trap

How well later inks transfer over earlier ink. It changes material density and hue through the real print order.

Default:

0.88

Range:

0 to 1

Spot Source (Spotsource) Menu op('printer').par.Spotsource

Coverage for the second or fifth ink: spot input, overall density, shadows, or highlights.

Default:

density

Options:

input, density, shadows, highlights

Spot Hue (Spothue) Float op('printer').par.Spothue

Hue of the second or fifth ink.

Default:

0.045

Range:

0 to 1

Spot Saturation (Spotsaturation) Float op('printer').par.Spotsaturation

Chroma of the spot-ink solid.

Default:

0.9

Range:

0 to 1

Spot Lightness (Spotlightness) Float op('printer').par.Spotlightness

Reflectance of the spot-ink solid; lower values lay a denser material.

Default:

0.72

Range:

0.08 to 1