Expert: Ran - 4/28/2010

Question
I am using Corel Draw 12 to create labels used on plastic containers.  The Corel Drawing will be printed on a transparency and the transparency will be used to make the silk screen. I want to use only one color and use different shades of the same color.  I was told I could do that by changing the dpi of the image to about 50 and changing the angle of the dots.  Have any ideas how to do this?

Answer
Hi Peggy

With respect this sounds like nonsense to me, because changing the halftone angle will not affect the shade. If you want to try changing the halftone angle, the settings are in the Print dialog, Separations tab. You can see the default angles in the list at the bottom but to change the angles you'll need to click the Advanced button (which will be greyed out unless you are using a PostScript printer).

My suggestion is as follows (your single colour makes it nice and easy!)
Use a single CMYK ink colour throughout (take your pick between Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Black - but stick to it for your entire drawing). After you fill the first object with black (or whatever), press Shift+F11 and make sure it says CMYK in Model, at the top).

To change your tints, press Shift+F11 and alter the percentage in the Components slider (DO NOT click in the pretty coloured area as this will add other inks into the mix which will muck things up).

When you want to print your masterpiece, press Ctrl+P and click the Separations tab. There should ONLY be a check alongside the Black separation (or whichever colour you chose) and none of the others!

Finally, if you need to tweak your line frequency (screen frequency), to suit the screening process (which I know nothing about, sorry!), in the Print dialog, click the PostScript tab and choose your Screen Frequency at the bottom left. If there is no PostScript tab, this is because you're not using a PostScript-compatible printer (or the PostScript driver isn't installed).

I hope you get this sorted and your labels look cool! Please let us know how you get on - thank you.