Half-tones, Screen Angles & Moir

What these terms mean & what you should know.

Eureka Printing Company, Inc.

106 T Street Eureka, California 95501 (707) 442-5703 (707) 442-6968 Fax ekaprint@pacbell.net (DSL line) ekaprint@humboldt1.com
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Screening Technologies
Eureka Printing Company, Inc. encourages you to contact us during the planning stages of your project so that we can help you with any questions or concerns you may have. We are happy to provide you with this basic information, but please be advised that these pages are only general guidelines. Your project may require different procedures.

Images can either be created within the computer with a vector based illustration application or may be nondigital and originate from a source external to the computer, like a scanner or digital camera. The image is placed onto the page layout programs and combined with other objects to produce the final document. When the application sends the print job to the printer, it converts the color data in the image into the cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) color-separation files. The separation files are sent to a raster image processor (RIP) that converts the information in the separated files into binary data and sends the data to an imagesetter. The imagesetter contains a laser that combines the laser spots into cells which form halftone dots on the film and create the image. The imagesetter will output four pieces of film, each containing one of the color separations.

Halftoning A Definition
A halftone screen is a pattern of shapes that is used to simulate various intensities in the image (i.e., darker to lighter) with a single ink. Halftone screening is the process of reproducing a continuous-tone image with an imagesetter by using dots of various sizes and density to emulate shades of color. On laser printers that cannot print different sizes of dots, the halftone is produced by printing different numbers of dots in a given area. The halftone-screen size corresponds to the size of the image, and the imagesetter places each screen of halftone cells in its location on the image by using a recorder grid. You could compare the recorder grid to a series of addresses that the imagesetter uses to determine where and how to place the halftone screens when it creates the image.

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Halftone type refers to the type of dot that is being used to create the halftone. Typically, a halftone screen consists of rows of evenly spaced, round or diamondshaped dots. However, it is possible to use halftone screens that have dots that are shaped differently. In fact, halftone screens can even use straight lines instead of dots to create an image. You can experiment with different halftone types to create interesting effects. If you are printing a black-and-white image, the printer will recreate it with black ink only. Screening adjusts the concentration of black dots on the page to reproduce the shades of gray between black and white.

The halftone dots are grouped into grids of printer spots to form cells. If the screen frequency is set so that 100 spots (or points on the paper that the imagesetter can define) can be inked or not, then many shades of color can be produced within the cell. When the screen frequency is set to only 10 printer spots, fewer colors can be produced per cell. The capacity of an imagesetter to place printer dots on an image is defined as its resolution and is measured in dots per inch (dpi).

What Is Screening?
Originally, a halftone screen was an opaque screen with thousands of tiny holes. An image with shading was photographed through this screen using special photographic paper or film. The resulting image consisted entirely of dots. This image could then be used to create printing plates. Now, halftoned images are created with software to simulate the effect of a halftone screen. The halftone, used in conjunction with the color-separation process, is necessary to convert photographic images into material printed using process colors.

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To the eye, a photographic image appears as a continuous-tone image because the chemicals used to produce the image blend smoothly at different intensities to produce shades of color. The printer creates the illusion of all those different colors and shades of color by overlaying patterns of tiny dots in only four colorscyan, magenta, yellow and black. These colors, called process colors, are used to reproduce full-color images on a printing press. Although your monitor may be capable of producing millions of colors, a printer is capable of reproducing only a few thousand colors.

The screening process combines the technologies of halftone screening and color separation. The screening patterns form the shape and density of the dot patterns required for each of the four-color separations. When the four colors are combined in these patterns, the illusion of all the other colors and shades of color in the image are created.The screen technology should be set to match the type of imagesetter your service bureau will be using. Talk to your service bureau to determine the correct setting. If you are not using an imagesetter or you are unable to speak to your service bureau, use the standard default settings.

Screen Frequency
The halftone-screen frequency determines the number of dots used to create the image. The screen frequency is measured in lines per inch (lpi) or lines per centimeter (lpc). This measurement refers to the number of vertical rows of dots per inch (dpi) or centimeter. When you choose a screen frequency remember that the higher the screen frequency, the sharper the image. However, there are limits to screen frequency that are determined by the type of printing press on which you are printing and the type of paper you are using. In general, a screen frequency of 85 lpi works on newsprint, and a frequency of 100 lpi or higher works on bond and glossy paper. If possible, consult your service bureau or printing shop to determine the screen frequency you should use.

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Imagesetters create screens using differing screen frequency values. When the screen frequency is high, the higher resolution screen produces an image with more detail. A lower screen frequency (the effect is exaggerated in the apple on the right) produces a screen with less detail and the image will look grainy.

Moir Effect
Because each halftone screen consists of a regular pattern of shapes, it creates a pattern on the printed image. When the separations are combined, the patterns created by each separate halftone screen interact. This interaction can create an undesirable effect called a moir pattern. These patterns appear when an image is printed from color separations with incorrect halftone screen angles. Therefore, the four screens used in the color-separation process must be properly aligned to avoid undesirable geometric patterns in an image. Moir patterns can be eliminated by changing the screen angle of each color separation. If you were using an actual screen and a camera, you would rotate the screen 15 by hand for each separation by hand. However, because you are using software to create halftone screens, you must change certain print options to change the screen angle. When you print color separations, the screen angles are set automatically. If you change these settings incorrectly, your image may not print properly.

Above is an example of moire displaying a rosette pattern in the screening. Consult your service bureau before you change any of these settings.

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Conventional Screen Angles

The image is converted to four grayscale separations based on four process inks used to print the image. Conventional screen angles for a CMYK image are demonstrated in the separations below.

Cyan:

15

Magenta:

75

Yellow:

Black:

45

Early printing with CMY devices achieved best results when the screens were offset from each other at 45, with the yellow screen at 0. With the introduction of CMYK four-color printing, the screens could no longer be rotated in 30 increments because four rotations of 30 exceeded a total of 90 and a 0 screen would give the same results as the 90 screen. A compromise was achieved by offsetting three of the screens by 30 and the fourth by 15. Note: Most manufacturers use proprietary algorithms to generate screen frequencies and angles that may not conform exactly to traditional screening.

Screening Considerations
Screen angles are offset so that the moir pattern can be avoided; however, when you combine the four-color separations, the slightest misalignment of the separations can lead to moir. This can also result in color shifting because misalignment of the halftone dots can result in a change of dot density. To correct this problem, the screen frequency or angle must be modified. Some experienced operators will modify default screen angles, but this is probably something that should not be attempted from the desktop.

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Halftoning and Banding Halftones

Halftoning is a method of creating the illusion of shades of gray by using only black ink on a white background. In the past, laser printers and offset printing presses could print only one solid color, as solid spots of ink were placed on the paper. This process was useful when newsletters, newspapers and books were the only things being printed. Its greatest limitation was the inability to reproduce photographic images accurately, and this limitation created the need for the halftone process. Originally, a halftone screen was an opaque screen with thousands of tiny holes. An image with shading was photographed through this screen using special photographic paper or film. The resulting image would consist entirely of dots. This image was then be used to create printing plates. Now, we create halftoned images with software to simulate the effect of a halftone screen. Commercial printing presses are unable to produce true shading, but they can create the illusion of shading by printing images made up of tiny dots. The size of the dots determines the different levels of shading (i.e., the larger the dots, the darker the shade). A halftone screen is necessary to convert images with true shading into images made up of tiny dots. The output device groups together a small grid of device pixels to create a halftone dot. The size of the pixels depends on the resolution currently being used for printing. The size of the grid depends on the lines per inch (lpi) generated by the output device. The pixels are colored or uncolored in a pattern within the grid to create halftone dots. The halftone dots emulate shades of gray throughout the image. The human eye registers a shade of gray when, in fact, it is looking at a fine pattern of black-and-white dots. To demonstrate this, create an object defined as 50% gray. When printed, half of the dots within one cell of this grid will be turned on, black, and the other half of the dots will remain off, white. The pattern is then replicated throughout the object to make it appear to be gray in color.

This illustration is a typical halftone dot created by a printer. The small grid represents the device pixels, and the large dot created by filling the grid is the halftone dot. A collection of grids is assembled into a group that creates the image. This is called a halftone screen.
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The image will have either the smooth appearance of a continuous tone image or look like a newapaper photograph depending on four factors: Dot Shape Although halftone dots can be any shape, the industry has standardized on an elliptical shape because it is less likely to clog or become muddy in the midtones. The elliptical shape also means that each halftone dot can be placed closer to the adjacent dot before it contacts its neighbor. Dot Density Density is a measure of the proportion of dots in a given area of the image. Screen Angle Because each halftone screen consists of a regular pattern of shapes, it creates a pattern on the printed image. When the separations are combined, the patterns created by each separate halftone screen interact. This interaction can create an undesirable effect called a moir pattern that can be eliminated by changing the screen angle of each color separation. If you were using an actual screen and a camera, you would rotate the screen by hand 15 for each separation. However, because you are using software to create halftone screens, you must change certain print options to change the screen angle. When you print color separations, the screen angles are set automatically. If you make incorrect changes to these settings your image may not print properly. Screen Frequency The halftone-screen frequency determines the number of dots used to create the image. The screen frequency is measured in lpi. This measurement refers to the number of rows of dots per inch. When you choose a screen frequency, remember that the higher the screen frequency, the sharper the image. However, there are limits to screen frequency that are determined by the type of printing press on which you are printing and the type of paper you are using. In general, a screen frequency of 85 lpi works on newsprint, and a frequency of 100 lpi works on bond and glossy paper. If possible, consult your service bureau or printing shop to determine the screen frequency you should use.

Banding
Banding in halftones is the appearance of distinct steps across a fountain fill rather than a smooth transition of shades. It is the result of abrupt changes in shades or color in objects with a graduated or stepped transition from one color to another.

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There are several factors that affect the amount of banding in an object, and you can work with each as follows: Object Size Decrease the width of an filled object so that fewer steps are required across the color gradation. Number Of Fountain Stripes Increase the number of fountain steps or bands in the Fountain Fill dialog box. Percentage Of Gray Change Decrease the degree of change from one color to another in the fountain fill. Printing Resolution Increase the resolution of the print job. Screen Frequency Lower the screen frequency as set in the Printer Driver dialog box or the Options\Options\Advanced dialog box of the Corel Print Engine. Example: A black-to-white color change is from 100% to 0% black. You can determine the optimal number of steps required to make this color change in a fountain fill by dividing the printer resolution (dpi) by the screen frequency (lpi) and multiplying by the desired percentage change in color to determine the number of steps required. For example: (300 dpi/60 lpi = 5) x 1.00 = 5. The value for Screen Frequency depends on the PostScript output device, the color being used and the print job. This value should be assigned by your service bureau.

PostScript Level 2 Printing

PostScript Level 3 technology can render 4096 levels of gray. With current PostScript Level 2 technology, the output device is limited to a total of 256 shades total on a single color or a grid that is based upon 16 X 16 halftone cells = 256 shades of gray. By dividing the desired resolution of your output by 16, you can determine the maximum screen frequency that the device can use to achieve 256 shades of gray. The printer will accept other values, but the grid may be limited. Using a lower number may cause the image to be more coarse than desired. Similarly, using a high value may cause banding to be more prominent in the document. Example: A 300 dpi laser printer prints at 60 lpi. Using the above formula, 300 dpi/ 16 = 18.75 lpi. Although grouping 16 device pixels together at 300 dpi will force the printer to produce a coarse image, this value of 18.75 will result in a smooth gradation between colors within the size limitations. Using 60 will produce a reasonable image but the printer will be limited to as many shades of gray as it can actually print. Whether this will be noticeable or not depends on the fountain fills in the document, how they were created and the quality of output desired.

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Note: The current PostScript technology limits the maximum number of bands to 256. By using the method below, you can determine how many shades of gray or bands in a fountain fill are available to the printer based on the current dpi and lpi. It is then possible to determine if banding will be noticeable in certain objects. After the file has been sent to the printer, the PostScript interpreter will make the changes to the values that you have specified. The human eye can see objects as small as 0.03 inches (1/32") in size, bands in the fountain fill as small or smaller than this will usually appear smooth. To determine the size of a band, divide the number of bands by the length of the object containing the fountain fill. If the size of the band is smaller than 0.03 inches, banding will not be noticeable. Number of Bands = [(dpi/lpi) x (% gray change)]/100 where dpi = resolution and lpi = screen frequency. The Adobe PostScript Language Reference Manual* (the Red Book) reads: the best choice of screen parameters is often dependent on specific physical properties of the output device itself (e.g., pixel shape, overlap between pixels, and effects of electronic or mechanical noise). The setscreen operator may make slight adjustments to the requested frequency and angle so as to ensure that the patterns of enclosed pixels remain constant as the screen cells are replicated over the entire page. If you are creating black-and-white fountain fills only, this seems fairly straightforward; however, when you are using color, it is necessary to calculate the gray equivalent. The following formula is from the Adobe PostScript Language Reference Manual: % gray = 0.30 x (% red) + 0.59 x (% green) + 0.11 x (% blue) * PostScript Language Reference Manual (c) 1985 Adobe Systems Incorporated, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.

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