Designing with Gradients and Opacities

Can I print in percentages/opacities/gradients? 

Absolutely! Our  Scout Books Ink Guide is designed to show you how our inks will print at various opacities, and you can do a lot with just one color using different percentages. 

(Gradients, opacities, and percentages refer to the amount of ink being used in printing - lighter coverage means less ink, so more of the chipboard will show through and the ink will be less intense.) 

One thing to keep in mind: small percentage differences do not show up very visibly when printed. So if you put 100% coverage of blue next to 92% coverage of blue, you won't really be able to tell that there's a difference. It's just going to look blue! In general, less than 20% of a difference will not be obvious. 

100% vs. 75% is still pretty subtle, but more noticeable. 100% vs. 50% is going to be much more clear of a contrast. And 100% vs. 25% is downright dramatic! 

You can check the ink guide to get a better sense of what you'll be getting at each percentage! Just because it looks like a big difference on the screen does not mean that it will look that way when printed. 

If you're not sure whether you'll get the effect you want, you can always drop us a line and ask!