Creating a Spot Varnish File

If you want your photos and images to “pop” off the pages of your book, you can print a spot varnish over each image. This technique is different from a flood varnish, as flood varnish covers the entire page. To print a spot varnish on images (and large type sizes, if desired), the printer needs a spot varnish file. The file should be separate from the book text file. It is easy to make with the following instructions.

If you want spot varnish, make sure that it is included in the quote, as it is an additional cost. If you have questions you can contact us at (425) 603-1777 or by email or via our Contact page.

Step-by-step instructions to make a Spot Varnish file in InDesign (CS5 for Windows)

• If spot varnish is used on images, provide a varnish file that is separate from the native InDesign or Quark file. Although you can create another file layer for the spot varnish, we prefer to receive the spot varnish file as a separate file
• First, make a duplicate file of the book and delete anything that should not be varnished. This includes type, photos and images
• Create an Object Style with a spot color fill based on “None” (Window > Style>Object styles)
• When the Object Styles Option window is open, under “General”, you will see “Based On”, select “[None]”
• Under Basic attributes, check “Fill”. Click on “Fill” and make sure the color selected is “black”, and the border is “none”
• Under Effects for (select Object), check Transparency
• Name it “Spot Varnish”. Effects for “object” will be 100% black fill with no border
• Using the Selection tool, select “Spot Varnish” that you created under Object Styles. Note: The “Selection tool” is the first arrow in the tools palette in InDesign. The second arrow beneath that is the “Direct Selection tool”, which is also an arrow. Be careful to select the right tool as noted in the rest of the instructions
• Then select the image. You will not see anything change yet. But…
• With the image still selected, use the second arrow, the “Direct Select tool”. You will see the box around the image change, so that there is a dot in each of the four corners. Click the image once and you will still see the four dots, plus four more on the top, bottom and sides of the image
• Do a right click (or Control-X) and delete the image. A solid black image will remain in exactly the same size and position as the now deleted image
• Don’t forget to delete the page numbers on this file, which is easy to do if you have set the page numbers up on a master style sheet

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