Select page by ink coverage (non-Black only)

Belongs to

Category: Color
Type: Selections
Since version: 13

What it does

Selects gray pages in a PDF.

This Action detects the ink coverage of color content (CMY and spot colors) in a page and selects the pages for which the maximum ink coverage of each non-black separation is below a particular percentage (as defined in the Action). You can ignore small non-gray areas (e.g. a company logo) and limit the check to an area inside a particular page box as required.

Use cases:

Use this Action in combination with Log selection to detect whether a PDF should be printed in color or in black and white.
Use this Action in combination with Convert color to select gray pages and convert the colors to grayscale (to save ink).

Example

The following Action List selects all pages with CMY or spot color values lower than 5%. These pages may have a very small colored area (< 5 cm) or colors outside the trimbox.

Select gray page <!-- Select page if ink coverage of each non-Black separation is less than 5% -->
                 <!-- Ignore non-gray areas smaller than 5 cm -->
                 <!-- Only check inside the trim box -->

Related Actions

Check ink coverage (total page check) : checks the ink coverage of all colors (including black)
Select page by gray surface