Adobe 65023809 - Creative Suite 4 Master Collection Printing Manual page 20

Managing swatches
Like empty layers, unused swatches have no impact on output, but you may find that simplifying
an overly long list of swatches makes it easier to see what inks are actually used in the docu-
ment. To eliminate unused swatches, choose Select All Unused from the Swatches panel menu,
and then click the Trash Can icon at the bottom of the Swatches panel to delete the selected
swatches. If you are unable to delete a swatch you believe to be unused, it's possible that it's used
by imported artwork. If so, you will be unable to delete the swatch. To determine if a spot-color
swatch is used by imported artwork, you can use Separations Preview (Window > Output >
Separations Preview) to search for objects using the swatch. In a long document, this may be
tedious, but it's effective. Process swatches, of course, will not generate unnecessary plates.
To find InDesign objects such as text, lines, or frames that use unwanted swatches, use the
enhanced Find/Change function. Choose Edit > Find/Change, select the Object tab at the top
of the dialog box, and then click the small magnifying glass icon to the right of the Find Object
Format area of the dialog box. The Find Object Format Options dialog box opens; select Fill
in the left column, and select the name of the swatch in the swatch list at the right. Click OK,
return to the Find/Change dialog box, and click the Find button. The first object filled with the
swatch should be highlighted. If nothing is highlighted, or if the alert "Cannot Find Match"
appears, click the small trash can to the right of the Find Object Format field to clear the attri-
butes, and click the magnifying glass to return to the Find Object Format Options dialog box.
Change the Attribute from Fill to Stroke, click OK, and run Find again. If you still can't find an
object, you can continue eliminating attributes such as shadows, and so on. And note that if the
swatch name does not appear in this list, this indicates that there is no InDesign-created object
using the swatch; that alone eliminates one of the possible causes of the mystery swatch.
Find/Change to Locate Objects by Attributes
Click the Object tab at the top of the dialog box
(above); then click the magnifying glass to open the
Find Object Format Options dialog box (right) .
If you cannot locate any page elements using the unwanted spot color, but are still concerned that
an unwanted plate may be output as a result of artwork you've overlooked, try this: Print the file
as separated output to a laser printer, selecting only the problem plate for output. If no objects
or artwork are using the problem swatch, when you start to print, an alert will appear that the
selected pages do not use the ink.
If you determine that the swatch is truly not used in the document, you should feel confident that
no unnecessary plates will be generated by the file. However, you may want to delete the swatch
to avoid confusing anyone who handles the file later in the prepress process. If you still can't
delete the swatch, try exporting the file to InDesign Interchange to clean it up. Choose File >
Export, and choose InDesign Interchange as the format. A file with the extension .inx is created.
Close the problem file, and open the InDesign Interchange file. You should now be able to delete
the problem swatch, and save the file under a new name.
Editing swatches
It's better to manage, examine, and edit colors when they are saved as swatches. To find colors
used in the document that are not designated as named swatches, choose Add Unnamed Colors
from the Swatches panel menu. InDesign then finds all colors and adds them to the Swatches
Adobe Creative Suite 4 Printing Guide 18