Ed #3 > text

AM Right

You should certainly use conventional AM printing for legacy assignments—reprints or one of a continuing series of brochures—where it is important to match previous AM work. Conventional printing techniques also are preferred if you want the greatest latitude in modifying the color on-press. The relatively large dots of conventional halftones tend to be more forgiving than their stochastic counterparts.

Most printers agree that conventional techniques are also better if you intend to put a large amount of ink on the paper. When you are using metallic or opaque inks in halftone applications, conventional techniques are likely to produce a bigger impact because you can push the ink more, especially when using screens of 175 lines or less. By the same token, some printers say conventional techniques are likely to work better for one or two-color projects, where stochastic screens can sometimes make images appear grainy or rough. Conventional techniques also may be better for skin tones, because high resolution stochastic dots can tend to bring out imperfections and too much detail.