Key plate

(graphic arts) A plate used in printing two-color stamps that prints the central design of the stamp.

One of the four printing plates used in four-color process printing that functions as a guide to correct color register. Good register requires very precise placement of all the plates on the paper. The key plate is printed first and becomes the standard by which the other three plates are positioned. The black ink plate is usually selected to be the key plate by which the cyan, magenta, and yellow plates are positioned.

A small plate or escutcheon having only a keyhole.

In printing, a key plate is the plate which prints the detail in an image.

When printing color images by combining multiple colors of inks, the colored inks usually do not contain much image detail. The key plate, which is usually impressed using black ink, provides the lines and/or contrast of the image.

However, in two-color images where neither color was black, the key plate might have been printed in the darker of the two colors.

Key plate is synonymous with keystone in the same context.

See also

• CMYK color model

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