Separations
The artwork split into one printable channel per ink, such as four plates for CMYK plus one more for every spot color.
See it
What it is
Separations split composite artwork into one channel for every ink that will run on press. A process job normally has cyan, magenta, yellow, and black separations; each spot ink adds another. The RIP turns those channels into plates, screens, or other device instructions.
Use Adobe Acrobat Pro Output Preview to toggle inks one at a time and see exactly what each plate will print. This catches problems a normal full-color preview hides, such as black text built from four inks or a logo that vanished from one plate because of an overprint setting.
Gotcha: every named spot swatch can become a billable extra plate. An accidental spot color, duplicate ink name, or Registration swatch used on artwork can change the output even when the composite PDF looks right. Audit the plate list before approving it.
Ask AI for it
Audit this PDF's separations in Adobe Acrobat Pro Output Preview. Toggle cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and every spot ink individually; list the objects on each plate; flag Registration color used anywhere except printer marks; and use Ink Manager to alias duplicate spot inks or convert unintended spots to process. Preserve intentional Pantone plates, verify overprint with Simulate Overprinting, and return the final plate list.