This function is used to calculate the percentage of ink coverage on a layer. The ink percentages can be calculated for individual layers, or several layers at once. 

Percentages cannot be calculated for images, which can only be printed digitally. For image printing, you can use the Ink Consumption feature of the AVA Digital Print Rip to help with your costings.

1. Open a separated design and activate the layers for which you would like to calculate the percentage of ink coverage.
2. Go to Window Menu > Percentages. A window similar to the one above will open.
3. The data will automatically and continuously update. This means that whenever the design document is changed (content, colourways, layer selection, etc) the window will be updating in the background, as it is calculating you may see ??? displayed. 

Area (%)

This column represents the total area of the design that is covered by the selected layers.  This does not consider the tonal values used on the selected layers.

The total area for all selected layers is calculated at the bottom of the column.

Coverage (%)

This column represents the percentage of ink needed to print the selected layers, taking into account the tonal levels used on the layers. This is the most valuable column as it can help you cost a design.

If 50% of the design was set to a 20% tone and the other 50% of the design was set to a 0% tone then the coverage result would be 10%.

The file name of the design is shown on the Percentages Window and it is also listed in the Window Menu, making it easier to locate the file and the Percentages Window when you have more than one design open at a time. In designs which contain colourways, whichever colourway is visible in the Design Window when you open the Percentages window is the colourway which will be displayed in the Percentages Window.

The information in this window can be copied and pasted into a new document if you need to provide the exact numbers to someone else. You just need to highlight the desired numbers then copy > paste into a document (eg: pages, word, email, etc). There is also an export button to export data as TSV or CSV file. 

The information from this window can also be displayed and printed in the Layout Window using Dynamic Text.

Using Dynamic Text to display percentages in the Layout Window

1. Open a separated design and select Window Menu > Layout.
2. Add a colourway to the page by selecting Layout Menu > New.  If there is already a colourway on the page, simply activate it by clicking on it with this tool:
   
   
3. From the Layout Menu, select Text > New Dynamic Text.  This will add default Dynamic Text to your active colourway object.
   
   
   
4. Highlight the text, then control click on it and select AVA Dynamic Text from the Contextual Menu. This will reveal a list of information you can add dynamically to your design
5. From the list, select EveryLayer{}.
6. Your Dynamic Text will now read as %%EveryLayer{}.
7. Click in between the two {} (so your cursor is between the two {} ) and control click again to open the Contextual Menu and select AVA Dynamic Text > Percentages, LayerPercentageCoverage or LayerPercentageArea, depending on the information you wish to apply.
8. The new text will be applied between the two {}’s.  Your cursor will be at the end of the text, but it will before the }, and press enter on your keyboard. This will put the last } onto a new line, and will display the percentage information in column form.
9. Highlight the text again. Then Control click on it and select Set As Dynamic Text. Your text will look like this.
   
   
   You can also add some standard text before the Dynamic Text. For example, you may wish to add the words Area Coverage ahead of the Dynamic Text to make it clear what the values are. So your text may look something like this:
   
   
   Highlight this new text and select Set As Dynamic Text from the Contextual Menu and it will look like this:
   
   
   Repeating the steps above for the LayerPercentageCoverage and LayerName will enable you to display a wealth of information alongside your colourways.