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Spanish to English translations [PRO] Tech/Engineering - Manufacturing
Spanish term or phrase:plasta
"Debajo de la línea punteada, el auxiliar debe registrar el número de orden de entonación y debe marcar si el tipo de trabajo tiene *PLASTAS*, selección o ambos".
Context: A Mexican manufacturer´s guidelines for the production of printed and/or colored plastic sheeting. I found a Kudoz entry referring to this as "glop", but the register of this document is slightly more formal than that! Would this be "mass", "paste"??? In this context, it appears to refer to a solid color rather than a mixture of colors.
Explanation: or "block color" for US, or "plain color/colour".
From the context, I think this is the meaning here; it seems to refer to colour.
The expression "plastas de color" is quite frequent, and although I haven't found it in bilingual dictionaries it is clear from the contexts in which it occurs that it refers to blocks of plain colour. It is widely used in graphic design, Photoshop, etc.
Perhaps the clearest illustration of its meaning that I can find is the work of the American conceptual artist John Baldessari. See the following, from a Mexican art site:
"TU CARA ES UNA PLASTA DE COLOR. JOHN BALDESSARI.
[...] Tras leer un artículo que afirmaba que el arte conceptual se trataba sobre puntualizar, Baldessari lo tomó muy en serio y comenzó su serie de pinturas con puntos y plastas de color, indicando al espectador hacia dónde tiene que ver y a menudo confundiéndolo; eso sí, con una sinfonía de colores"
This is illustrated by a series of Baldessari's works using circles of plain colour blocking out the faces of the figures http://www.ohcolourmein.com/archives/6809
This same type of work is described in English as follows in a blog on Baldessari's retrospective at the Tate Modern in London last year:
"[...] he erases faces and sections of photographs with block colours, disrupting the narrative and forcing the viewer to study what’s happening elsewhere and what might fill the void." http://www.wallpaper.com/art/john-baldessari-at-tate-modern-...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2011-01-03 23:36:59 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Or solid colour/color, as GGruia suggests, would be fine as well. I think it is synonymous with "block colour".
Thanks very much, Charles, for the excellent help once again. In the end, I went with 'solid colors' after discussing this with client. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Charles, I had to smile at your comment concerning how this term is perceived in Chile. I lived in that area of the world for a number of years, and the word 'plasta' definitely had 'fecal' connotations! This was one of the reasons why I stumbled with the right meaning to the word, given that no dictionary I could find had anything close to what was referred to in the document. Thanks again for your help.....Bill
For all I know they could mean "Base colors" (like primary colors?) in this doc., but everythingl I've seen indicates that "plastas" are not particular colours but just solid colors with no gradations. You'll have to make the call on "base colors", but if I were you I'd go with "solid colors" (never knew "block colours" was British!).
Here's a post in a plastics forum (Flexografía.net) from someone in El Salvador replying to a colleague in Chile who wanted to know what "plastas" are in this field (sorry about the block caps):
"PLASTAS SE LES LLAMA A LOS COLORES O A LAS PARTES SOLIDAS. O SEA EL 100% DEL COLOR. NOSOTROS DIVIDIMOS LOS TRABAJOS COMO LINEAS, TRAMAS Y PLASTAS. DE LOS CUALES LAS LINEAS SON LOS TRABAJOS VECTORIALES O LINEALES. LAS TRAMAS SON LA VARIACION TONAL DE UN TRABAJO Y LAS PLASTAS SON LOS LLENOS O COLORES SOLIDOS DE UN TRABAJO. COMO TE DIGO EL 100%."
The colleague in Chile comments that "Plastas es una terminología de centro América ya que acá en Chile las Plastas se refiere a las fecas de animales [...]".
Thanks, GGruia..... In the context, I wonder if 'base colors' would also be an option, since the different tones are all elaborated with portions of the 'base' colors. Charles' suggestion is also a good one, although in US English I'd go with 'solid color' over 'block color'. ....Bill
I think you're right. In this context "plastas" means a solid color ( or a background color). Ex.: Las imágenes en que los tonos cambian abruptamente, sin pasos graduales entre uno y otro se les llama de plasta de color.
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Answers
2 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
block colour
Explanation: or "block color" for US, or "plain color/colour".
From the context, I think this is the meaning here; it seems to refer to colour.
The expression "plastas de color" is quite frequent, and although I haven't found it in bilingual dictionaries it is clear from the contexts in which it occurs that it refers to blocks of plain colour. It is widely used in graphic design, Photoshop, etc.
Perhaps the clearest illustration of its meaning that I can find is the work of the American conceptual artist John Baldessari. See the following, from a Mexican art site:
"TU CARA ES UNA PLASTA DE COLOR. JOHN BALDESSARI.
[...] Tras leer un artículo que afirmaba que el arte conceptual se trataba sobre puntualizar, Baldessari lo tomó muy en serio y comenzó su serie de pinturas con puntos y plastas de color, indicando al espectador hacia dónde tiene que ver y a menudo confundiéndolo; eso sí, con una sinfonía de colores"
This is illustrated by a series of Baldessari's works using circles of plain colour blocking out the faces of the figures http://www.ohcolourmein.com/archives/6809
This same type of work is described in English as follows in a blog on Baldessari's retrospective at the Tate Modern in London last year:
"[...] he erases faces and sections of photographs with block colours, disrupting the narrative and forcing the viewer to study what’s happening elsewhere and what might fill the void." http://www.wallpaper.com/art/john-baldessari-at-tate-modern-...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2011-01-03 23:36:59 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Or solid colour/color, as GGruia suggests, would be fine as well. I think it is synonymous with "block colour".
Charles Davis Local time: 07:32 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thanks very much, Charles, for the excellent help once again. In the end, I went with 'solid colors' after discussing this with client.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
