A Lesson in Color - Monitor vs Print - Internet vs Print

I am in the process of finishing up a large project with a client and I thought I would share some information with all of you in case you run into this yourselves.  Especially working with a graphic designer and/or commercial printer.

In order to assist my client to understand COLOR, I put together information to explain some critical information so we could develop the best color scheme for her product lines which would work consistently in print and visually on the internet. 

Some colors are better suited for the internet while others are better suited for print.  When deciding on a color scheme/palette - think about the big picture.  Will the artwork be for print only, or print and internet?

One big difference between print and the internet is the resolution.  The internet only requires artwork/graphics to be 96dpi while print requires at least 300dpi. 

I might have already posted this information - but I feel it is important enough to post again.

RGB versus CMYK

Monitor Color VS Printed Color

If you want EXACT coloring – use PMS Color Coding

RGB

Most of us first started to learn about color in school. We learned about Primary Colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue. We learned that secondary colors (Orange, Purple and Green) are made from mixing primary colors: for example, "yellow and blue make green."   While this is generally a good starting point for teaching the basics of color, when it comes to color printing, we need to break color down a little further.

Red, Green, and Blue are "additive colors". If we combine red, green and blue light you will get white light. This is the principal behind the T.V. set in your living room and the monitor you are staring at now.

Additive color, or RGB mode, is optimized for display on computer monitors and peripherals, most notably scanning devices.

CMYK

The printing world operates in subtractive color, or CMYK mode. Known as Process Colors:

 These colors in various combinations, and used at different tints and screen angles, can produce a wide range of color. Even the "primary colors" we were taught are base colors that can't be mixed, are made from mixing process colors. 

      "Blue" is made by mixing Cyan and Magenta, and "Red" comes from combining Magenta and Yellow.  The addition of Black is used for darker shades, while lighter shades come from using lighter tints (also known as screens or halftones.) 

      When you look at any printed piece, it's CMYK.  This color model is considered "subtractive color" because if you start at 100% of all 4 colors, you have a deep rich "black" and you have to subtract color to get to "white."

      Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are "subtractive colors". If we print cyan, magenta and yellow inks on white paper, they absorb the light shining on the page. Since our eyes receive no reflected light from the paper, we perceive black... in a perfect world!

     In practice, printing subtractive inks may contain impurities that prevent them from absorbing light perfectly. They do a pretty good job with light colors, but when we add them all together, they produce a murky brown rather than black. In order to get decent dark colors, black ink is added in increasing proportions, as the color gets darker and darker. This is the "K" component in CMYK printing. "K" is used to indicate black instead of a "B" to avoid possible confusion over Blue ink.

The PMS System is strongly advised if you want to have the best color match. 

      Unfortunately, there are no totally accurate means for viewing what the actual printed surface of a CMYK label will look like before printing occurs. Even seasoned professionals cannot anticipate many of the undesirable effects that may occur from time to time while trying to color match. Proofs are to be used only as guidelines.

     Another thing we were taught in school, is that white light is made from all colors. The example that's always used to demonstrate how this works is a rainbow.  The spectrum of light is arranged in the following order: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet (which is where the acronym ROYGBIV comes from.)  Using this principal the RGB color space uses Red, Green, and Blue light to create color. The RGB model is considered "additive color" because no light is "black" and you have to add color to get to "white."  The best example of this is your television or computer monitor. 

Since RGB color and CMYK color is made completely differently, there is often something lost in translation.  A lot of clients will expect the colors from the submitted proof on their monitor/screen  to be exactly what the final finished printed piece color is and wonder why it may look different when it's printed out.

In addition to all these technical information - I put together a visual that clearly demonstrates how the same color can look differently depending on the application it was created in, what type of image, what color format, and the resolution.

I hope someone finds this information useful.

HUGE HUGS

Sherri

CEO/Graphic Designer

Designer Label Gal