When you place a digital printing order , you are asked to send a file in CMYK color . What does this mean? Discover the difference between CMYK and RGB colors.
What is CMYK?
The letters CMYK represent colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black or CMYK in English (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black). It is the system of primary colors that we find in subtractive synthesis (back to physics lessons), which means that when they are superimposed at 100%, the mixture theoretically gives black…actually a dark brown. Black is added to this, which gives the acronym CMYK. This is used to obtain intense blacks and more neutral grays to allow for better image contrast and text sharpness.
What is the difference with RGB colors?
RGB means Red, Green and Blue or RGB in English (Red, Green and Blue). With this combination of three colors which uses the principle of additive synthesis, we get white or more precisely "light." Explanation: a television or computer screen, for example, has a black screen when it is turned off. When colored light is added to this screen, it creates very vivid colors.
Why are RGB colors not printable?
A printer converts any color data into CMYK . The ink from the four channels overlaps and absorbs light. This is the complete opposite of the RGB principle. This generally results in a darker or duller print.
And what about four-color printing?
Four- color process printing is the name of the process used in digital printing . The word four-color process printing comes from the Latin quadra , "four" and the Greek chromia , "color", literally meaning " four colors ".
In desktop publishing software , by mixing varying percentages of each of these four colors, you can obtain a very wide color gamut thanks to the numerous possible combinations—approximately 16 million different colors ! So you can understand why, for example, "a light blue" isn't precise enough for our graphic designers to define a color reference…
The only drawback with CMYK is that it is impossible to obtain special colors such as fluorescent and metallic (gold, silver) which require switching to another printing technique.
In practice :
CMYK printing allows for the reproduction of a greater number of colors , an essential technique for complex visuals or photographs. However, you won't always get exactly the colors you expected.
For what reasons ?
– the type of support used and its background color. To obtain the expected references, it is necessary to work on a neutral white support.
– the printing technique : not all machines work in the same way and are calibrated according to their “gamut” (the color space that it is capable of reproducing).
– your computer's settings (the famous screen calibration). Therefore, a printed image will not accurately reflect what you see on your screen (depending on its color settings). And remember, your screen displays colors in RGB . It can therefore never be used as a reference for printing.
For your printing projects, Marquage Moderne has a DTP office in order to support you graphically, to obtain the most accurate color rendering possible for respect your visual identity and offer you a complete graphic design service if necessary. Contact us to know more.