Colours
Full Colour Printing
Understanding colour - what you can and can't expect can be very important, particularly when setting up your own work to be printed. There are two different types of colour generation that you should be aware of:
- RGB (Red, Green and Blue) This is a colour space using Red, Green and Blue LIGHT. It is what creates the colours on your monitor. It should be used for creating documents that are going to be viewed on a monitor only (like web pages). 100%R 100%G 100%B would make WHITE.
- CMYK is used throughout the printing industry on both conventional and digital presses. This colour space works using an adaptation of the primary colours you would have learnt when at school (Red (Magenta), Blue (Cyan) and Yellow (Yellow) + Black).
Because RGB and CMYK colour spaces are are for completely different applications, you must set up any documents for printing in CMYK for the best results. When RGB images are printed on a CMYK device, they can often look very poor in comparison.
Colour Matching
Every device displays colour in a slightly different way. The colour on your monitor will not necessarily match the colour on ours. Also, the colour on an ink-jet print will most likely not match that of a laser print or a litho print. Pantone colours will show variations when printed as a digital proof. Our Veris contract proofing system will give you a close idea of the result you will receive on a litho printed job so if colour is vital then we would recommend a contract proof.
Spot Colour Printing
When a job is to be litho printed in one or more spot colours (i.e. not a full colour job), there are important things to remember when setting it up. To ensure consistency we recommend that all spot colours are specified as PMS (Pantone Matching System) colours. Be aware that PMS swatch book colours may fade after a few years on the shelf so, if in doubt, check with us.
