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Printing Dictionary – RGB and CMYK

RGB and CMYK

We want your files to print without fuss and look like you meant them to, there are a small number of orders where the artwork isn’t quite right for printing so we contact the customer to try and explain the problem. There are a couple of printing terms we use when sending e-mails and we thought it would be helpful each Friday to explain what they mean and how it can affect your print.

RGB & CMYK:

Colour is created and displayed by mixing light or ink onto a display or paper.

RGB works by displaying or, in the case of a camera, capturing light and does so as a mix of Red, Green and Blue. These colours allow you to create any natural colour using a mix of light, perfect for on screen display from your TV to your smartphone or computer. Websites and images created for online use are usually created in RGB as they are intended to be displayed on screen. Most home printers simply convert from RGB for you when printing.

When all three colours combine on screen they create white, an absence of colour results in black, this doesn’t work in print where we’re starting with a white page, combing red, green and blue ink onto a page results in a brown sludge. Because of this RGB isn’t suitable for commercial printing, so we print using the inks Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) the combination of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow on the page creates an imperfect black, perfect for printing onto a white background. Add black to the mix and you can produce a wide range of colours.

If you’ve got the option of what colour mix to use, for black text we recommend using just 100% black, if you’re printing a large area of black, such as a background, we recommend a 100% black with 40% cyan, this way you get a great looking black without the risk of too much ink on the page.

Ideally we recommend supplying files in CMYK mode to ensure we’re printing your order as you want it to be.

We check every order to ensure technical issues such as bleed and quiet zone don’t affect your print, if there are any issues we’ll let you know.
If you’re using one of our online designs all the above has been taken care of for you,

About The Author

David has been part of the Flyerzone team for a couple of years working on help-desk, order processing and online support.

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