Small Business Design Resources

4 Color Printing and Understanding Color Management in 5 Ways

Majority of the print materials is done through offset printing that is integrated with 4 color printing or four-color process printing. It has gained a following of many small businesses and entrepreneurs who are looking for high-quality prints in the most cost-effective means.

It produces photographic quality full color prints at cheaper cost per unit, compared to inkjet printing, and other printing processes.

However, as popular or common this process maybe, some people still fall into certain pit traps. Some people set certain expectations to find they have actually been asking too much.

Things to Consider with Color Management

Think about how colors work. Think how the colors you’ve worked on will actually appear on print. There is a discrepancy with what you see and what you may get. Computer screens and prints are different media. Think about these and other things that would affect your prints.

1. Color limitations
The CMYK can only but closely match itself to the closest possible colors projected on the computer screen. The color gamut of CMYK, although relatively large, is not enough to encompass the thousands of color hues there are.

2. Monitor Calibration
What we see in our computer screen is different from what will be printed out on presses and even in desk jet printers. The computer monitor has a different color profile and produces color through RGB. Prints that are printed in CMYK cannot fully capture the colors present in RGB although it can match accurately up to a certain point or degree.

3. Machine Calibration
To maintain colors or color profiles of your design, from the pre-press department’s computer to your print out, a printing companies machines and computers are calibrated. This means it will preserve the original look and colors of your design throughout.

Added to this, whatever the material you choose, be it a 100 lb. Gloss Text paper or a 14 pt. Gloss Cover stock, the presses are still calibrated to maintain consistency in the print output. The presses are configured to recognize the properties of these paper stocks to produce prints in premium condition.

4. File Conversion and Compression
Some or part of your data can get lost along the way in the process of translation. Your files for offset printing works differently from that of your desk jet printer. The latter can process your RGB files and print it out automatically. In offset printing, you need to work in CMYK mode or convert your RGB files into CMYK.

For file compression, you may risk the image quality of your file because data compression like files saved in jpeg may lose some information. In return, the image quality of the file may be affected or compromised. Avoid this problem by saving in lossless files such as .tiff or .eps.

5. Paper finishing.
Matte paper has a polished but dull surface that gives it a natural feel. Because the paper surface is different from the standard gloss and high-gloss, matter paper absorbs more light without reflecting it back.

Gloss paper, as the name indicates, has a polished smooth surface that possesses a soft gloss. The High Gloss coated stock or UV coated gives your prints a striking and reflective surface with the sheen or gloss it has. It also has the ability to make colors more vibrant unlike the two other paper stocks.

Manage and know the issues concerning color management. And let your 4 color printing companies find the best suitable conditions to bring out the richness and vibrancy of your colorful prints. Contact your printing company now and work with the experts who can capably make your prints more brilliant.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/printing-articles/4-color-printing-and-understanding-color-management-in-5-ways-279178.html

About the Author:
This writing provides information to the readers about 4 Color Printing processes and the products and services provided with the use of this printing method. To know more about Offset Printing you may visit Color Printing Wholesale

Full Color Printing – Explaining CMYK VS RGB

By Adan Ines

You are looking for the right printing company to render full color printing service for your ad materials. As you browse through your options, you are being bombarded with letters that you cannot comprehend – CMYK and RGB.

Are you lost with such acronyms? First, you must understand that color is an important element in printing as well as in the design process. You must have the eye to spot what will match and what will look good together to be able to provide the right material.

Color can affect the whole appeal of your material. It will evoke people’s emotions. It will create the impact.

RGB
The colors as you see them on your computer monitors are in RGB mode. It will not look the same way once printed though. That is why most printing companies ask you to convert your files to CMYK before sending them over.

What is RGB? This is a color model that is composed of red, green and blue. This is most useful for website design and presentations done on screen because the project will be viewed through a computer monitor.

There are various color spaces in the RGB model. These are the two that are commonly used.

• RGB. This is what most of the monitors of your PCs use. This is also advisable to be used if you are into web design.

• Adobe RGB. This has a larger selection of colors than the sRGB. This is more appropriate to be used if you are designing for print and with pictures that were taken using professional digital cameras.

CMYK

The CMYK model is produced when two RGB colors are mixed evenly.

• C or cyan is produced when green and blue are combined.
• M or magenta is produced when red and blue are combined.
• Y or yellow is produced when red and green are combined.
• K which means the key color or black is added to the model because when all the three colors of RGB are combined, they can only produce a dark brown.

If you want to avail of the full color printing process for your advertisements and other needs, you have to know that such method uses the CMYK model. Each color is placed on a printing plate. So there are four printing plates that are being utilized in the manner of printing.

The colors are then printed on the paper stock as small dots. But humans would only be able to see the final image.

You have to be really careful with colors especially when you are applying it to your professional arena. Colors will have a high impact on the design of your material, whether you are using the print medium or you are designing for web pages.

It is advisable to match the colors according to you target market. They are the ones who are going to appreciate the final product. So it will be safer to think about them from the start. And the next time you are going to avail full color printing services, you will no longer feel lost with what the acronyms RGB and CMYK stand for.

Full color printing can aid to help in making colorful and vibrant prints. To find more of its procedures and application please feel free to visit color printing wholesale

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