Colour: RGB, CMYK and what prints

Screens and printers make colour in completely different ways, which is why a printed piece never looks exactly like your screen.

• RGB (screen): colours are made of light, from red, green and blue. More light means a brighter colour.
• CMYK (print): colours are made of inks, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, on paper that only reflects light.

CMYK has a smaller colour range

The full set of colours a method can reproduce is called its gamut. The CMYK gamut is smaller than a screen's, so some colours you see on screen cannot be printed: neons and very vivid blues, greens and oranges. In print they come out a little softer.

Important. Neon and very vivid screen colours cannot be printed in CMYK, on any printer, in any print shop. For your logo colour, ask for a proof.

What to do in practice

• If you can, design and send your file in CMYK. Your screen then gives you a closer preview of the result.
• If you send RGB, we convert it for you. Expect a slight shift in very bright colours.
• Your screen's brightness also changes how colours look; phones usually make them look more vivid.
• For colours that really matter, such as a logo colour, ask for a proof (a test print) before the full run.

Rich black

Plain K100 black looks slightly grey over large areas. For backgrounds and large black shapes use rich black: C40 M30 Y30 K100. For small text and thin lines keep plain K100 so they stay sharp.