How to manage colours for print files

Colour is one of the main reasons printers struggle with files, so here’s our useful guide to avoid such woes…

1. CMYK

Also called “process colour” or “four colour” — this is the safest and most common colour model to use for print. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black (key) and your end colour is achieved by adjusting the levels of each colour percentage.

• Pro: It’s usually cheapest and quickest to use CMYK format
• Con: Consistency can be an issue as outputs vary between different printers

2. RGB

RGB is mostly used in digital formats and stands for red, green, blue.

• Pro: It can create bright and vibrant colours on screen
• Con: Consistency varies between devices (ever wondered why your presentation looks different on your laptop and your meeting room screen?) and can be hard to replicate in print format

3. Pantone

More than 1,800 colours have been defined by Pantone, all of which have a unique ref number and are created by a highly precise mix of inks. Pantone colours also include metallics, pastels and neons.

• Pro: Pantone guarantees consistent colour matching anywhere, making it ideal for logos and branding
• Con: It’s precise nature means inks often take time to bespoke order and are costly to do so, making it cost prohibitive for small print runs