Colour

So what is colour? RGB is used for screens, CMYK and PMS for print. RGB is additive light. CMYK is subtractive ink. Spot colours sit outside both for precision branding.

CMYK

CMYK colour model

These make up the standard 4 colour process used for printing in full colour. All colours when printed from CMYK are made from combining these colours together. All posters, Magazines and leaflets are generally printed using CMYK sometimes with the addition of one to two spot/special colours.

RGB

RGB colour model

Red, green and blue are the 3 colours that are used by monitors to display images. Most of the images we supply to you will be saved as RGB as most Microsoft programs do not like CMYK images. However, RGB images a no good for litho print and need to be converted to CMYK before printing. That is why we include this in the file name so the printers no the image is still in RGB.

SPOT

Spot colour example

Refers to solid colours such as Pantone colour matching system, these are mostly used in addition to CMYK e.g. Printing gold, silver or when a specific colour is required. Because the colour you lay down is the actual ink colour, the colours are richer, cleaner and more vibrant. This make them perfect for Branding, packaging and one- or two-colour jobs. Pantone colours can be Coated (C) or Uncoated (U) to match the paper stock.

HEX

HEX colour code example

Hex codes are ways of representing colors in a format that can be understood by computers. Mainly used for websites and eshots etc. eg. #3a297c