Designing with the Press in Mind
This section exists to help you achieve the closest results from your screen to a printed piece from a 4 color offset press. The tips listed in this section are observations that have been noted from our personal trials.
Screen Settings:
Adobe RGB (1998)
Color (CMYK):
Start designing with CMYK selected as your color mode. Starting with RGB selected as your color mode will result in you having to convert your design file to CMYK prior to submitting your files to print which will cause a color shift.
When trying to match a color use a physical color chart that defines CMYK values. The printed color will resemble the physical color chart more than what is appearing on the screen. The screen is displaying all colors in RGB. Do not be mislead by this.
Blacks
For richest looking black that is used typically for solid areas
C=30 M=30 Y=0 K=100
Black used for type face font.
C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=100
Grays
To achieve a gray that will not result in having a tint or a hue start by using 100% K value black and reduce the opacity until the desired gray is reached. The printed result may end up being a shade darker or lighter but it will be a clean gray without a tint or hue of another color.
C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=100 + lessen the opacity until desired gray is reached
Blues
Blues are the hardest to match. To achieve best results use a physical color chart that displays CMYK values. Trust the chart and not the screen.
