The difference between RGB and CMYK colors for web-to-print ventures
As anyone who has ever had the basic science class lecture about color spectrum knows, interpreting all the millions of different colors we see each day is a very complicated process for the human eye and brain. It's all the more difficult when trying to design and program a monitor or computer program to correctly receive and display similar color information. Various different file formats, technologies and display types only further complicate the matter, but developing a competent sense of these aspects and their key differences is essential to success in any web to print venture. The two major types of color displays used in computing environments are RGB and CMYK.
The first type, RGB, is an acronym for red, green, blue and is known as an additive coloration mode. In order to understand this terminology, it helps to first think of the computer screen and its totally black background. It is upon this black background that the tiny networks of lights in the screen display their various hues, essentially adding coloration to the black of the background in order to make up the final target value which the user sees displayed. The RGB coloration mode is typically used to render colors within monitors and computer screens.
The second type, CMYK, which stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, black, is known as a subtractive coloration mode. Ultimately intended to be applied to white printer paper, CMYK is considered subtractive because it calculates its correct hues by subtracting from the initial brightness of the paper in order to make up the final target value. For this very reason, CMYK uses lighter secondary colors than those used by RGB coloration modes. This is due to the fact that producing darker tones via the CMYK method would require a great deal more ink. The CMYK coloration mode is intended for use in paper printing applications.
Given these basic stipulations, successful and efficient development of web to print applications and products requires some consideration of which coloration modes are best suited to a particular project, as well as the respective advantages and disadvantages of each. For example, consider the fact that, due to its method of building up printed colors on a white page, the RGB coloration method must repeatedly blend a great deal of ink together in order to achieve the color black, since it can only combine red, green and blue. CMYK, on the other hand, has a true black available and can therefore apply a single tone of appropriate intensity.
This ability of the CMYK model significantly reduces the amount of image blurring and paper stress that can occur whenever an RGB coloration model is attempting to achieve black. RGB also underperforms in this situation because its constant re-applications of the three colors usually serves to overly saturate the printing medium. It can also ultimately fail to achieve a rich enough black by blending only red, green and blue. In short, the differences between RGB and CMYK are pronounced, and cannot be overlooked in web to print projects.
Subscribe to Updates
Categories
- commercial printing (66)
- Prisma News (60)
- direct mail (55)
- RSS (52)
- direct marketing (51)
- web to print (50)
- commercial printer (48)
- Arizona Digital Printer (47)
- print services (47)
- Custom Publishing (45)
- large format printing (45)
- online printing (45)
- printing service (45)
- supply chain marketing (44)
- printing company (43)
- Data Analytics (41)
- database marketing (41)
- direct mail advertising (41)
- direct mailing (41)
- email marketing (41)
- marketing database (41)
- marketing lists (41)
- offset printing (41)
- printing companies (41)
- Company News (40)
- acquistion lists (40)
- direct mail marketing (40)
- direct mailing lists (40)
- in‐house mailing (40)
- mail direct (40)
- All Things Print (36)
- Best Practices (36)
- News & Media (33)
- Strategy& Marketing (32)
- dokshop & Web to Print (19)
- Direct Response & Logistics (17)
- InternalRSS (15)
- Prisma Graphic (12)
- DokShop (10)
- In the news (9)
- graphic design (8)
- marketing (8)
- web to print solutions (7)
- b2b marketing (6)
- web to print software (6)
- web to print solution (6)
- Technology (5)
- digital print (5)
- integrated marketing (5)
- packaging (5)
- print on demand (5)
- printing (5)
- web2print (5)
- Commercial & Digital Printing (4)
- Direct Mail Printing (4)
- brand marketing (4)
- print web 2 print (4)
- variable data on demand (4)
- CMYK (3)
- Direct Mail Management (3)
- Direct Marketing (3)
- Employee Spotlight (3)
- FSC Certified (3)
- Just For Fun (3)
- Media (3)
- Web to Print (3)
- Wide Format (3)
- color (3)
- consumer packaging (3)
- indesign (3)
- variable data printing (3)
- web to print (3)
- web to print storefront (3)
- Adobe (2)
- Creative (2)
- Direct Mail Fulfillment (2)
- FSC (2)
- QR codes (2)
- Quick Response Codes (2)
- RGB (2)
- Site News (2)
- Supply Chain Marketing (2)
- data modeling (2)
- direct mail services (2)
- eco friendly printer (2)
- employee appreciation (2)
- fonts (2)
- marketing services (2)
- omnichannel (2)
- print solutions (2)
- social marketing (2)
- social media (2)
- world marketing (2)
- #1 printer in arizona (1)
- 15 years (1)
- 40 Under 40 (1)
- Adobe systems (1)
- Arizona company (1)
- BMA (1)
- Bob Anderson (1)
- Commercial Printing (1)
- Database Marketing (1)
- Digital printing (1)
- Equipment (1)
- Gingerbread Man (1)
- Google Analytics (1)
- Green Printing (1)
- HP Indigo 12000 (1)
- Holiday Box (1)
- Holiday Campaign (1)
- Impact of print (1)
- Komori (1)
- Lisa Hunter (1)
- Magazine (1)
- Marketing Services Provider (1)
- PIA (1)
- Personalized URL's (1)
- Phoenix Business Journal (1)
- Robert Anderson (1)
- SMX (1)
- The Mag (1)
- US Airways (1)
- USPS (1)
- VDP (1)
- anniversary (1)
- best printer in Phoenix (1)
- blog (1)
- budget (1)
- business acquisition az (1)
- business cards (1)
- carbon footprint (1)
- case study (1)
- catalog (1)
- catalogs (1)
- celebration (1)
- commercia printing (1)
- commercial print (1)
- commercial print terms (1)
- commercial printing dictionary (1)
- commercial printing phoenix (1)
- community (1)
- community marketing (1)
- customer engagement (1)
- customer relationships (1)
- customer service (1)
- design (1)
- design best practice (1)
- design templates (1)
- direct mail marketing services (1)
- direct mail offer (1)
- direct mail offers (1)
- eco-friendly printing (1)
- electronic prepress in AZ (1)
- enviromental (1)
- facebook (1)
- file management (1)
- folded carton (1)
- free font friday (1)
- glued carton (1)
- grand format printing (1)
- green printers (1)
- guerrilla marketing (1)
- halloween (1)
- intelligent mail barcode (1)
- internet power (1)
- kitting (1)
- largest printer in Arizona (1)
- largest printer in Phoenix (1)
- marketing 101. direct marketing (1)
- marketing case study (1)
- marketing solutions (1)
- marketing supply chain (1)
- marketing tips (1)
- marketing trends (1)
- memorial day (1)
- nomination (1)
- number one printer in Arizona (1)
- offset printing arizona (1)
- one to one marketing (1)
- online printing services (1)
- personaliztion in print (1)
- phoenix design week (1)
- postal rates (1)
- postal regulations (1)
- postal service (1)
- press installation (1)
- press release (1)
- print (1)
- print design (1)
- print partner (1)
- print strategy (1)
- prisma graphic employee spotlight (1)
- prismagraphics (1)
- pumpkin carving (1)
- pumpkin contest (1)
- pumpkin decorating (1)
- recycled paper (1)
- search marketing (1)
- small press (1)
- solutions (1)
- soy based ink (1)
- sustainability (1)
- time lapse (1)
- total fulfillment (1)
- typography (1)
- variable data (1)
- variable print data (1)
- virgin paper (1)
- w hotels (1)
- web to prin (1)