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Whenever submitting a digital file to ANY printer, it is important to be working in the proper color mode or color space. Most design or layout software gives you the option of working in RGB or CMYK.

RGB, which stands for Red, Green, Blue, is the primary colors of light. Digital cameras and scanners typically produce RGB files. This can be an important detail for many fine artists and photographers to remember since color can be a major issue. Computer monitors also display in RGB so please DO NOT gauge how your colors will look by what you see on

A printing press however, uses a different color space. This is referred to as CMYK, or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. It can also be known as 4 color process. A continuous tone is created by combining different values of these 4 colors.

It is VERY IMPORTANT to convert EVERY RGB file to CMYK. Unfortunately, in this process, some RGB colors may appear to convert to a 'washed out' or dull CMYK color. The following diagram shows a good example of what could happen with a few color conversions while working in a VECTOR or layout based program such as Illustrator, InDesign, Quark, Corel Draw or Freehand:

If you are using a pixel image edited in a program such as Photoshop or Corel Photopaint, a conversion from RGB to CMYK will not have such a drastic difference on-screen. Most images or photos that are very vivid will only show a slight difference, but in the end, would make a huge difference when printed. On the press, an RGB image would be very washed out, whereas, the CMYK would print very true. The following example shows the difference between an on-screen display of an RGB image, and that same file when its printed on press. If converted to CMYK you will notice a slight color shift on-screen, but the end result will print so much better than a dull RGB file:

The above material and images illustrate some of the most common color mistakes that our clients can make. Please work in CMYK throughout your file to ensure proper color. You can always alter the values on vector objects or increase color saturation on an image to get the closest match.

Another common problem can be the color BLUE. When selecting a blue swatch or making up the values for a blue, people tend to add too much magenta into the file. Although the color may be to your liking on-screen, the end result usually looks PURPLE. Please see the illustration below for proper color values when making up your blue colors:

One last piece of color advice that we can give you is to convert EVERY spot/PMS color that is used in your document to CMYK/4 color process. This will eliminate most transparency or layer issues when passing through our RIP (Raster Image Processor) device. In most of these programs, you can navigate to the Window: Color menu and either delete the swatch or right/control click on the swatch and choose Convert to Process. You can also consult with the file preparation section on our website for more details.