When going to online printing companies for the first time, you may have come across certain acronyms that you do not understand. These acronyms are vital in the design process and it is best for you to know what they stand for. So wise up and learn these five most frequently asked acronyms to make your online printing experience fun and hassle free.
CMYK: Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black are the four full colors of commercial printing. These four colors when mixed to varying degrees create all the colors in commercial printing.
A follow up question about CMYK is why K is used to represent black?
K is used to represent black because black is also called as the key color. It is called such because the “black” generated by mixing Cyan, Magenta and Yellow primaries looks more like dark gray than black, so a separate color is needed. Also using black ink has these advantages:
• When reproducing text with fine details such as serifs, using three inks to produce the color black is impractical. Also, you need to align your images in an almost perfect manner so as to avoid slight blurring of the color.
• By using the combination of 100% cyan, 100% magenta, and 100% yellow you will soak your paper with ink – making you wait longer for it longer to dry.
• Using three colors to produce black is more expensive than using just single black ink.
• When you need a truly black area in your prints, the “CMY black” is added with the black ink so as to create a very deep black color commonly known as “rich black.”
RGB: Red Green and Blue
RGB is the color space that refers to the use of the three primary colors Red, Green, and Blue. The combination of these three colors is used to display images in computer monitors, scanners, and digital cameras.
It is especially important to note that commercial printing uses CMYK and that you need to make sure that your RGB files are converted to CMYK before printing. RGB files that are printed in a CMYK color space will have a very different color variation and will be substantially different from the color that you have in your design.
PMS: Pantone Matching System
PMS or Pantone Matching System is different from RGB and CMYK because it allows you to specify the exact color you want in your prints without going through the color combination process. This is very helpful when printing envelopes and letterheads, when all you need in your printing projects are 2 colors – black and another color.
Dpi: Dots per inch
The term Dots per inch refers to the number of “dots” of color information that is held in an inch. It is used to measure how high or how low an image’s resolution is. 300 dpi is the standard used by printing companies because it allows for an image to be crisp and allow the image to have a manageable file size. Any images with a higher resolution will only have a bigger file size and the improvement in quality is hardly noticeable. On the other hand, images with a lower resolution may have hazy features not suitable for print.
PDF: Portable Document Format
PDF is a free file format program that makes it convenient for you to send your files to be emailed or commercially printed. They are the preferred file format of most online printing companies since it allows them to view and print your files even if they do not have the native application where you edited or created it in.
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