Full Color Printing: Managing Colors for Beautiful Prints

Full color printing can give you vivid, photograph quality prints in a wide gamut of colors. But sometimes you may find that the colors of the printed material differ from the colors in your computer screen.

Color discrepancy is common among a large part of printing jobs. When you want to get the best of the printing experience, you have to remember one important thing: What you see may never be what you can actually get. This is not to say, however, that prints are produced haphazardly, nor are they printed in a substandard manner.

It is simply that 100% color accuracy is impossible. There is a difference between how your eyes see colors, to how the camera or scanning devices capture colors, and as to how the computer screen emits the colors. Added to this, there is also a discrepancy as to how accurate the files are printed since image capturing devices and printers are different media.

You can still expect your prints to come out closest as possible to your file. Color accuracy is not without its own merits. With this in mind, here are some suggestions on how you can achieve optimum color prints:

1. The standard CMYK (full color printing) will not print fluorescent colors. If you intend to have these fluorescents printed, you can special order this ink from a third party provider or the printing company can do just that for you. It is more expensive though as it will be mixed precisely to your specification.

2. Color Integrity. The most accurate way printers determine colors are through color matching systems where each color, each hue are catalogued. Through this, you can specifically instruct or order a special ink for your print job without confusing your printer. A baby blue color can still come in a variety, and so it is better for you to specify the color you need for your print when instructing a printing company of your demands.

3. Prints made by such presses are only printed in CMYK. Do not stubbornly print in RGB because you open yourself to a variable number of risks. Colors may change significantly, the RGB files once converted to CMYK may obtain colors that are not in harmony, and certain contrast may be lost. Bright colors will appear dull, toned down and even dark in the absence of a CMYK file.

4. The choice of paper material will affect the printed colors. The CMYK inks are semi-transparent and create a gamut of colors when layered together on paper. In full color printing, they use bright white paper semi-gloss paper to bring out the color of the print.

5. When printing with matte finish, the paper absorbs more ink and has deeper and more subdued colors. UV-coated paper on the other hand reflects more light with its strikingly glossy finish thus improving on the vibrancy of the print.

6. Colored paper on the other hand may affect the colors in a variety of ways. Black paper for example will mute out almost all colors at it hardly reflects any light. An off-white paper on the other hand may still reflect the colors but with a slightly yellow tinge.

In most cases, prints from full color printing come out beautiful and vibrant. Find a printing company that will work best with your needs and will help you find the correct specifications to bring out the best colors.