Business Cards, Postcards, Flyers, Brochures, Mailers and Online Full Color Printing by Printdirect.com

Phone Support: 1-866-515-PRINT Toll Free

Products

Material Guidelines

The two most common color schemes are CMYK and RGB. CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) is the most accurate way to print your product and is native to offset printing. CMYK is recommended for as accurate color reproduction as possible. RGB color scheme consists of three colors: Red, Green and Blue. RGB colors are associated with television screens and computer monitors, but is not used in offset printing. It is NOT recommeded using RGB images or colors when submitting files for print. When submitting RGB images and colors, the colors are converted to a four color process (CMYK) and color shifting can occur and will occur.

Color Quality

CMYK: Recommended
CMYK is made up of four colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. In full-color process printing, CMYK is the standard method for offset printing. In the printing process, CMYK colors are measured by their subtractive/ reflective values; when the colored ink is applied to paper, the surface of the paper reflects some color and the non-reflective (that is, absorbent) color is seen. CMYK colors are obtained by mixing the strengths of each color to produce a new color. The colors are mixed in percentages: 0% represents no color, whereas 100% represents a maximum use of color.

RGB: NOT Recommended
The RGB color process and the CMYK color process work in opposite ways. An RGB color scheme forms color through an additive process; to obtain white, all 3 colors are added together, and to obtain black, all 3 colors are removed. In contrast, the CMYK printing process obtains white by omitting all color, and obtains black by using all four colors. One of the major benefits of RGB color is its capacity to produce many more colors than CMYK can. Unfortunately, RGB colors cannot be correctly converted into CMYK. People often find that a color, especially a neon color, created in RGB can’t be converted correctly into CMYK but instead appears as an “out of gamut” color, which is usually dark and “muddy.” To spot these color errors, and to prevent printing nightmares, it’s imperative that all files are uploaded in CMYK format before any printing occurs.

DISCOUNTS AND EXCLUSIVE OFFERS