“It looked brighter on my screen” is a fair comment — and there is a real reason for it. Understanding colour saves disappointment when the job lands.

RGB vs CMYK

Your screen makes colour with light — red, green and blue (RGB) — and can glow very vividly. Print makes colour with ink — cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) — which reflects light instead. CMYK simply cannot reach some of the electric blues and greens a screen can, so those colours shift a little when printed. This is normal and unavoidable.

How to get the closest match

• Design in CMYK so what you see is closer to what prints.
• Avoid 100% RGB neons for anything that must print accurately.
• Specify brand colours properly — give us the CMYK (or Pantone) values, not just “our blue”.
• Ask for a hard-copy proof on the real stock when colour is critical.

Stock changes colour too

The same ink looks different on different paper. An uncoated, natural stock soaks up ink and looks softer; a gloss-coated stock holds ink on the surface and looks punchier. If colour really matters, decide the stock early.

Colour and sharpness go hand in hand — while you are preparing artwork, use our DPI tool to make sure your images are high enough resolution to do those colours justice.