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7 Tips for Colour Management

Speedinprint.com know that opinions can and will vary greatly when it comes to getting the colour in your artwork and images right at end stage printing.

There are many reasons to ensure colours are uniform and exact with increasing public brand awareness and the evolution of ‘brand guardians’ in the workplace.  And, who really wants inconsistency in colour across your marketing literature?  Not us and we’re sure you don’t either…..

So let us help you to get it right at the beginning so that we get it right at the end.  We’ve come up with some handy hints and tips for colour management to ensure everyone’s reading from the same page so to speak!

1)      It’s useful for you to know that all computer screens are calibrated differently and what may appear as ‘red’ for instance on your screen won’t necessarily be the same ‘red’ on mine.  If your monitor doesn’t display accurate colour, it is hard to get your printer to reproduce your artwork exactly. This can be helped by the use of a piece of software called a calibrator or profiling kit.  Depending on how important colour is to you and your business, these can be used as little or as often as you like. 

2)      Use a known and proven design software package.  Indesign or Quark will give you the correct breakdown for your colours.

3)      Don’t judge colours on screen.  A computer monitor works on what is called the three colour process or RGB (red, green, blue) but printing specialists like Speedinprint.com  print using the four colour process or CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black).   This invariably leads to a slight difference in colour.  Pop quiz...  Do we all see colour in the same way?

4)      Always check the colours you want against a Pantone^® guide.  These can be expensive and should be updated regularly in line with any changes by Pantone, however, a printer worth their salt should always have the range available for reference and to help you come to the same conclusion about the colour you want to achieve.  It’s worth noting that Pantone offer coated (C) and uncoated (U) versions of their colours which refer to type of paper you will eventually print on.  For instance headed paper is generally an uncoated, slightly rough paper.  Printed brochures and folders on the other hand are usually printed on smooth coated paper or card. 

5)      If you are very concerned about a particular colour in your printing and the CMYK breakdown of the Pantone colour isn’t cutting it for you, you can ask for an additional ‘special colour’.  This is called spot printing and will slightly increase the cost of your job as a Pantone ink is used rather than the mixing process of CMYK.  The two processes can also be used in conjunction with each other on the same job.  Six colour printing is not unheard of if needs be.

6)      We’ve mentioned that paper quality can make a difference to your colour but it should be noted that the finishing process may also.  Laminates have become popular especially in folder printing and where gloss lamination will make your colour more vibrant and bright, matt lamination will do the exact opposite by ‘dulling’ the colour down.

7)      Printing on uncoated paper will also dull the colour down as it absorbs much of the ink.  Coated stock has a natural shine and will therefore keep the ink bright.

So there you go: a heady journey into the world of colour management and printing with Speedinprint.com.  It’s not exactly rocket science, but it helps to understand the basics.  Finally, don’t worry of you can’t find a Pantone Formula Guide.  Simply send us an example of a previous piece of work that you’re happy with or tell us what Pantone colour reference to match it to, but please, don’t ask us to match what’s on your screen, it really is impossible! 

Let us know when we can help with your folder and brochure printing or log on to Speedinprint.com.  Alternatively you can call our team on 0845 018 0505.