Important notes on color (CMYK, PMS, RGB, etc.)

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In order for us to print in "full color" the graphics need to be in CMYK process color at the proper resolution.

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Please don't be upset when we tell you your graphics won't print well because they were designed in RGB colors that don't convert well to CMYK, or because your images have too low of resolution because they came from a website or were made solely for online viewing.

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If you are using a Pantone swatch book to choose your color, please realize that PMS swatch books are split between how a PMS color will look on an uncoated paper and a coated paper. Hence the "U" or the "C" after the PMS number. As "U" colors are not always the same as "C" colors, PMS colors are not always the same as CMYK colors. It also holds true to CMYK printed on an uncoated paper versus a coated paper. Many other factors affect how the colors will look on a finished printed piece. These variables are found at the beginning section of the Pantone Process Color System Guide book.

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You must realize that the colors on your screen may or may not match those on the printed cards. If you are highly critical of the accuracy of your colors you must refer to a Pantone Process Color System Guide book when applying colors in your programs. From this book, which is a swatch book of 3,000 process color variations, you can find the color you want with its corresponding CMYK percentages. These CMYK percentages must then be entered in to your program and applied to the art. If you have a PMS number in mind that you are trying to match, some programs, like Photoshop, will help to determine the CMYK percentages that will most closely match the PMS number. If you are using a Pantone process color swatch book, please read the front pages' cautions and variables. Even though you have the numbers plugged into the program, and the film is output correctly with the proper CMYK percentages, there are many factor which affect the final printed color.

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RGB, PMS spot colors, and indexed colors must all be converted to CMYK. Some do not convert well at all.

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Not all RGB or PMS spot colors will covert exactly, because the color spectrum of 4-color process printing (CMYK) is different than that of the RGB and PMS spot colors. Below is a graphical representation of the different spectrums. The "web" looking spectrum is the process spectrum, the "triangle" represents the RGB spectrum, and the rest is the visual spectrum that our eyes can see in nature. PMS spot colors also have their own unique shape inside the visual spectrum. What this all means is starting with a color in one spectrum and trying to move it to a different spectrum does not always work.