Good to know
What is the difference between RGB and CMYK?
The short answer
RGB is how a screen makes color: red, green, and blue light. CMYK is how a press makes color: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. A screen can show colors that ink cannot print, so a file built in RGB can come out duller on paper, most of all in its brightest blues, greens, and oranges.
Light and ink
A screen starts black and adds light. RGB stands for red, green, and blue, the three colors of light a screen mixes. All three at full strength make white.
Paper starts white and adds ink. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Each layer of ink takes away some of the light the paper reflects, so the more ink there is, the darker the color.
| RGB | CMYK | |
|---|---|---|
| Made with | Light | Ink |
| Stands for | Red, green, blue | Cyan, magenta, yellow, black |
| Used for | Websites, email, video, slides | Printing |
| Range of color | Wider, with very bright colors | Narrower |
Why the color shifts
The range of colors a device can make is called its gamut. A screen's gamut is larger than a press's. Glowing greens, electric blues, and hot oranges and pinks exist on a screen as pure light. Ink on paper cannot glow.
When an RGB file is printed, every color in it is converted to the nearest one ink can make. Most colors barely move. The brightest ones move the most, and they move toward duller.
Your screen adds its own twist. Screens are set brighter or warmer than one another, so the same file looks different on a phone, a laptop, and an office monitor. None of them is a promise of what will print.
What to do about it
A few habits keep the surprises small.
- Start in CMYK if you can. Some programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop, let you set a document to CMYK from the beginning, so what you see is closer to what will print. If yours doesn't, send the file as it is and say so.
- Don't judge color by your screen alone. Turning the brightness down gives a more honest preview, but it is still a preview.
- Say which colors have to be right. A logo color that must match is a job for a Pantone color, not for guesswork.
- Read the proof for what it can tell you. A proof on a screen is exact about layout and only a guide to color.
When RGB is the right choice
Anything that stays on a screen: your website, email, social posts, and slides. There, RGB is correct and CMYK would look flat.
That is why a complete set of logo files has both: an RGB version for screens, and a CMYK or Pantone version for print.
Questions
More about RGB and CMYK
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EXCELLENT4.9 from 58 Google reviews, rated 4.9 out of 5. Opens our Google Business profile in a new tabWhy does my printed piece look darker or duller than it did on my screen?
A screen is lit from behind and paper is not. On top of that, a screen can show colors ink can't make, so the brightest ones are swapped for the nearest printable color.
Do I have to convert my file to CMYK before I send it?
Not always. Color is converted on its way to the press, and many files arrive in RGB. Converting it yourself lets you see the change first and adjust any color you don't like. If you're not sure, send what you have and ask.
What does the K in CMYK stand for?
Key. It is the black plate, the one the other colors were traditionally lined up to. Using K also keeps black from being confused with blue.
Is CMYK the same as full color or four-color process?
Yes. Full color, four-color process, and CMYK all mean the same thing: building every color out of dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
Can CMYK match my brand color exactly?
Often closely, and not always exactly. Some colors, bright oranges and deep blues among them, sit outside what four inks can mix. When a color has to match, it is printed as its own premixed ink, called a spot color.
Pantone (PMS) colors explainedIs a HEX color RGB or CMYK?
RGB. A HEX code such as #C1531B is a way of writing an RGB color for a website. It means nothing to a press until it is converted.
Also worth a look
Worried about a color?
Send the file and tell us which color has to be right. You'll see a proof before anything prints.