COLOR MATCHING: The Know How

November 17, 2017

Color matching can be very tricky in the digital print world, luckily there are a couple of things we can do to help the process out a little.

First of all, it is important to know that your computer screen and prints are made up of two different color models. We have RGB – an additive color model in which red, green and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors – and CMYK – a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. RGB is the colors being created through light and CMYK is the colors bring created through the 4 colors of ink Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. With that being said, it is very unlikely that you will ever be able to match your computer screen color exactly through print.

There are plenty of factors that play into color matching on a digital press:

• Different Substrate
• Different Press
• Different Ink

In order to produce the most color accurate print, we recommend that you use the Pantone Matching System (PMS). The Pantone Matching System is largely a standardized color reproduction system that allows different manufacturers, printers and fabricators to create the same color using the color matching system.

It is great because PMS 186 is the same color in every PMS book, allowing a color match every time.