Colour
Colour is now a fixture in the field of visual communication as magazine and editorial designers have taken advantage of four colour printing technology developments, Companies and homes have this capability now due to the emergence of printing technologies
Colour attracts attention of the viewer and perhaps generating an emotional response, colour can also be used by a designer to help organise the elements on a page and lead the eye from one area to another strengthening hierarchy.
Printing technologies continue to push the boundaries of colour reproduction, as developments such as six colour hexachromatic printing push the colour gamut to new dimensions
Basic Terminology
A great amount of terminology is used to describe colour and its many functions, this explores those that are used to help designers
communicate colour ideas and print.
Describing colour:
As colour is essentially different wave lengths of light, design and colour proffesionals use different. values of hue, saturation and brightness to describe it. Most importantly for designers there are two main colour models, this is displayed below RGB is used for screen and CMYK for print:
Brightness, Hue and Saturation
These terms aid a designer to specify and communicate colour information and help overcome the potentioal vagaries of computer screens and printing presses where a colour is not always what it seems accurate colour description in terms of the Hue, Saturation and brightness helps a designer and printer match the expectations of the client.
Hue:
hue or colour, re fares to the unique characteristic of a colour that helps us visually distinguish one colour from another, hues or colours are formed by different wavelengths or light.
Saturation:
Saturation or Chroma re fares the the purity of a colour and saturation levels describe a colours tendency to move towards or away from grey.
Brightness or value refers to how light or dark a colour is, changes in the brightness value can be achieved by mixing a colour with black or white:
Colour Management:
Colour management is a process that governs how colour is translated from one piece of equipment in the printing process to another. Colour management is needed to make sure accurate and predictable colour reproduction because each device responds to or produces colour differently.
Pantone and spot colours:
Designers can use spot colours to ensure that a particular colour in a design will print this may be necessary if the colour is outside of the range of gamut possibilities of the four colour CMYK printing process, or because there is a pressing need for a specific colour, for example a corporate logo. special colours have greater intensity and are much more vibrant as they print as a solid colour rather than on that is created of half tone.
Colour in Print:
before sending the design to print, a designer can use a range of methods to ensure that the colours used will appear as intended.
Getting the basics right:
when work is sent to print , it is very unlikely that there will be further opportunities to rectify mistakes for this reason, it is vital that checks are carried out on some of the most basic elements.
Preparing colour for print:
On completion, the desigher must make sure to carry out a number of pre press checks to make sure clear communication between designer and client and then printer, this is a vital element of the proces. if the client is to end up with the work that they expect,
Printed pages and panels:
Printed pages referes the the actual number of pages printed and not the number of sheets printed on, for example a booklet made from four sheets will print on every side and will have 8 printed pages once folded. the key thing is to remember that one sheet printed double sided is equal to 2 printed pages.
Colour models:
The CMYK colour model is used for print, to gain an understanding of this it is best to look at RGB this is what is used for your computer monitor, this is what all of your designs will be in on screen. These colours can only be viewed with natural or produced light such as the lighting of the screen of your computer monitor not however printed onto a page. This is where CMYK is introduced.
When two of the RGB colours are mixed equally it then produces one of the CMYK colour models these are know as subtractive primaries. Green and blue create Cyan, Red and Blue make Magenta and Red and Green makes Yellow. Key black is added to the model as it is impossible to create black from 3 subtractive primaries.
CMYK in Print
The four colour printing process uses four colour plates Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black, When these colours are combines the colours are printed as tiny dots, these fine dots are so small the image is printed crisply.
CYMK within Graphic Design:
As a Graphic Designer you have to accept the fact that viewing your digital work on screen will be in RGB colour model and the final printed digital print will be produced in CMYK. All files should be converted to CMYK before sending the design to the printer, It is important to use swatches when creating your design if perfect colour matching is vital. Swatches provide a designer and a client with printed sample of how the colour will reproduce once printed. Even though the colour on screen will not match the swatch, you will be sure of what the colour will look like. you can also gain a PROOF from the printer on the job which is an example of the printed piece this is provided for the designer before the print run.
CMYK
There are a lot of models used to measure and describe colour. The RGB colour model is based on the theory that all visable colour can be created using primary additive colours RED, GREEN and Blue. These colours are known as primary additives because when they are combines
in equal amounts they produce White.When two or three are combined other colours are produced an example of this is combining Red and green in equal amounts makes yellow. Green and Blue creates Cyan and Red and Blue creates Magenta.
As you change the amount of Red Green and Blue you are presented with new colours. Additionally, when one of these primary additive colour is not presented you get back.
RGB
RBG Colour in Graphic Design:
The RGB colour model extremely important to Graphic designers like us because it is used in computer monitors. All design on screen is made up by RGB it uses additive colour to display image and text. This means when designing for screen everything is created using the RGB colour model.
Types od RGB colour Spaces
Within the RGB colour model there are two main sRGB and AdobeRGB when working within creative software you are able to choose which colour model to work within.
Hexachrome
Spot colour
Experienced and well-rounded designers know the importance of using Spot colors. Spot colors are used to specify a certain color, ink or coating for a design project. Try to tell your favorite local printer that you want the yellow in your design to be printed in metallic gold and watch them laugh at you. Spot colors open a whole new realm of creativity and classy design. Spot colors and separations tell your printer (whether it be offset, screen print or otherwise) that everything that is a particular spot color will be a certain material/ink. The fun comes in when deciding to use a spot UV coat (a glossy area or image that covers only certain parts), metallic ink, white ink (since there is no white in CMYK, this gets tricky) or any special coating.
Spot colors are are most commonly used for color matching. You have probably heard of “PMS” colors before, but maybe you don’t know what it really entails. PMS is the most common color matching system. It stands for Pantone-color Matching System. When a color needs to look the same, no matter what it’s being printed on or who it’s being printed by, use spot colors. Hopefully you have seen the Pantone books around [insert photo]. These are color sample books and you should have a recent set if you are serious about what you do (or at least, the color of what you do). Let’s face it, you’ve sat in your room or at the school lab tweaking each of your colors till they look just the way you want them for that “big project”. But now it’s time to print them because the client your working for just gave you the go ahead. You’re not seriously going to print all of them on your home printer are you? And chances are, you’re not going to have the opportunity to hang over the presspersons shoulder and ask him to add a “bit more” of this color or “lighten” that up…so let’s learn to use spot colors.
Another important thing to remember is to use Spot colors to save money on printing. Spot colors are actual inks that are put on the press and laid on the paper. If you’re going to use a blue and black color, why use full color printing, CMYK? Not only can you specify the EXACT blue you want if you specify PMSs, but you can print on a wider range of papers and weights. And often times at a much higher line rate (oh you inkjet people will know this as “dpi” or dots per inch) at a much, much cheaper price. Know those fancy paper swatch books you’ve seen around, or some well-designed pamphlet that really caught your eye, chances are the designer took the time to strategically design it with the final product in mind. By wrapping your head around the use of Spots you can turn heads and find ways that separate your work from the masses.
Another thing to consider is that some printing processes require “spot” colors. Screen printing on shirts is just one example. There are ways to print directly on garments (called Direct-to-Garment printers that work more like an inkjet printer). Most lithographic, letterpress and flexographic printers require plates as well. In an upcoming article I’ll dip into the world of printing and explain the different processes that are used to create certain effects and print on difficult materials (like chip bags, plastic bags, thick papers, plastic, raised inks…)
Information sourced from:
http://glennmerdan.com/2009/06/30/whats-the-big-deal-rgb-pmsspot-cmyk-rgb-colors-explained/
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