Ever seen an amazing image on your screen with beautiful bright vivid colors…and then you print it out and it looks dull and dark?
The method used to create colors on your screen is completely different from the way colors are created for print.
RGB is an additive method of creating color.
Your screen, whether it’s a TV, phone, tablet, or computer, uses light to create the colors you see. Typically it uses a combination of Red, Green, and Blue lights. You add those colors to each other to get the images you see on the screen. It’s called Additive because if you put all those colors together, it creates White.
Think of you and your friends each holding a flashlight. Your own beam of light is bright, but have everyone cross the beams and then it becomes super bright and white.
CMYK is a subtractive method of creating color.
In print, we use ink to create the colors. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (Key). Unlike the RGB, the more color you use, the darker it becomes and eventually creates Black. The range of color is limited, because ink is physical, the more you add the denser it becomes. The less you use (subtract), the lighter it is.
Think of that amazing finger painting your toddler gave you. So many colors! But there are those areas that look like mud, the places where all the paint colors mushed together.
Most art and design programs allow you to create files using CMYK or convert RGB into the CMYK range. The colors you choose will be within the limits of CMYK. It still might not be exactly what you’ll see when it gets printed, but it will give you a good idea.
