What You See Isn’t Always What You Get

RGB vs CMYK color

While working on a graphic design project, have you ever found that the color that prints looks different than the color on the screen? If you’ve ever come across this unhappy surprise, you can take solace in knowing that the problem doesn’t lie with your computer or your printer – the problem is actually with color itself.

The trouble starts with the fact that computer screens emit light, while paper can only reflect light. Since white light is a combination of all the colors, computer screens must add all the colors together to make white, while paper subtracts all colors to make white. A blank computer screen is black because it’s not emitting any light, and a blank piece of paper is white because there’s noting on it to stop the reflection of pure, white light.

Because of all this, computer screens display color through one spectrum, while paper uses another. The color used by computer screens is RGB, which stands for red, blue and green. By adding these three colors together in different combinations, computer screens can create any color. Paper, on the other hand is printed in CMYK color, which stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. When cyan, magenta and yellow are subtracted, paper reflects a whole spectrum of color.

The problem designers have encountered ever since desktop publishing software was invented is that the computer screen displays projects in RGB color, while the projects must be printed in CMYK. Since they’re produced in two different ways, RGB never perfectly maps to CMYK.

Also, as you can see from this color gamut chart, the RGB color gamut is larger than the CMYK one. Therefore, there are some colors that can display in RGB mode that cannot be displayed in CMYK. All CMYK colors can be produced in the RGB gamut, but not all RGB colors can be produced in the CMYK gamut.

What does this mean for me?

If you’re designing for something that is primarily going to be displayed on television or computer screens, always use your software’s RGB color setting. You’ll have a wider range of colors available to you, and what you’re seeing is basically the same thing others will see when they view your work on their screens.

However, if you’re designing for print, it will be easier to design using the CMYK setting in your graphic design program. This setting is designed to best represent what your project will look when it is printed. Keep in mind, however, that your computer screen displays color in RGB, and RGB never perfectly maps to CMYK. You’ll need to allow yourself extra time at the end of each project to adjust the color you see on your screen to create the color you want printed.

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