When it comes to color the options can seem unlimited, and many of the choices we make come down to our opinion and preferences. CMYK, RGB, SWOP, sRGB, Adobe 1998 – Color Spaces can get complicated and confusing rather quickly. Today we answer a few common questions about color spaces to help you set up your design and get the best printing possible.
When dealing with color, it’s important to note that there is no one simple answer. There is no one way that will work every time in every situation. Color is a subjective experience and the results that thrill one person might have the opposite effect on someone else. When choosing a color space and the related options, you have to consider what you are designing for and what the output will be. And the key is to stay focused on the output, the final product.
That said, here are 3 questions we have heard from our customers about color spaces and general answers and guidelines to follow when preparing your file for print.
1. Should I put my file in RGB or CMYK?
In the choice between RGB and CMYK color spaces, everything comes down to output. Will your project primarily be viewed on a screen? Then you want to use RGB. Will it be printed by process printing (that is with actual cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks)? Then you most likely want to work in CMYK.
Will it be printed digitally? Well, now things get a little more interesting. Many digital printers have elaborate software that handles converting files to their own proprietary color space for printing. Often in wide format and other inkjet printers, this means they work with RGB colors very well, and you are best to leave your files in RGB.
Many digital presses (such as those we use at cutpasteandprint) can handle both types of color spaces with ease and exceptional quality. The trick though is to pick one space, and use it consistently. Having a file with CMYK graphics and RGB photos can be like a monkey wrench in the system. Or, more to the point, like a monkey in the pressroom messing up your colors.
Always keep it simple when preparing for printing and make sure everything in your document is in one color space.
2. Can’t I just convert my file to CMYK when I am ready to print?
Yes, it’s true that your software will allow you to do this, but unless you have your color settings exactly correct (i.e. supplied directly from the printer who will print your work) it’s not a great idea.
If you create a file in the RGB color space, and then convert to a CMYK color space through generic settings in your design software, then you may unnecessarily lose a lot of color information in your file. The best option is to hand off your file as is to a prepress team who can convert the file to match the color space of the machine you will print on. This ensures the least amount of unnecessary loss possible.
The reason for all this is that when you work in RGB you are using a big color space with lots of colors, and CMYK is a considerably smaller color space – there just aren’t as many colors you can make with ink as you can with light – so when you convert you lose some of the RGB colors. On top of this, each device, each screen, and each printer has its own color space. One printer’s color space could be considerably larger than another’s based on the technology and software used, so what you see one place like your own monitor might be nothing like what you see as output.
So if conversion is even needed, the general rule of thumb is to let the people who work with the output equipment everyday do the converting. They will know how to tweak things to ensure the best possible output.
3. So what is the best RGB space to use? sRGB, Adobe 1998, ProPhoto RGB?
Here again we run into a lot of variation and room for subjective opinion. We have run across a lot of opinions on this matter, and I am sure if you were to ask around to several, you would receive an equal amount of completely different opinions on the matter.
However, from a printing perspective it’s important to remember that sRGB was created for screens and the internet. It’s a fine color space to use when designing for those platforms. But in print, its gamut is rather small and can lead to more loss when converted CMYK.
We tend to think that Adobe RGB is a great space to work in when designing for print. The gamut is larger, and it was designed to mirror the CMYK color space, so there is less loss when converting.
The 2 best pieces of advice we can offer when you have questions about these things is to 1. focus on the output and how it looks to you and 2. talk with your printer and find out what they recommend and how they will help you get the colors you want. A good printer will know their equipment and know how to get you high quality color reproduction.
Of course conversations on color spaces and the best to use can run long and deep, so we welcome your comments below.
