CMYK vs RGB for print

CMYK vs RGB comes down to light versus ink: screens make colour by mixing red, green and blue light (RGB), while printing lays down cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink (CMYK). Print cannot reach some of the brightest colours a screen can show, so RGB files are converted to CMYK and very bright greens, blues and oranges can come out slightly duller. Supply CMYK where you can, give us Pantone references for brand colours, and expect small differences between a screen and the finished print.

CMYK vs RGB: why they differ #

A screen starts black and adds light. Turn red, green and blue up fully and you get white, and because the light shines straight at you, colours can look very vivid. Paper and vinyl start white and ink takes light away. Cyan, magenta and yellow mixed together make a dark brown rather than a true black, so a fourth black ink (the K) is added for depth and for crisp text.

The range of colours each system can make is called its gamut. The RGB gamut of a typical screen is wider in the bright, saturated colours, so some screen colours simply have no exact ink equivalent. When a file is converted from RGB to CMYK, those colours are moved to the nearest printable match. The International Color Consortium, which maintains the colour profile standard that design programs use for this, explains the principle at color.org.

Which colours change most #

In practice, CMYK vs RGB matters most for a handful of colour families. As a guide:

Colour on screen	What to expect in print
Bright, “neon” greens	Often the biggest shift: they print a little flatter and less glowing
Electric or bright sky blues	Come out slightly deeper or duller
Vivid orange	Can lose some punch and lean a little brown or red
Bright purples and violets	Can print slightly greyer
Dark blues, deep reds, greys, skin tones	Usually close to the screen

If a design depends on one bright colour, for example a lime green van livery on a banner, convert it to CMYK yourself before you send it. You then see the change on screen and can adjust the colour, rather than being surprised by the print.

Setting CMYK vs RGB in your design program #

• Adobe Illustrator and InDesign: choose CMYK as the document colour mode when you create the file, and use CMYK swatches.
• Affinity Designer and Publisher: choose a CMYK colour format in the document setup.
• Canva: some plans offer a CMYK option when you download a print PDF. If yours does not, RGB is fine and we convert it.
• Word and PowerPoint: work in RGB only. Export a PDF as normal and it is converted for print.

Our online designer also produces its print files in RGB, and they are converted for print in the same way, so choose colours with the table above in mind. For the other export settings, see our guide to a print-ready PDF.

Brand colours and Pantone references #

If you have an exact brand colour, give us its Pantone reference with your order or in your file. We will match it as closely as the material allows. Full-colour printing builds every colour from the four CMYK inks, so a Pantone shade is recreated from that mix rather than printed as a separate special ink. Many shades come very close; some bright and fluorescent Pantone colours sit outside what four inks can make, and those will be the nearest printable match.

If you only have hex or RGB values from your website, send those too. They give us a starting point, but a Pantone or CMYK value is more reliable for print.

Rich black and plain black #

Black ink on its own (often written K100) is right for text, thin lines and small type, because it prints from one ink and stays sharp. On a large solid black area, such as a black banner background, black ink alone can look a little flat. A “rich black” adds some cyan, magenta and yellow underneath for a deeper finish; a commonly used mix is C60 M40 Y40 K100. Use rich black only for big areas, never for small text, where four inks can make the edges look fuzzy.

The material changes the colour too #

The same CMYK file looks different on different materials, and that is part of the CMYK vs RGB conversation that screens cannot show you:

• PVC banners such as our 440gsm PVC banners give strong, solid colour.
• Mesh banners are made of an open weave with holes that let the wind through. On our 260gsm mesh banners the holes let background show through, so colours look softer up close; from a distance they read well. Our guide to PVC or mesh banners compares them.
• Gloss and silk paper, such as the 130gsm and 170gsm options on flyers, hold ink on the surface, so colours look brighter.
• Smooth white uncoated paper, the kind used for letterheads so they are easy to write on, absorbs more ink, so colours look a little duller and softer.

If you are ordering matching items on different materials, expect them to be close rather than identical. Our paper weight guide covers the paper options in more detail.

Screen versus print is normal #

Every screen shows colour a little differently, depending on its brightness, settings and age, and a phone in daylight looks nothing like a laptop in a dark room. That is why our returns page says that small colour differences between a screen and printed material are normal and are not a fault. What we do promise is to print your file or approved design faithfully. When you understand CMYK vs RGB, and supply CMYK and Pantone references where colour matters, the finished print will look the way you expect. The full list of file requirements is on our artwork guidelines page.