When designing for print and web, often times you are tasked with switching between the two, or designing elements that cross over into both mediums. It is important to keep your color space in mind, as it can have some unforeseen negative consequences that can cost money, and more importantly, time. I am going to outline 3 ways that different color spaces can affect your files, and recommend some tips to setup your files so that you can avoid any pitfalls.
- Print vs. Web: Simply put, when designing for print, use CMYK; when designing for web, use RGB. While this is a broad, general statement, you will (almost) always be sticking to this rule. While there are a couple other color spaces (LAB, HSV, and Mono) which will be used at times. Printers use ink which uses the 4 colors, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (represented by “K”, so not to be confused with “blue”). While computer monitors and other screens use lights, combining Red, Green, and Blue. Always be aware when setting up your document that the color space you’ve chosen, matches the media it will be displayed on.
- Set your color space right away! When you open a document, you should have the initial option of choosing your color space; do this now! While you can always go back and edit your color spaces, at least with Adobe programs, you don’t want to get half way through your document and then realize you have the wrong color space. Not only will your colors display slightly differently based on your selection, but the slight change of color when you switch over to the correct color space, may cause you to have to rethink your entire design. For instance, computer monitors (RGB) have a larger color gamut than their CMYK counterpart (millions more!). The colors also mix differently, and if you have any areas that have purposely overlapping colors, they are going to display differently based upon your color space selection. If you can manage to set up your document before your start designing, you won’t have to worry about colors shifting on you later in the project.
- Don’t be Afraid of Spot Colors! Often times you will have a color that is bright and vivid on screen, looks great on your website and email campaigns, but is terribly dull or washed on when you print it. This can often be a limitation of the CMYK process itself, as even modern printers have trouble reproducing very vivid colors, yellows, greens especially. If you find yourself running into an issue where your designs just aren’t popping off the page like they do off the screen, you need to consider shifting your design to a spot color or two. While spot colors can increase the cost per piece, it’s also guaranteed to be accurate to the representation in the Spot Color Book (which if you don’t have one, is a must-have for any designer’s tool-belt). It’s important to discuss this potential change with your client first, and the changes may not be apparent when looking on-screen, but I would recommend taking a printed piece using process colors, and comparing it to the piece utilizing the spot color(s) and the difference should be glaringly obvious. Not only that, but you won’t have to worry about printer calibration, using different printers, different files; the color will always be true to that color, since spot colors use specifically blended ink that is only created to be that exact hue. So, be bold with your color selection, and don’t shy away from bright, vivid ones as they will be reproducible, for a small cost increase.
Color spaces are one of the most basic things that designers must be able to properly identify, and utilize to help make the final product as accurate as possible. While it’s easy to overlook and dive straight into your design, take a minute and setup your file to help avoid any missteps down the road.