When it comes to printing, clients ask us, “What printing process is best?” We tell them there are multiple factors to consider when printing any piece professionally.
The diagram to the left shows the choices that must be made when printing any collateral piece professionally.
DIGITAL OR OFFSET
The first choice is based on quantity. As a general rule, if there are less than 1000 sheets (8.5×11, color) being printed (or equivalent), digital is the more affordable choice. Otherwise, offset printing can often be more cost effective.
Because offset printers are set up with 4 – 6 big ink tanks, each with its own plate for the print job, it is possible to use different colors than the standard Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) that digital (and home/office) printers usually have available.
An extensive library of color-mixing recipes has been developed by Pantone—designers and printers have swatch books so that we can match these special colors on press to what we were expecting. It is also possible to print with CMYK and a Pantone color (or two or three) in one print job. So you can chose CMYK, Pantone, or a combination of the two. Obviously, if you select CMYK and a Pantone, you have a 5-color print job, and you should set your expectations for pricing accordingly. There may be physical limitations to how many colors you can use, depending on the size of the press.
Lastly, while Pantone has already developed a vast library of color recipes that are standardized, it is possible to develop a custom recipe for a color that falls between their specified presets. Many companies do this, such as Clinique and the Home Depot, whose brands are very reliant on their specific colors. This presents some challenges, however, because often it is difficult to match the special brand color in digital runs, and many brands need both small and large quantity prints for different pieces of collateral.
CMYK
If you have decided to print your job CMYK on an offset (or digital) press it is important that you set up your document with that in mind. All images should be converted to CMYK (many stock photos and the default settings for Illustrator and Photoshop start as RGB). This may cause some color shifting—hopefully not much—that you can usually fix easily. The difference is more obvious on screen than it will be in print. Because the RGB system uses light instead of ink to create its colors, it has a wider gamut, or range, of colors. I notice these most in the brightest blues and reds. A conversion to CMYK may cause these colors to look a little “muddier” and you can brighten or saturate them if you like.
Color in a photo can be pretty subjective and you can make adjustments to affect the mood of your piece. Just be sure to have this in mind as you work with all the images in the publication. For example, you could have a “blue” toned image expressing coldness or sadness in one place, and a “yellow” toned image in another place that implies either sickness (on the green end) or warmth (on the red end). It’s not necessarily wrong to have these in the same pub, but you do want to make sure you are aware of the effect the color management is having. If you’re not trying to do anything mood-wise, you should make sure that your photos are all pretty standardized in their color space. One thing to keep an eye on is skin tones. Obviously, people come in different colors, but within reason, they should all look like they were photographed in the same environment. It’s easiest to tell this with all your people pictures open in Photoshop—you’ll see which faces are extra pink, and which look seasick.
PANTONE
If your job is printing spot colors (Pantone), you have to think about color management in a whole different way, but some of the same principles still apply. Likely, a lot of your imagery will be vector, in which case you just need to make sure your Illustrator files are using the Pantones you expect. If you do have photos, they may need to be monotone, or you may have the option to do a duotone or tritone. This depends on the colors you are using and the effect you’re going for. If you’re doing a Halloween publication, for example, it might be appropriate to use a bright orange and black as a duotone. If you’re not, however, this might be a less than attractive effect! Duotones can work to nice effect with a metallic Pantone too.
With a duotone or tritone, you’re not off the hook with color balance. When you set up this type of file in Photoshop, it will give you the option to adjust the curve of the color density. If you want most of the shadows to print with your black, and most of the lights to print in blue, you can set that up here. If you set up your shadows to be printed in a lighter color than your highlights, you might be sorry. Or you might be really, really innovative. Skin tones can still be very touchy in a monotone or duotone. You need to make sure that your people don’t look like they spent last night in a tanning bed (too dark) or were wearing white paint on their faces (too light). It’s a delicate balance, because obviously there aren’t as many colors between the light and the dark as there would be in a full-color photo. But when done well, this can be a really classy treatment—and often has the benefit of being cheaper than 4 color process.
Lastly, while Pantone has already developed a vast library of spot color recipes that are standardized, it is possible to develop a custom recipe for a color that falls between their specified presets. Many companies do this, such as Clinique and the Home Depot, whose brands are very reliant on their specific colors. This presents some challenges, however, because often it is difficult to match the special brand color in digital runs, and many brands need both small and large quantity prints for different pieces of collateral.