CMYK or, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black are the four standard colors for print production. These four colors make up almost the entire range of printable colors. Printing with these colors is called "process printing", "Four Color Process", or "CMYK Printing". These colors are used in our Offset and Digital print processes. Additional colors such as spot colors or Pantone Colors can be used but only for silk screening, and letterpress printing. Because CMYK is the industry standard for printing, it's best that your design files or artwork files are set up in CMYK mode
(see: Design Considerations for Letterpress and File Setup for Screen Print for more information about using Spot Colors or Pantone Colors in your project).
Print-Ready Files
When creating your designs and preparing your print-ready files, it is imperative to use the correct color mode. CMYK color mode will give you the closest representation of print output on-screen.
We accept artwork in both CMYK, Pantone and RGB color mode; however, we highly recommend supplying artwork and files in CMYK mode so you have more control over the color and can make any necessary adjustments. Files that are not supplied in CMYK color mode will be converted to CMYK colour mode using profile U.S. Sheetfed v2. Note that some color shift can occur when converting a color mode to CMYK as different software can generate different conversions, which is why it is best to supply artwork and files in the correct CMYK color mode.
RGB
Certain colors displayed in RGB cannot be produced with CMYK printing (especially bright greens and hot pinks), and black colors will not be optimized for printing if produced in RGB mode.
RGB color mode is meant for artwork and designs that will appear on screens or LCD displays. It is intended for backlit displays such as TV screens or Computer monitors.
If you are supplying design files in RGB mode we strongly recommend placing your order with Proofing Type as “Online PDF Proof”. A PDF proof will be sent to you for approval before we print, with the colors converted to CMYK color mode for you to preview.