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Question: How do artists and graphic designers ensures that the colour they specify in design is reproduced in print!?
I know its specific, but i really need to know!. who ever gives me the best answer, will get the 10 points!. Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
full color in paper print is either comprised of a four-color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) process color, a three-color RGB (red, green, blue) process color (i don't really think anyone uses rgb for print, tho), or of a single spot color (a pantone color, for e!.g!.), which has a specific ink for each tone!.

the CMYK builds consist of standardized cyan (blue), magenta, yellow and black inks (or powders like in your photocopier)!. those four colors are uniformly consistent, so you will always get the same cyan no matter where you go!. together, and in different portions, they can make just about any color you can imagine!.

usually you can assure you're getting the color you want when you specify what you want!. for example, if i want a simple CMYK red, i'd ask for 100 magenta and 100 yellow (aka: 100M/100Y), which is a mix of 100% magenta ink and 100% yellow ink!. if i want it to be a medium black, i'd specify 50K, or 50% black ink!. pantone colors are assigned numbers which you can find on a pantone swatch ring or book!. we use red #184 a lot where i work, which is 100% red #184 ink!. you can also use percentages of a pantone color, e!.g!. red #184 at 50% is a pink color, but only if you are limiting the printing of a piece to just one color!. spot color jobs are charged by how many inks are used, so if you need/want to use more than two or three colors, CMYK is the way to go!.

sometimes there is a bit of a flux on how something prints due to a variety of factors: the color of the paper it's printed on, the weight of the paper (lighter weight paper shows the color printed on the other side called bleed-thru) how heavy the ink was being applied at the time, etc!. so if you want something to match exactly, have a swatch (a sample with the color exactly as you want it to appear) and adjustments can be made to match that swatch!. that's what a person on a press-check is doing; he's watching to see how the stuff looks coming off the press and advises the printer to make adjustments until everything comes out looking like he wants it to!.

not sure if this is too rambling or not to help!.

this website might help explain it better:
http://www!.worqx!.com/color/color_systems!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It is called the "artist's proof," and proofs are run until the artist is satisfied that the colors are faithfully reproduced in the print!. I work with a photographer and printer who does nothing but fine art prints here in Seattle, and the entire system has been thoroughly explained to me as a customer!. I have seen them work, their equipment, and the impressively huge prints they made a couple years ago for a German photographer's show in, I believe, Berlin!.

I actually own a couple artist's proofs from local artists too!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

Another is to do certain kinds of designs entirely in the Pantone Matching System of colors!. This works great where there are large areas of flat colors, or specific gradations!.

The artist, merely, specifies which PMS color is used in a particular space by number!. The printer then refers to his matching Pantone color chart and selects that same color by the corressponding number!.Www@QuestionHome@Com