Color Separations

These are some of the most common errors that are found in submitted files. Please refer to the help center for your application to read guidelines that will help you avoid these most common errors.

RGB Color
RGB (red, green, blue) must be converted to CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) prior to printing. Be aware that the CMYK color conversion may not preserve the colors from RGB exactly as you expect.

Pantone Colors
We run all jobs as CMYK or grayscale. Pantone colors are considered "spot color" and not CMYK Process. Please convert all Pantone colors in your design or layout to its CMYK process color equivalent. For the most accurate conversions, Pantone sells conversion guides for spot color to process.

CMYK versus RGB
The color mode of your image is very important. All color elements of your design should be set for CMYK color space. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (K). This means that all colors are created by varying percentages of each of those 4 process colors. For press, we can only accept color elements that are CMYK (for black and white elements, use Grayscale or Bitmap which only use black (K of CMYK).

RGB is a color space used for non-press uses such as images displayed on a computer monitor, television, etc. RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. If your image is RGB, like all images that come from your scanner or digital camera, you will need to convert the file to CMYK. This process will not preserve the RGB colors perfectly, but it is the only way to make the image suitable for press. This also applies to all non-image elements in your design. Make sure all items in your design, like graphic elements or type, are set for CMYK.

The above example of converting from RGB to CMYK is from Photoshop. Every application we accept uses a color palette that allows for a CMYK color space. DO NOT use "Indexed Color," "Duotone," or RGB color spaces.

CMYK is also called 4-color Process. Colors in CMYK images are composed of varying amounts of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. This is the way a printing press prints color, so it is vital that your image be in this color mode, or, grayscale/bitmap (which only use Black). The image below shows a CMYK image and the same image "separated" into its 4-color components as an illustration.

If you have questions or need assistance please call 727/823-1162.

Visit http://www.pantone.com/ for more information.

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