There are seven colors that affect the printing effect:
1. Color consistency. An important way to ensure color consistency is to allow customers to observe color proofs and printed proofs under standard lighting conditions and obtain their approval.
2. The effect of lighting. When we observe colors under different lighting conditions, the effects we see are also different. Another issue we need to pay attention to when observing colors is metamerism. The so-called “metamerism” means that when two printing market proofs are under a certain light source, the colors presented are the same, while under another light source, the colors presented are different. When observing colors, it is very important to keep the lighting conditions stable and consistent.
3. The influence of the surrounding environment. Will the surrounding environment affect the color when we observe the printed sample? Adjacent color, that is, the color similar to the observed sample or printed sheet, can also affect people’s perception of color.
4. Paper, subtractive color method refers to the method of mixing yellow, magenta, cyan and black inks to form colors in a white environment. In this color reproduction process, there is an element that will have a significant impact on the color’s on-machine printing effect. The same ink color may produce different printing effects on different papers. The whiter the paper, the larger the color gamut that can be reproduced on the printing press.
5. Spot colors. Each spot color corresponds to a special ink (except for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black), which needs to be printed by a separate printing unit on the printer. Whether or not a spot color can be accurately reproduced is critical to both the customer and the printing plant.
6. Convert the color to CMYK. When we convert the color of an image from RGB to CMYK, there are usually two methods to generate halftone dots of black ink, one is under-color removal (UCR), and the other is gray component replacement (GCR). Which method to choose mainly depends on the number of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black inks to be printed in the image.
7. In professional terms, the reason why we think color is difficult to describe is mainly because it is a feeling, just like smell, taste and hearing, this feeling cannot be described in words. When we have to use words to describe colors, we often use vague words such as “plain”, “turbid”, “too warm” or “too cold”.
