RGB aint CMYK

It's been another busy week at IP, but we have now finally got the time to add another exciting installment to our blog!
It occurred to me the other day, how confusing colour can be! Then I came across a fantastic article that explains RGB and CMYK extremely well. So if you were ever confused about what the printer is talking about when he is huffing and puffing that you have got your artwork in RGB, not CMYK, or you don't actually quite understand what the different processes are all about, then read on!

Colour is colour, right? Wrong! Depending on your application and use, there are two main colour referencing formats you will come across: RGB and CMYK. These two colour formats are for completely different uses, but the result of the two formats is the same to our eyes.

How do you know when each is being used? How does this influence your colour printing projects? These issues and others are the point of this discussion as we delve into the finer points of colour printing.

RGB: the primary colours of light
RGB is an acronym for Red, Green and Blue: the primary colours of light. When your computer monitor or television screen reproduces images, the three primary colours are mixed together in varying shades and strengths. The important distinction here is that light, rather than ink, is used to reproduce an image. Just because a picture looks one way on a monitor or television screen does not mean that it will be reproduced accurately on paper.

CMYK: the primary colours of ink
CMYK is an acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black: the primary colours of ink. When your printer reproduces images, the four primary colours of ink are mixed together in varying shades and strengths.

You are probably noticing the pattern about now, in that RGB and CMYK do the same thing but in different ways. What you have to understand is that RGB references light and CMYK is ink.

What all of this means.
You cannot print in RGB and you cannot view pictures on a monitor in CMYK. So, to answer our first question of how to know when you are using which colour format, monitors display in RGB and printers display in CMYK.

A conversion process has to take place to go from viewing pictures on a monitor to view the same pictures in print. What's more, the conversion is not always perfect or accurate. In response to the question about how this impacts colour printing: there may be differences between what you see on the monitor and what you get back from the print shop. You can compensate for this by calibrating your monitor and through printing proofs to make sure your work is translating properly.

RGB and CMYK are fundamentally different. RGB is how monitors display light. CMYK is how printers reproduce images in ink. You can make sure your colour printing turns out as expected by using a calibrated monitor and by printing proofs to check for any colour variations.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kaye_Marks

Keep creative,

James

Getting Animated!

Firstly, my apologies for not uploading a blog entry last week. Sometimes work just gets too much! But this week we are back with an extra pep in our step as the new intro for our website is up and running! Therefore, as the title might suggest, our blog this week is about the wonderful world of animation!

As technology expands and becomes far more accessible, the possibilities for using alternative ways to capture people’s attention become greater than ever before. If you are sitting at your computer reading this blog and wondering how you can dramatically direct more traffic to your website and capture a greater audience for your advertisements, then animation could be the key.
There are so many fun, quick and "to the point" animations out there that often we lose site of how effective it is - it's almost subliminal!

I will be concentrating mainly on the ways in which to captivate your web market.
Firstly, and most importantly, keep it short! If you haven't grabbed the attention of your target audience within the first 8-10 seconds, you never will!

Make it rememberable! The key to a successful animation is to get your audience talking about it... "Have you seen...?", "Look at this cool site..." etc. This works as viral marketing, it keeps people talking and reflects creativity and forward thinking.

Establish one message or key point. Don't over-complicate things. As soon as you try and cram all your ideas into one, you confuse your audience and lose their attention; you will create a greater impact with simplicity!

Always have an "opt out" option, let people skip the intro; sometimes people just can't wait, even for 8 seconds! You don't want to annoy your customers and turn away potential clients.

If you stick to these key points, you will be successful in guiding more people to your site, through the strongest form of advertising - word of mouth!

Here is a preview of the intro of our web site.
Go to imprentapronto.com to see it in all its glory!



The animation shows the blast of creativity that comes from IP. We used the printing colours CMYK to reflect our printing and design services.
The ink is made through a system of particles combined with a ‘blob mesh’ which makes the particles turn into ‘drops’ which, when they detect the others closest to them, join together as regards volume, imitating more or less the way mercury behaves.

Imprenta Pronto would like to give special thanks to Gabriel Martinez Rodriguez for his exceptional work!

Don't forget your Solutions for Success™

and keep creative!

James