Is Four Color Process Right For Your Printing Project?
When planning a printing project, customers and printers have to make a decision about which process to use. The names of the processes are dictated by how many and which colors are involved. In the case of four color processes, the four colors are usually cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Together, they are often called CMYK colors.
If the CMYK system a good choice for your printing project? Let's take a look at some questions you can ask to determine if the four color process is an option to try.
Quality Needs
CMYK is typically considered an in-between option in terms of photographic quality. If you need a glossy look that's unmistakeably photographic, the four color process is likely not a good choice. But when good enough is good enough, it will get the job done.
When it comes to simpler graphics, especially flat vector graphics, CMYK often strikes the right balance between quality and cost. If you're looking for a cost-effective way to create a good-looking flyer that uses color graphics and text, it's likely the way to go.
Sources
If you have access to the original digital files for the raster graphics for a project, it can be a little easier to cheat some quality out of the work. Raster graphics are things that use a lot of gradients, shades, and variations in tone and hue. Your standard photo is almost always stored in a raster format.
The advantage if you have the original files, such as photos shot in RAW mode, is that you can tweak the color profile. It's not a perfect solution, but taking a raw file and moving it to your preferred CMYK color profile may allow you to preserve more of the integrity of the images.
Spot Colors
Projects that use spot color often look amazing in four color process. Spot color is a design choice where you elect to focus on one or two touches of color in an image. For example, something like the classic Banksy image of a girl reaching for a red balloon is an excellent application for CMYK.
A lot of street artists and folks trying for a street style use spot color, and studying such works will give you a good idea of what works well with the four color process. Generally, four color works best for simple designs, brochures, guerilla art, and fliers that don't emphasize photorealism.
Speak with a professional to learn more about the four color process.
