Top Bloggers Rights this month go to PermaJet.

One of their blogs, “How to Match Your Prints to Your Screen”
has been showcased on Quick Print Pro's Best Blogs In Print website
The stats add up to PermaJet being awarded the print industry top blogger of the month accolade.




Monitor Colour vs Print Colour: 

How to Match Your Prints to Your Screen

When it comes to colour, the world of digital screens and printed media is far more complex than people realise. Whether you’re intending to show an image as a PDI (projected digital image) or a physical print, it is crucial to understand the differences between the colours you see on your monitor and the colours that appear on paper. These differences are due to the ways in which colours are created, processed, and displayed in each medium. Understanding these will help you produce prints that match what you see on screen as best as possible.

Print vs Monitor

How do colours differ on screen and in print?
The most fundamental difference between monitor colour and print colour is the colour models used by each. This brings us on to RGB vs CMYK.

Screen = RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
RGB is the colour model used by digital screens, such as computer monitors, smartphones, and TVs. RGB works by mixing different intensities of red, green, and blue light to create colours. The more light you add, the brighter and more vibrant the colour appears. In the RGB model, the colours are created by the light emitted directly from the screen. When all three colours are combined at their highest intensity (255 for each), they create pure white. When all are at zero, the result is black.

Because RGB is based on light, it can produce bright, neon-like colours, especially those in the blue-green range. This is why colours on a screen often appear more vivid and saturated than printed colours.

Print = CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
CMYK is the colour model used in printing. It works by subtracting light from the white paper using different ink colours that are mixed to produce the final colour. Unlike RGB, which adds light to create colours, CMYK removes light. When all four inks are used in equal amounts, the result is near black. When no ink is used, the result is white, the colour of the paper.

CMYK has a more limited gamut and can’t reproduce the same range of colours as RGB. While it can produce rich, deep tones like reds and greens, it struggles with certain hues, especially bright cyan or neon colours. Some colours that look great on a screen may be impossible to reproduce accurately with ink, leading to dull or off-tone prints.

RGB vs CMYK

Colour seen from a screen vs printed
One of the biggest factors influencing how you perceive colour is light. Light can either be emitted from a source point or reflected off an object.

A screen is ’emissive’ which means it generates its own light and is therefore able to produce brighter colours. In contrast, prints are viewed through ‘reflected’ light which means they rely on the surrounding light sources. Consequently, an inkjet print will ALWAYS appear darker than the image seen on screen. This is because you are comparing an overly bright ‘emissive’ light with a ‘reflective’ light. It is not possible to print light, so you should always compare your prints to your screen with this in mind.

Continued… www.bestblogsinprint.co.uk/blog/monitor-colour-vs-print-colour-