Top Bloggers Rights this month go to Julia, the Artwork Advice Expert.

One of her blogs, “Why Don’t My Printed Colours Match my Monitor” has been showcased on Quick Print Pro's Best Blogs In Print website.

The stats add up to Julia being awarded the print industry top blogger of the month accolade.

Julia’s Print Clinic – 
Why Don’t My Printed Colours Match my Monitor?

Julia Artwork Advice Expert – Graphic Warehouse Customer Service Team



RGB, CMYK and Better Colour in Print

I check and correct thousands of artwork files every year before they reach the Graphic Warehouse production team. One of the most common questions I hear is: “Why does the colour on my printed job look different from the colour on my screen?”

It can feel frustrating, especially when the artwork looked bright, punchy and exactly right on your monitor.

The reassuring answer is that a colour difference does not automatically mean anything has gone wrong. Screens and printers create colour in completely different ways, and the material, ink, colour profile, lighting and screen settings can all influence the result.

The aim is not to make colour complicated. It is to help you understand what to expect and know when to ask us for advice.

I am part of the Graphic Warehouse Customer Service team, and a big part of my role is checking artwork before it moves into production.

Across a year, that means looking at thousands of files containing photographs, brand colours, logos, gradients, spot colours, black backgrounds and everything in between.

“Colour issues are some of the most common questions I see. A few simple checks can make the result far more predictable.”

Julia’s Print Clinic turns the questions we answer every day into practical guides for trade printers, sign makers, commercial printers, copy shops, designers and print resellers.

Print Clinic - Screen Colour vs Printed Colour

A screen produces colour with light. A printer produces colour with ink.

Your monitor shines light directly towards your eyes. Printed material reflects the light around it. That difference means the same colour values cannot always create the same visual result.

A bright blue on a backlit screen may look less luminous when printed. A neon green may have to be mapped to a more printable green. A deep black may need a different setup depending on whether it is small text or a large background.

RGB vs CMYK



Screens create colour with red, green and blue light. Printing uses process inks.

What Is RGB?

RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. It is an additive colour model that creates colour by combining different amounts of coloured light.

RGB is used by monitors, phones, tablets, televisions, cameras and digital signage.

Because light is being emitted directly from the screen, RGB can display some very bright and luminous blues, greens, oranges and pinks.

What Is CMYK?

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key, meaning black. It is a subtractive colour model used for process printing.

The printed result is affected by the printer, inks, profile, material, surface finish and surrounding light. This is why identical CMYK values may not look identical on every material or output system.

Why Bright Colours Can Change

Many RGB colour spaces contain colours that fall outside the reproducible range of a specific CMYK print condition. These colours are often described as out of gamut.

During a managed conversion, an out of gamut colour is mapped to a colour that the output system can reproduce.

Continued here…

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