Yesterday I saw red, but now I’m blue

Colour Matching

I’ve never satisfactorily solved the colour matching problem while working on the print jobs I do every few months or so. A few years back I wrote up some colour tips I’ve learned, but it doesn’t exactly mean I’ve gotten any better at it in the mean time.

Browsing through the local specialty art book store the other day, I came across the Process Color Manual, a colour guide for CMYK that nicely fills a gap in my collection.

[via Dave Shea's mezzoblue]

Lots of web designers find working in print a headache, and it’s delightful to learn that the great Dave Shea is no exception. The problem is that if you handle RGB monitor colours all day long you’re liable to think you know about the subject - until you try creating printwork. And often the tools we’re used to, which are great for on-screen design, prove very poor for managing CMYK colours effectively.

The reasons why are quite technical, but for most purposes this can be treated as a practical problem which Mr Shea has done a great job of explaining in an earlier article. Because none of the colours involved are pure, or to a universal standard, the results of combining them are not absolutely determined. Factor in the vagaries of human colour vision, and it’s no wonder most of us are confused.

I’m currently engaged in a design which is largely grayscale. If I have to transfer that one to print, I’ll be laughing, so maybe there’s the answer: back to monochrome!