What is full colour printing?
Full colour printing is also referred to as process colour, 4 colour process or CMYK (which is short for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black). These terms all mean the same thing.
Colours have an effect on our emotions within 90 seconds of viewing; Colours can motivate, impress and persuade; Colour impression accounts for up 60% of the acceptance or rejection of a product or service.
Full colour printing uses these four ink colours, in one pass on the printing press, to reproduce literally millions of different colours and shades.
CMYK color model
The CMYK color model (process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key black. Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation.
The “K” in CMYK stands for key since in four-color printing cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed or aligned with the key of the black key plate. Some sources suggest that the “K” in CMYK comes from the last letter in "black" and was chosen because B already means blue.However, this explanation, though plausible and useful as a mnemonic, is incorrect.
The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking colors on a lighter, usually white, background. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called subtractive because inks “subtract” brightness from white. Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the three main pigments used for colour reproduction. When these three colours are combined in printing, the result should be a reasonable reproduction of the original, but it is not. Due to limitations in the ink pigments, the darker colours are dirty and muddied. To resolve this, a black separation is also created, which improves the shadow and contrast of the image and also for any black text.
Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) inks when printed separately. During litho print production, these are printed on top of one another.
| C,M,Y,K combined to create the finished image |
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Full Colour Printing is Environmentally Friendly
Full colour printing is more Environmentally Friendly than 1, 2 or 3 spot colour (Pantone) printing. The solvents used to wash up the press from one spot colour to the next are not needed when printing in full colour - reducing chemical usage by 85%
Pantone or Spot Colour Printing
It must be bought to your attention that four colour process printing is unable to exactly match a spot or Pantone colour but it can produce a fairly close match.
Pantone swatch colours are displayed in special books which not only identify the colours via their unique reference numbers, but also by include the ratio of CMYK colours need to create, as near as possible, the Pantone colour.
Full colour printed plastic card
Full Colour Plastic Cards printing is the process of printing high quality photographs or other documents in the full spectrum of color, people usually call it four color (CMYK) printing or full color printing. Full color printing has come a long way as technology continues to advance. In fact, the methods used today are so refined that it is possible to make copies that look just like the original photos.
Full color plastic cards are four color litho printed with Heidelberg machines. Unlike inkjet printers, thermal printers or color photocopiers, full color (C-M-Y-K) printing provides accurate, precised, detailed, natural, brilliant reproduction of your originals at a low cost-per-sheet. Our full color plastic card printing service has same process and quality as credit cards production, exactly like the credit cards.
We have the expertise to create the perfect plastic card. Our high quality cards are available in a variety of thicknesses and your design will be reproduced onto a finished card for proofing at no extra cost.
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