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Tips for Graphic Design

Color Matching

Both clients and designers have asked our opinion about the color matching software that are available. These calibration programs help you get near-consistent display of Pantone colors on monitors, color matching between monitors and desktop printers, and Pantone color matching on websites.

Those are fantastic aids. But keep this in mind: software and monitors, as far as we know, can't compensate for all the variables of ink and paper. What you see on a Mac screen is not necessarily what is seen on a PC screen. And colors on any monitor and on digital prints may be different than what printing inks produce. (Also see CMYK Color Tips.)

Like house paint, printing inks are mixed to achieve all the colors we want. There can be color shifts from batch to batch, and ink manufacturer. Two coats won't look the same as one coat. Ink on green paper will result in a different color on white paper. The same goes for printing one color over another (like in process printing). And so on; there are a lot of other variables. Because much of our work is for print, just as all print designers do, we rely on color proofs and press checks rather than on RGB displays.

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