Simply put, CMYK is the color mode intended for printing with ink, such as business card designs and posters. RGB is the color mode intended for digital communication, such as websites and television. The more color added in CMYK mode, the darker the result.
Conclusion: CMYK Produces Superior Color in Printing
Ink on paper must use the CMYK color space to achieve the optimum results by creating an unlimited number and shades of color. CMYK will produce full, dark, rich and vibrant colors to bring your project on paper to life!
When it comes to RGB vs. CMYK, what's the difference? Both of these color modes mix colors to create different color possibilities. The main difference is what they are generally used for in design: RGB is the color mode best for digital designs and CMYK is best for printing.
CMY will be able to cover most lighter color ranges quite easily, compared to using RGB. However, while CMY by itself will not be able to create very deep dark colors or a “true black,” so black (designated “K” for “key color”) is added to CMY so a much wider range of colors can be achieved compared to just RGB.
As the range of colours available in the RGB system is larger than the CMYK system, certain RGB colours cannot be replicated under the CMYK system. Such colours are referred as “out of gamut”. As such, if you send a file in RGB mode for printing, some printers (especially commercial ones) will not accept it.
Essentially, any colors produced with RGB on the digital space will not create the same output on the physical print. This is based on the color gamut, which in other words means that translating RGB to CMYK usually allows the color to convert only as close to the original appearance of the display screen.
CMYK is a four-color process and stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), and is preferred for use on printed materials because it helps achieve a true color.
CMYK is the best method to achieve realistic looking photographs on a printed piece. It uses less process, less screen for print; it can minimize costs, and increase print productivity. Disadvantages Due to the colors being a mix of dots over dots, there is a higher chance of color variations.
CMY Subtractive Primary Colors
The subtractive primary color are cyan, magenta and yellow. Mixing these pigments together can make an even bigger and brighter range of colors than the traditional red, yellow and blue primary colors. Red, yellow, and blue cannot make nearly as many colors as cyan, magenta and yellow.
The primary disadvantage of CMYK colours is that it can create fewer colours than for example PMS and RGB, and the colours that it can print are not as specific.
Unlike a screen image the brightness of a colour is created by adding additional ink to a solid white substrate rather than changing the intensity of light shining through a pixel. This means a CMYK print can only ever be as bright as the paper it is printed on.
A lot of designers think CMYK is the way to go when designing for print. We will, of course, always use CMYK-based ink, but this does not mean you have to work with CMYK files. You can work with RGB images to perfectly optimize your print colors and save a great deal of time in the process.
CMYK's limitations are that it cannot produce colors of the same vibrancy as Pantone and can be inconsistent. Colors produced using separate printers can look different, even if printing from the same document. This is usually a 5-10% tonal difference between what is seen on screen and the final printed product.
Use CMYK for any project design that will be physically printed, not viewed on a screen. If you need to recreate your design with ink or paint, the CMYK color mode will give you more accurate results.
CMYK uses subtractive colors, not additive. Adding colors together in CMYK mode has the opposite effect on the result as RGB does; the more color added, the darker the results.
Think of it this way – CMYK deals in pigments (i.e. inks); RGB deals with light (i.e. monitors). You have to know the requirements of your medium to know which to use. If you are strictly going to be printing on paper or another substrate and color fidelity is important, you should be working in the realm of CMYK.
In comparison, good CMYK pigments are comparatively new. The CMYK pigments are semi-transparent (such as Process Cyan) or transparent (such as Process Magenta and Process Yellow) and lack the useful quality of opacity liked by artists.
The RGB color mode is most used in digital technologies because it has more color capabilities than CMYK. CMYK can only create 70% of the colors that RGB can make. On digital applications such as Photoshop, the RGB color mode allows you to get more accurate colors.
Because the RGB scheme has a greater range of colors, CMYK cannot produce brighter colors. These hues are beyond the CMYK range and will come out darker and more dull when printed than what you see on your display.
When preparing images for print, the highest quality images are desired. The ideal file format choice for print is TIFF, followed closely by PNG. With your image opened in Adobe Photoshop, go to the "File" menu and select "Save As".
The most brilliant colors achievable using CMYK are solids. First, 100% of cyan, magenta, and yellow will appear as the most colorful colors available in print.
In CMYK, blue is one of the most challenging colors to reproduce accurately. We suggest you use even and balanced mixtures, like 100-50-0-0. Otherwise, the result will be a purple or green color.
During the printing process, grey is one of the hardest colours to properly control. Using the RGB colour mode will often result in the printed version of the image looking rather pink.
RGB is used in electronic devices, like computer monitors, while printing uses CMYK.