RGB vs. CMYK
It’s time to get a little technical.
Right now, the acronyms RGB and CMYK may mean nothing to you, but if you’re getting a new brand, it’s a good idea to know the difference.
In short, RGB is a digital colour space, while CMYK (and PMS) are used for print applications.
What is RGB?
RBG is a three-colour mixing method, composed of red, green and blue. Starting as a black base, the red, green and blues are added on top to brighten the pigment, creating your selected colour.
If you’re creating a document or design to be seen on a screen – whether it’s on social media, your website or an app design – RGB is the way to go. But, RGB is a device-dependent colour space, meaning different devices may display the RGB values differently.
It’s important to note, the RGB colour space has a lot more colour options than CMYK – so if you end up printing a RGB file, it will likely look darker or less vibrant on paper.
What is CMYK?
CMYK is a four-colour mixing method, made up of cyan, magenta, yellow and key (a technical word for black). Starting with a white base, cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink are layered to darken the pigment – resulting in your colour choice.
CMYK should always be used for printed material like brochures, business cards, signwriting or printed t-shirts. But, colour consistency between printers (yes, even professional printers) cannot be guaranteed – that’s where Pantone (or PMS) colours come in.
While we’re at it, what is PMS?
PMS (or Pantone/Pantone Matching System) is a commercial range of colour tones for use in printing. Pantone uses the CMYK method to produce what’s called a spot colour.
As we know, CMYK can look really different from printer to printer. Pantone set out to solve this problem by producing physical swatches of all of their colours and assigning a numeric value to them. I’ve got one of the Pantone swatch books at Sketch Studio, so I can match the colours in your digital artworks.
The beauty of Pantone is it will always look the same – no surprises. But, when printing in Pantone, each colour requires its own ink, so it can be pricey. So, I’d recommend using Pantone when accuracy is an absolute must.