Color Use

Files should be prepared using CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), grayscale or bitmap color modes. These are the standard formats in the printing industry. Use of any other color modes will result in unpredictable color shifts.

CMYK:

CMYK represents the four ink colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) used to reproduce full color print jobs. All color images and graphics in your document should be CMYK. You can change the color mode of your images in Photoshop under Image > Mode > CMYK Color.

Grayscale:

Grayscale color mode represents the tints of black ink. This ranges from 0% (white) to 100% (black). Black and white photographs are good examples of images in grayscale color mode.

Bitmap:

Bitmap color mode represents monotone images. Scanned black text or line-art would fall into this category.

Screen Preview vs. Printed Piece:

Your computer screen represents color by mixing Red, Green and Blue colors. Printers use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inks to create color. Also, due to individual system and monitor settings, your images may appear slightly different on different monitors.