Cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black) constitute the standard color model for offset and digital printing. Because mixing the three primary subtractive colors produces a muddy brown rather than a true black, a dedicated black ink is added to provide deep shadows, crisp text, and contrast. Press operators adjust the density of these four inks to reproduce full-color photographs and complex graphics on white paper.
Make sure you convert all those RGB files to CMYK before sending the job to the RIP.
Rookies often forget to convert client files from RGB to CMYK, resulting in printed colors that look dull and washed out compared to the screen.
Also heard as
- four-color process
Related terms
CMY
A subtractive color model using cyan, magenta, and yellow inks to produce a wide spectrum of hues.
Process color
A printing method that mixes four standard ink colors to reproduce full-color images.
Color separation
The prepress process of dividing a full-color image into individual primary color channels for printing.