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Discover all the differences between RGB and CMYK and make sure you get the best result from your images

You probably already heard about the acronyms RGB and CMYK without really understanding their meaning.

Today we are gonna talk about the differences between these two colour systems and what is the purpose of each one of them.

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi

Knowing the variations and understanding the function of each colour model can make the difference between a lively and vibrant result and a faded and lifeless one.

MEANINGS

Photo by cevagraf

RGB – Red-Green-Blue

RGB colour system is more associated with electronic devices – like monitors, digital cameras, smartphones or scanners – and, because it has a large colour spectrum, it’s used by most of the photo editing softwares (including Photoshop).

This is an additive model and it combines the primary colours to create a huge variety of colours.

When applied to its full extension, these three colours combined create white; when applied to the minimum, the result is black.

So, the sum of the colours is white, and the absence of the colours is black.

Photo by 6iee.com

CMYK – Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black

Based on the light reflection on paper, the printing process – used by commercial printing media, such as magazines, catalogues and flyers – doesn’t generate light as a monitor.

CMYK colour system is the opposite of RGB, it uses colours subtraction and the white support where you apply the colour (white paper).

This means that the more colour you add, the darker it will be. In this four colours model, light is being removed or absorbed by adding more colour.

By adding the first three colours (blue, magenta and yellow) you won’t get a perfect black, but a dark brown instead. The K colour (black) is used to completely remove the light of the printed picture, which your eyes will understand as black.

HOW TO DISTINGUISH AND CHOOSE BETWEEN RGB AND CMYK?

The design for digital media should be created in RGB and the design for printing should be created in CMYK. And why is that?

When printing an RGB design using the CMYK printing process the colours may vary from the ones in your monitor. This happens because the monitor beams light, creating bright and vibrant colours that won’t be reproduced in CMYK.

Photo by Robert Katzki

This means you will want to use CMYK every time you’re printing business cards, flyers, catalogues ou any other content that must be printed. But, in the contents for digital platforms – like websites, blogs or social media – you will want to take advantage of the RGB colour spectrum, especially because the internet works exclusively with RGB.

Remember!, a monitor is made by small units (pixels) composed of three units of light (red, green and blue). The RGB values applied in each pixel will define the brightness of each light unit in each pixel.

Whether in RGB or in CMYK, the design has no secrets for Bleach Design’s team. If you want to develop digital contents or printing products, contact us!

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