One of the hardest things I find working in graphics is colour management. It’s something that is extremely important to me. There’s a bit of “send it off and cross your fingers” which goes on in the industry – which may work for others but I am very uncomfortable with it.
The hardest thing I am dealing with currently is getting colour management accross the huge range of products required for the two brands we develop at work. Getting the pink that is printed in the bag factory to match the pink printed on the t-shirt, to then be represented well in RGB on the website and THEN to match the pink in the brochure is a *huge* challenge (especially when dealing with factories that promise they have Pantone books when you find out after sampling that they picked colours off screen – not happy!).
Nearly all of the production process is based on Pantone colours. A lot of pantone colours don’t translate very well into CMYK colours. I’m currently running all the colour choices off the “Pantone Formula Guide”. There are many websites that give PMS to CMYK conversion values but how do you know what that is going to print like unless you have a printer so accurate it’s made by Jesus himself?
Colours such as pinks, blues and oranges pose huge problems.
After numerous conversations with different printers I’ve decided to order some of these fantastical Pantone books.
I am so excited to be able to knowingly pick colours that translate well in PMS and CMYK printing.
This will not only help in the development of new product but means I can ensure logos I create use colours that can print beautifully in CMYK as well as PMS colours – allowing for different print budget needs.
Hallelujah! I can’t wait for them to arrive.
