Do you conform to any colour standards?

We operate to the ISO 12647-2 standard.

To ensure consistency, we have quality control 'colour champions' who constantly measure and record any fluctuations with our presses, paper stocks and other environmental / technical factors that can affect colour consistency.

In addition, our presses use closed loop colour management systems. Rather than relying on densities alone, the spectrophotometer automatically reads the printed sheet and collects an array of quality control colorimetric parameters including delta E, slurring / doubling, dot gain values, and trapping. Any fluctuations in these values are then automatically corrected throughout the print run to maintain colour accuracy.

In spite of this, there will inevitably be occasional colour variations. This is inherent in the print process, as different stocks, temperatures, and presses affect how the finished colour looks. However, you can be confident we are doing everything we can to perfectly reproduce your colours.

What Colour Profiles Do I Use For Print?

CMYK = Cyan Magenta Yellow & Black These Are The Colours Used In Traditional Printing

CMYK is an abbreviation of cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black – yes, we know it should be CMYB in that case).  These are the four process colours commonly used when printing.

RGB refers to red, green, blue (yes, this abbreviation is sensible) and is used in online design.

Top tip - We highly recommend using CMYK images in your designs and setting up any documents as CMYK documents.  You can use RGB but any artwork provided in RGB format will automatically be converted to CMYK in our workflow, and this may result in a small colour shift.  You might want to think about getting a proof.

Colour settings are easy to change within the design platforms you use. For Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, you can change the colour setting in the proof set up menu, under view.  For other design platforms, simply check the document settings.

Colour challenges giving you a headache?  This is why your printed colours are not matching when you use RGB formats.

Other colour terminology you might come across:

What are HEX codes?

A hex code is the number following a hashtag which tells you very specifically which colour you are using.  It might look like this #2b2b2b and you can find it when you pick or pipette colours within a design platform.  They are used in digital design for web set to RGB rather than CMYK design.

What are Pantone colours?

A pantone is a standardised colour matching system specifically for the print industry to identify ink colours.  They are used to best match the colours within a design, so the print is a true reflection of the proof.

What are colour swatches

Colour swatches are swatches of specific colours, tints, or gradients that you are using in your design piece.  Many design platforms keep a record of the most common colours, but you can create your own.  Colour swatches come in very handy when you have specific brand guidelines to follow.

What is CIELAB l* a* b*?

This is another way of managing colour and this particular colour profiling approximates to the best match for the human eye.

Colour Variation: Printed Colours                                                     The type and colour of paper you choose for your print job may affect the final printed colours within the job as all inks are transparent. For example, printing on an off-white paper stock may produce slightly darker colours than anticipated.                                         Similarly, there will be a visible difference in colour between a job printed on coated paper and another printed on uncoated paper. For example, common colours may appear different when printed on full colour letterheads on 120gsm bond, and full colour business cards on 400gsm silk. Adding a gloss or matt lamination will also have a noticeable effect on the appearance of your printed colour.

Screen Colours

When viewing the colours in your job on-screen, you are looking at colour which is made up of red, green and blue light, and these colours cannot be exactly replicated with ink on paper. How colours appear on-screen will also vary depending on how your monitor is calibrated. So please always choose your colours from a Pantone book for a predictable result.                                             

Colour Variation: On-Screen Colour                                                The colours used within your design shown on-screen are not an accurate representation of the colours on your final printed job. The colours on a monitor are made up of red, green and blue light, while the colours on your printed job are made up of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink, so it is not possible that they will exactly match, the colour on-screen merely provides an indication of the colours. When designing artwork, ensure all colours are chosen from a Process / Solid to Process Pantone book to achieve a predictable result once printed. If your colours are not referenced from a Pantone Book but instead are a CMYK mix then we cannot predict how they will look when printed.

Vector and Bitmap Colours

Once printed, areas of colour in your artwork which have vector fills will appear differently to bitmap fills, even when the colour values are identical. This creates a visible join between the elements where vector colour meets bitmap colour, and will become more pronounced if RGB colour has been used as RGB will be automatically converted to CMYK. Instead, extend your bitmap colour out in a bitmap package, such as Photoshop, to avoid the joining of vector and bitmap colours completely. 

Overprint Colours

Any fills or lines set to overprint will not print in the way shown in your design file, as the inks are transparent. To check for overprints, view your print ready PDF in Acrobat Professional, and from the drop down menu Advanced / Print Production, activate Overprint Preview. In this view you can check for any overprints left on your artwork. 

Colour Banding

Within your designs, avoid using large areas of solid colour consisting only of Cyan, Yellow, Magenta or Black. These colours can be prone to banding, so instead try to use fills which consist of two or more of these colours. 

Do you print spot colours?

We offer spot colour printing on our range of T-Shirts only. For everything else, please use Full Colour printing (CMYK).

CMYK is an abbreviation of cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), the four process colours commonly used when printing. CMYK is used for artwork intended for print, while RGB is used for artwork intended for digital.

Please use the CMYK colour setting in your print artwork. Our prepress system automatically converts all RGB and spot colours to CMYK, and this often results in a mismatch between the colour on screen and the printed colour.

Colour settings are easy to change within the design package. For Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, you can change colour setting in the proof set up menu, under view.

We use spot colours or Pantone printing for our screen printed t-shirts. Learn all there is to know about spot colours here.

What is a spot colour?

A spot colour is simply a solid colour. The spot colour ink is pre-mixed using a set of base colours to ensure consistency in colour reproduction.

What is spot colour printing?

Spot colour printing is where individual colours are printed using a screen plate or pad in a single pass. This is different to process printing, where CMYK inks are layered on four passes, one per colour, to create a vast spectrum of colour.

Spot colours are typically used in screen printing. They provide an exact match and are therefore a great choice when you want perfect colour reproduction across different materials and substrates.

What is the difference between spot colours and CMYK colours?

The main difference is in their use in the printing process. As mentioned, spot colours are pre-mixed inks that are applied in a single pass whereas CMYK inks are layered on four passes to mix the correct colour. This is due to CMYK inks being transparent so they interact with each other. Spot colour inks, however, are opaque and won't interact and we therefore can't accept gradients or overlapping colours in T-shirt artwork files. 

When to use spot colours

We accept spot colours for our screen printed t-shirts only. You should continue to use CMYK colours for all other printed items, such as business cards, flyers, leaflets, signs and posters.

How to setup spot colour artwork

Setting up your artwork files for spot colours is easier than you might think. Keep your colour setting as CMYK and use the swatches available in the colour library within the colour palette. These are Pantone® colours. Please note, we use Pantone® coated colours.