Understanding Spot Color Prints: Beyond the Basics of Printing

Process and spot color print are the two most widely recognised color forms in the printing industry. You will use one or the other for your printing project, depending on whether you desire high-quality, long-lasting business cards or exquisitely haptic soft-touch brochures.

Printing

Printed materials are essential for virtually every industry. Custom labels, packaging, transportation materials, and more must be printed to maintain your business. Whether you’re using a home label printer or a professional label printer, you may have observed color differences between print jobs. This may result from the color process your printer employs — process color or spot color.

It is essential to distinguish between the two, as they influence the printing method, ultimate appearance, impact, and cost of your project. But what are the actual distinctions between spot and process color?

Process Color

The most prevalent printing technique involves process colors, a method of mixing inks to produce colors during the printing process itself.

A process color is created by combining the four standard process inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Each process color consists of varying proportions of each CMYK color model. Different proportions produce distinct tints.

For example, combining 100% cyan and 100% magenta makes a violet hue.

Use of Process Colors

Process printing is optimal for colorful, detailed designs. Photographs or photo-quality images print much better with process colors than spot colors. Process printing can also be practical and economical for small to medium-sized print tasks.

If color is crucial to your brand’s identity, find a printer with spot colors. Process or CMYK printing is the best option when color consistency is not your top priority.

Explore Furthur: Exploring the Benefits of Simulated Process Printing

Spot Colors

In contrast to the combination of four standard colors used to create process colors, spot colors are produced by laying down pigments in a single pass.

The printed image comprises pure and mixed inks with no distinct screens or multicolored dots. Each printing color requires a separate plate and press, making them more expensive than process colors.

In contrast, the image created with spot colors is livelier, sharper, and provides more uniform coverage than its counterpart. Pantone Matching System is the most common example of spot colors in the printing industry. It has a color palette of 14 primary hues (13 base pigments and 1 black hue), and other hues are produced by combining hues using a unique formula.

Originally Published at TshirtPlus