Remember, we told you about Tintbooks last year... well, they've now completed the first comprehensive CMYK Graphic Design Tool for printing on Uncoated Paper.
Brown without the Blues
By Joyce Dalman, Tintbook
Brown - the commanding color, currently is featured on the latest clothing styles - showing up on everything from t-shirts to women's evening dresses to military uniforms. Interior design trends are emphasizing Brown for wall treatments, furniture and other home accessories.
Leather colors in Brown; earth tones like sienna and hemp are examples of Brown shades that you see in print media everywhere. UPS* is famously featuring Brown in their new branding ad campaign.
Graphic Designers will create CMYK Brown Combinations for print ads, catalogues, brochure mailings and other product-marketing support material. When Designers begin to research different shades of Brown for their print design projects, they often find printing a 4-color process Brown can be tricky. A common challenge is to match the flesh tones on people's faces, choosing from a variety of brown tints, which will accurately reproduce in print.
Before you begin print projects that include the color Brown, here are some helpful tips to specify the proper CMYK color combination you want to match that finished printed piece. Because the color conversions from software applications that you may be using now to create Brown colors can produce disappointing color results on press. It's impossible to judge these color tints accurately on your computer monitor since what you are viewing is formulated in RGB and what you will finally print is CMYK ink on paper.
Brown can print dirty or Brown can have a distinctly rich look on a finished printed product, depending on the CMYK color formula that you select. Beware of blue (Cyan)!! Cyan is the ink color that can produce dull color results on press, especially affecting shades of Brown. This is a common occurrence that particularly impacts facial tones in shadow ares.
For a richer, cleaner Brown, create CMYK color combinations by choosing only 3 color components. Select Brown tint color combinations that are built with Magenta, Yellow and Black, by choosing MYK components. Avoid getting the Blues over your Brown!
If your design calls for a rustic shade of Brown, then you may want to go ahead and choose a combination that does include Cyan, by selecting 3 or 4-color tint values.
Tintbook shows you the difference between Brown color combinations built with and without Cyan. You will notice the Browns print cleaner when Cyan is not part of the CMYK formula.
Tintbook is the CMYK color selector for print projects where you can choose from hundreds of pre-printed Brown shades that are all printed in CMYK color combinations.
Whenever you are unsure about CMYK color matching, refer to the Tintbook CMYK Color Guide. The colors are actually printed "ink on paper" - so that you can see the true ink color before you spend time and money for your printing project. You no longer will depend on your computer monitor to guess at colors. Tintbook easy-to-use CMYK formulas are entered into your color palette for Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign or Quark XPress.
There are over 25,000 CMYK formulas of 2-color, 3-color, and 4-color combinations in each volume. Tintbook is available in 2 volumes. One for Coated paper, one for Uncoated paper.
Next time you are designing for print, make sure that you are not disappointed because you trusted your computer monitor for accurate color results. Depend on Tintbook to see the actual representation of how your finished brochure, poster, business card or ad job is going to look before you send it to the printer! Own the color matching system that designers and printers are using today from Tintbooks, Seal Beach, CA, 562-985-0727.
Joyce Dalman Printing Services
Visit www.tintbooks.com for all the details and lots of sample pages.
Also see: Predict CMYK Color with Confidence
Joyce Dalman is president of Joyce Dalman Printing Services, a Print Broker Corporation in Seal Beach, California. With over 25 years' commercial and publication printing experience, she is co-publisher of Tintbook. Joyce works with corporate, entertainment and non-profit clients, both in Southern California and Nationwide. Clients working with Tintbook give it a 100% positive rating. 'Tintbook is a life-saver.' Add it to your library today!
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