Pantone colours are specific shades that can be easily matched or replicated. When you need an exact colour printed, it is best to use Pantone colours. Pantone is able to produce shades that CMYK is unable to produce, such as metallic and fluorescent colours.

What are the differences between Pantone and CMYK printing?

The main difference between CMYK and Pantone printing is the level of accuracy. The Pantone process is more consistent and it is able to produce colours closer in shade to the ones seen on the screen. Pantone printing may be more precise, sharp and consistent, however it tends to be more costly than CMYK printing.

If your artwork is in Pantone colour, and you print it in CMYK format, the colours being printed might come out differently from your artwork

Products we print with Pantone colours are:
Envelopes, Letterheads, NCR invoice book

The standard hot stamping size is 2″ x 5″. Hot Stamping area needs to be at least 5mm away from the trim edge. Additional cost will apply if hot stamp area is larger than 2″x 5″,or if hot stamp area is within 5mm from the edge.

How are your artworks made?

Step 1: Create Artwork

Step 2: Duplicate the entire frame

Step 3: Mark the areas that needs to be hot stamped in 100% K (black colour) on the duplicated frame. 

Step 4: On the original artwork, remove the designs that need to be hot stamped. On the duplicated frame, remove everything except the hot stamp designs.

Hot Stamping requirements

Standard hot stamping size is 2″ x 5″. Hot Stamping area needs to be at least 5mm away from the trim edge. Additional cost will apply if hot stamp area is larger than 2″x 5″,or if hot stamp area is within 5mm from the edge

Hot stamping is made available for Business Cards; 260gsm Matt Laminated , 310gsm Matt Laminated, Pantone Letterheads and Red Packets. 

How are your artworks made?

For the tutorial, Art board 1 will represent the CMYK print, Art board 2 will represent the White Ink print.

CMYK + Full White Backing 

With full White Backing, your design will be separated into 2 different art boards. One will be for the CMYK and the other one will be for the White Ink.

For your artwork, the CMYK colours will be on Art Board 1. For Art Board 2, it will be in 100% K (black) on the entire Art Board.

For the final print product, Full White Backing will be printed on your cards, and no area will be transparent. Printed colours will be solid due to White Backing.

CMYK + No White Backing

When there is no White Backing, there will be 1 art board for the CMYK.

For your artwork, the CMYK colours will be shown on your art board

For the final product, with no White Backing, the cards will be transparent(on the white part of your CMYK art board)/ translucent. Printed colour will be translucent without any White Backing

CMYK + Spot White Backing 

With full white backing, your design will be separated into 2 different art boards. One will be for the CMYK and the other one will be for the White Ink.

For your artwork, the CMYK colours will be on Art Board 1. For Art Board 2, it will be in 100% K (black) on the spots you will like your White Backings to be.

For the final product, White Ink will be printed on your cards on the areas where you want your White Backing to be. If there is White Backing on your printed colours, the printed colours will be solid. Areas without White Backing will be transparent/translucent.

What is RGB?

RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue and it is used mainly used for digital photos and digital design artworks.

RGB is an additive kind of colour space as it produces all colours when added to the black monitor.  As more colour is added, the result is lighter and will eventually lead to white. It’s shades are light and when mixed in different quantities, multiple shades are created on the monitor.

When do we use RGB?

RGB colours should only be used on digital designs;

• Websites
• Social Media
• Online Infographic
• Online Logos
• Videos
• Digital Graphics

What is CMYK?

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (also known as the colour black) . Black is called key because it is the key colour that adds shade and contrast to the image.

In contrary to RGB, CMYK colours are subtractive, which means that the printed ink reduces light that would normally be reflected. As more colour is added, the result gets darker and eventually leads to black. Brightness is subtracted from a white background from those four colours.

When do we use CMYK?

CMYK colours are used for any material that will be printed only;

• Business cards
• Magazines
• Flyers
• Banners
• Posters
• Stickers

What happens when you do not convert your Artwork to CMYK from RGB before printing?

If the artwork is not converted to CMYK from RGB before you print, your printer will automatically make the conversion, which might affect your artwork’s colour accuracy.

How do you convert RGB to CMYK?

Photoshop

Click Image > Mode > CMYK Colour

 Illustrator

Click File > Document Colour Mode > CMYK Colour

InDesign

Click Window > Colour, then click the dropdown button in the upper right corner and select CMYK.

All in all, if you have design your prints digitally, remember to always make sure that your designs are in CMYK. This is to ensure the accuracy of the colours used in your artworks are not affected.