RGB vs CMYK

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Digital or physical?

This is actually a great question to ask yourself when working on promotional materials before it heads to the printer or social media. This simple question should determine how you export your final project—let alone how you begin to design your project. It will make a world of a difference if you want to put your best foot forward when—and where—you are promoting an event or ministry when it comes to color.

Here's another question for you, did you know there are two major color models you can follow to match the vibrance you see in your design, and knowing the answer to my first question will answer which model you design in? That's right! RGB and CMYK are two completely different color systems that are great for completely different display options. Once you know where you'll be displaying your work then determining the model is a piece of cake. So what’s the difference?

RGB (Red, Green, Blue)

Want to create a social media post or update your website? Looks like you'll want to use the RGB color model! This is great for any digital work that will be shared on a screen of any sort. Because RGB is an additive model that works to where white is a combination of all colors, it makes sense to display it on a surface that works with LED light. If you think about turning on all of your lights to the highest intensity, you'll eventually see pure white. Remove all of the lights and colors, and you're left with a black screen.

Using these three color combinations of 0% to 100% intensity you're presented with MILLIONS (1.6 million to be exact) of color options, allowing it to be more vibrant when used on a screen. You can print a design in RGB, but the colors won't look anything like what you see on your laptop or computer screen. You'll lose the vibrancy of the millions of colors because a printer communicates in CMYK.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)

This leads us to the other color model. Contrary to RGB, CMYK is a subtractive method where the less color you have the closer to white it becomes. White is actually the absence of color in this model and black is the total presence of all color. You can see this when for instance you mix food coloring or paints together. If you keep mixing each of the colors together you’ll eventually you’ll eventually get the color black.

Where the RGB method is viewed using LED, CMYK uses beads of pigment or ink. Your computer communicates to the printer using a language it can understand and produce thousands of different color combinations with just four pigments. This is why using CMYK is great for physical designs, but won't come close to the million color combinations RGB can create. The printer cannot make colors it cannot mix, so if you try printing in RGB it won't come out as vibrantly as if you were to print in CMYK. It's just what your printer understands: pigments.

So now that you know how and why your color method is crucial, all that's left is to share your beautiful designs using the best outcome for your project that will make it as vibrant as possible. Happy designing!

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