wallPen E2 - Page 93

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Color Spaces

The CMYK Color Space

Printers on the other hand mostly work in the CMYK color space, which limits the

representation of colors even further...

In contrast to RGB, a "subtractive color

model" is CMYK. It consists of the

three colors cyan, magenta and yellow

as well as the key color black, which

are printed on a light (= white)

background. The more color is

applied, the darker the result. The Key

Color is necessary, because 100 %

color application of cyan, magenta and

yellow does not produce a real black,

but only a dark brown. The CMYK

color mode is used in offset printing,

for printers at home, and also in the

printing industry. The individual colors

are applied to the substrate one after

the other, depending on the mixing

ratio, all possible color nuances are

created. Theoretically, over 4 billion

colors are possible in the CMYK color

space. However, only much less can be

displayed and printed on the screen. In

fact, the CMYK color space is smaller

than the RGB color space.

This is one of the challenges when creating print data. Photos, images and other

elements are usually provided in RGB color space and must be converted to CMYK

before printing. Since many colors tones cannot be "translated" one to one from RGB

to CMYK, certain color deviations will occur. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, you

should always use a well calibrated monitor with activated "Proof Colors" under the

"View" menu within PhotoShop set as "Working CMYK" (also see Chapter "Color

Management | Color Correction").