What are the Benefits of Designing in RGB for CMYK Print?…

In-depth discussion of the Benefits of Designing in RGB for CMYK Print. Great read……

The Benefit of Designing in RGB for CMYK…

I generally support the notion of designing in an RGB color mode ― for print and web regarding imagery that is to be printed in CMYK…

The Benefits if Designing in RGB for CMYK Print | color setup, gamuts and profiles | Andrew Kelsall | Graphic Designer…

I generally support the notion of designing in an RGB color mode ― for print and web for imagery that is to be printed in CMYK….

[...] What are the Benefits of Designing in RGB for CMYK Print? [...]

You’ve given me some great advice there Mike. I was totally unaware that you can send files in an RGB colour mode and let the digital presses convert the profile. Thanks for sharing your knowledge…

Thanks for the info, I wasn’t aware of the PDF colour issue. Always willing to learn

I would have thought it was a standard methodology too, however, I think there is a mindset out there which screams “CMYK, CMYK” as soon as a print project comes along.

I agree, things like this need discussion to aid in great solutions for all designers. Thanks for your valuable input

Bringing to the table this kind of discussions is good for everybody, there are many great comments here, I like to know how other designers work, so congrats for the article, Andrew!
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No matter what you create in RGB, in the end, it still has to be converted to CMYK and the color conversion won’t look the same. In fact, it can be disgustingly muted.

I’m primarily talking about Photoshop Files that have a base photographic element here. So, if certain colors become Muted, there’re going to become muted anyway. I simply propose that the RGB>CMYK conversion happens as late as possible.

Whichever way you work, the conversion WILL take place anyway. All photo-files are source RGB—theres no such thing as a CMYK camera, as you know.

The wider color gamut in RGB is exactly why you shouldn’t design with it for 4c ouput. The colors can’t be printed.

This, in my opinion, is exactly why you should wait until the layered Photoshop is complete. The huge benefit is that the image can be re-used on the web with only a slight loss to the color gamut when converting from, say, Adobe RGB (1998) > sRGB 2.1 (which is a slightly more compressed color space).

For print, this file can be converted to CMYK, yes, with color degradation—that would be apparent anyway from the camera RGB profile to a CMYK profile. The method I suggest enables a more coherent statergy towards the possibilities of mult-image use from Web to print.

Other than that, there is NO benefit to designing in RGB.

The wider color gamut in RGB is exactly why you shouldn’t design with it for 4c ouput. The colors can’t be printed.

No matter what you create in RGB, in the end, it still has to be converted to CMYK and the color conversion won’t look the same. In fact, it can be disgustingly muted.

Not really, because many colors will be clipped, except for maybe yellows and hue blues. I would just work from an RGB 2.1 profile from the get-go.

The only exception would be if you were designing a really, really color critical piece of photographic work for print, whereby the main color is an extreme yellow, which isn’t in the range of any RGB gamut.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the support. I’ve finished the post on Color profiles now @ http://www.andrewkelsall.com/what-are-color-profiles/

Next up, Color Gamuts

Thank you for shedding some light on this subject. I’m going to be sure to pass this on to some people who remain unconvinced.

Also, thanks for commenting on our blog.

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[...] they are sent to the press. Typically images are converted to CMYK early in the game, however, Andrew Kelsall makes a good argument for working in RGB and converting everything upon completion—and [...]

I wouldn’t say designing for CMYK print is a rule I’m trying to promote―I just believe, in my own opinion and experience, that there are many benefits of doing so. Each to their own of coarse

I agree, RGB to CMYK conversion is a color-destructor―but the “destructive result” will be within the same color-gamut than if you were to design in CMYK anyway.

I think by Saturday, hopefully, I should have completed my article on color profiles. I will raise some more points about the RGB/CMYK issue then if you would like some more info on the subject.

Thanks for commenting…

I know that rules are made to be broken, but in this case, i won’t stop working in CMYK for print and in RGB for screen. Screen renders 3 colors, printers print in 4 colors.
RGB to CMYK conversion is a color-destructor. but hey, I’m always open to new workflow and habits.

Can’t say I’ll try :S

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I can’t think of any offhand, but PSD Tuts @ http://psd.tutsplus.com/ would be a great place to find this information. If I do find one in particular, I’ll email you the Link.

Thanks for commenting, hope you like the follow-up when I get around to writing it

Can you suggest a website/tutorial where I can learn an effective workflow to converting RBG to CMYK? As think I want to try working from a RGB as the starting point of my print designs.

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Anyway, it’s been a great discussion David. I’m off to bed early for once as I’m knackered, been busy in the garden amongst other things. Oh yeah, I did some design work too

As for the Bernard Matthews logo, it looks like an illustration, and for me, that’s not good in logo design, whether it’s vector based or not.

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