Colour is a very important aspect of design and it is important to understand the different colour systems and what they are used for. The two main colour systems are CMYK and RGB, each used for completely different things.
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CMYK//
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key. These make up the four colour process which is used for print design. These four colours are able to make any colour within its gamut, suitable for print.
'The CMYK color model (process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation.
The "K" in CMYK stands for key since in four-color printing cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed or aligned with the key of the black key plate. Some sources suggest that the "K" in CMYK comes from the last letter in "black" and was chosen because B already means blue.However, this explanation, though plausible and useful as a mnemonic, is incorrect.
The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking colors on a lighter, usually white, background. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called subtractive because inks "subtract" brightness from white.'
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RGB//
RGB is the colour system used for screen only. RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. RGB is used for screen based design only, it can produce more colours from the visual spectrum than CMYK, this is why it is so important to understand the difference between the two.
'The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green, and blue.
The main purpose of the RGB color model is for the sensing, representation, and display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions and computers, though it has also been used in conventional photography. Before the electronic age, the RGB color model already had a solid theory behind it, based in human perception of colors.'
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The colour gamut//
This colour gamut shows the colour range of CMYK and RGB. There are some CMYK colours that can be printed but cannot be produced in the RGB model, and there are RGB colours that cannot be produced in CMYK for print. As you can see from the colour gamut there are many colours that are out of the CMYK and RGB colour models. These colours cannot be reprodued for screen or print, we only have the pleasure of seeing these colours as they are.
This image represents how important it is to understand the two colour models. This shows how an RGB colour converts to a CMYK colour when printed. As you can see the RGB colours are a lot brighter and vibrant compared to the CMYK colours. If you were to try and print a design when it had been set as RGB on screen, you would recieve the equivalent through the printer in CMYK which would be very dull and nothing like on screen.
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