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Color Matching: What Do You Need To Know?
Your brand colors are an essential and important part of your brand’s identity and recognisability. Getting your designs to be the same color each time they are printed is crucial to creating a consistent message that your customers will recognise at a glance.
Unfortunately, printing the same design file again and again, isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get the same color results every time. Paper type, temperature, humidity, and calibration can all change the way a color may appear once it has been printed.
This is where colour match printing is introduced. Continue reading to learn more about color matching digital printing and how it can be used to help to get your colors as close as possible each time you come to print.
Consistency Is Key: What Is Printer Color Matching?
Printed color matching is used to find a color match for an already printed color sample. To match print colors, a physical sample of the desired color is compared to a set of near identical printed colors until the right color is found.
This printer color matching process can sometimes require multiple tests as the colors narrow down and the accurate colors found. Once the correct CMYK color mix is found, the colors within the digital artwork are adjusted to match this code.
For color matching digital printing to work, a physical sample must be provided to our printers.
If My Artwork Is Always The Same, Why Do I Need Colour Match Printing?
It’s a common question we receive here at Aura Print – “my artwork hasn’t changed since the last time it was printed, why do the colors look different this time?”
Digital printing can be temperamental, with the slightest change in conditions affecting how a color appears once printed. Anything from the paper type used for print, to the humidity of the print room, can alter the tone of a color produced.
A design file that was printed not only six months ago, can be printed again, and look different this time round. This is why you need to consider printer color matching if your brands colors are important within your brand identity.
How Can I Request Colour Matching Digital Printing For My Order?
Requesting a color match printing for your order is pretty simple. To perform a color match, we must have a physical copy of the color you want replicating. All you need to do is send us a copy of your physical sample in the post, along with your order reference number, and we can take care of the rest.
We’ve created a little form for you to fill out when requesting a color match. You can print this out and attach it to your physical sample. Then, when the post arrives, our team will know exactly what the sample is meant to be used for. We can send this sample back with your order once it is printed or keep hold of it for any future color match tests.
Don’t have a sample to hand? This does make things a little harder to match print colors. If you’ve ordered with us in the past, there might be a chance that we still have a printed sample from your order. Let our team know your previous order number and we’ll go searching.
Without a color sample, our team cannot perform a color match.
Are There Other Considerations I Need To Know About Colour Match Printing?
Yes, there are plenty of things to know within the world of color! There’s not enough space here to explain absolutely everything but here are the main things to consider.
Printed colors will look different to screen colors
The color on your monitor will look different compared to the printed colors. Working in CMYK (and not RGB color) will help to eliminate some of these color discrepancies within the print.
Spot colors can produce different color tones to digital colors
We provide both spot and digital printing here at Aura Print. Make sure you choose the right option as Pantone colors produce different tones compared to CMYK.
Every paper type is unique in how the colors appear once printed
Due to each paper’s properties, colors can appear differently depending on the paper stock they’re printed on. Keep this in mind if you decide to change the paper type you want to print on.
Match Print Colors With Aura Print
Our goal at Aura Print is to create an enjoyable print experience. This includes getting your colors to be printed exactly as you would like them. To learn more about our color matching digital printing process, why not get in touch with a member of our team?
Color Matching: What Do You Need To Know Performing a color match is essential to ensuring your colors remain consistent across different prints. Learn how to request a color match from our team with our quick and easy guide.
