Customer told me "just make it pop" so I printed a neon flyer on matte paper

She wanted bright colors for a garage sale poster so I designed it in RGB, printed it on matte stock, and the yellows came out looking like dirty dishwater. Had to redo the whole run on gloss paper after she complained. Anybody else have a client who refuses to believe monitors lie?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_fisher4d ago

The whole "monitors lie" thing is tricky because it's not really the screen's fault, it's more that RGB has a wider color range and matte paper just can't reflect light the same way glossy can. You'd think more people would understand that paper type changes everything about a print job, especially with yellows and oranges that are super sensitive to absorption. Sounds like you handled it right by just redoing it on gloss since customers never want a science lesson, they just want their garage sale sign to look like a safety vest.

lily_sullivan824d agoTop Commenter

I used to just blame the screen too honestly, but @jennifer_fisher's breakdown about paper absorption with yellows and oranges makes total sense. Never really thought about how matte just eats up color differently than glossy, guess I was the one who needed the science lesson lol.