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Switching from CMYK to RGB for my branding palette was a mistake at first but now I get it
I kept reading online that you gotta start in CMYK for print projects, so I did that for a year. But when I saw my website vs my business cards side by side last month, the colors looked totally different. The CMYK files had this muddy brownish tone that the RGB screens showed as crisp orange. I finally gave up and built my palette in RGB first, then converted to CMYK after. Lost about 10% of the vibrancy in print but at least now it matches. Anyone else think the whole "start in CMYK" advice is overrated for modern workflows?
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jordangibson13d agoTop Commenter
Oh man I gotta push back on this one. Starting in CMYK is still the right move if you're doing serious print work, I've been burned way too many times by clients who hand me an RGB file and then freak out when the PMS match turns out completely different. The whole point of designing in CMYK first is you're working within the limitations from the start, so you're not shocked later when that neon green you loved on screen comes back looking like swamp water. How did you handle all your print-specific stuff like spot colors or rich blacks when you designed in RGB?
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josephs2613d ago
Dive headfirst into that "swamp water" problem lol. I just embraced the fact that my bright orange will always look a little sad on paper, so now I call it "artisanal fade." For rich blacks I just crank the CMYK levels to 60/40/40/100 and hope the printer gods are feeling generous.
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