Switched from CMYK to spot colors for a 3-color logo job and wow what a difference

I've been doing screen printing for about 2 years now, mostly just side gigs for friends. Last month I had a client in Denver who wanted their logo on 50 hoodies. The logo had this specific teal that just would not come out right with CMYK. I spent like 3 hours tweaking separations and it still looked washed out. Finally talked to the guy at my local supply shop and he told me to try spot colors. Mixed up a custom PMS 321 and ran a test print. The color was dead on first try. Plus the registration was way easier with just 3 screens instead of 4. I honestly thought spot colors were just for really simple stuff but now I get why the pros use them. Has anyone else had a similar switch that made your life way easier?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sage2d ago

Oh man, spot colors are a total game changer once you get past the initial learning curve. I had almost the exact same issue with a dark orange that kept coming out more like peach no matter what I did with CMYK. Mixing up a single spot color fixed it in one pass and I felt like an idiot for fighting with separations for so long. The registration thing you mentioned is huge too, especially on jobs with tight deadlines where you don't have time to mess around. Take it from me, once you go spot it's hard to go back for anything that needs precision.

betty_ward2d ago

Honestly, I've noticed this same kind of thing with home paint colors. Like, you try to get a nice warm gray from the big box store's mixing machine and it comes out looking like a flat blue or a muddy brown. You waste a whole gallon. Then you go to a real paint shop and they mix a custom color by hand with one pigment, and it's perfect on the first coat. It's the exact same lesson, just with walls instead of paper. So yeah, all that fighting with CMYK or basic mixing is just us trying to force a square peg into a round hole when there's a better tool sitting right there.

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