Why Don’t Printed Colors Match What You See on a Screen?
Why printed colors is not matching what you see on either phone or computer screen? The picture looks great on the screen but does not print the same colors as the screen?
You will never get a perfect match because the image on the screen and the image printed out are two different things. Your screen emitted light while printer simply can’t print light. It uses dyes and pigments to replicate the colors.
RGB Versus CMYK
Your screen is composed of pixels and each pixel can display over 16 million colors. These colors are RGB which is composed of all of the colors in light.
However, printer can only reproduce around a few thousand colors thanks to the principle of absorption and reflection. The pigments and dyes absorb the light colors that aren’t used and reflect back to you the CMYK combination that closely approximates the actual color.
In all cases, the printed result is always a bit darker than the screen image. For example, if you choose a red in the RGB color and move it to CMYK color, the red will darken. Thus, RGB colors output as CMYK colors are pulled to their nearest CMYK equivalent which is always darker. So why do printed colors not match your screen? Simply because we can’t print light.
Recommendations
1. Select a brighter color in design to avoid the printed result appear to be black color.
2. Select a greater varies in colors when using gradient in design.
3. Consult a graphic designer before you make any printing decision.