Colour management - values gone wild.
Hi all. I was wondering if there might be a little wisdom out there to help me find some firm ground in what feels like a sea of unpredicatability.
I'm working in-house helping to roll out a rebrand (all done externally). I have draft guidelines to work with.
The colour values work in RGB (when in Adobe RGB 1998 workspace - they vary wildly in others - which is what the PDFs I have are supplied in), but the supplied CMYK codes seem well off. If I look up either the RGB, Hex or Pantone values (I know this is not an exact science, and that these are all changed differently in different places and that Pantone isn't able to be substituted in either really), the CMYK codes are always quite different.
Nothing has been printed yet, but we are on tight deadlines for launch and need to get merch made up ASAP (like I said, working on draft guidelines). I don't know what the best way to handle this is - do I need to ask for more clarity from the external agency, or should I know what I'm doing more and be able to sort it out? I'm not even sure the words to use to tell the director what the issues are.
Oh, and I'm trying to cement a perm job there, so finding the right space between honesty and looking like I know what I'm doing is important.
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- As others said a slight variation is expected. Is the primary colours for the brand bespoke/spots, or do they draw from "standard" RGB/CMYK? I am asking because I have had some trouble with people sending spot colours across and not having a clue what it's mean (I am talking potentially about the outsourced people here). If they have set up spots, from an actual physical book (eg Pantone) then I would ask if they could supply physical swatches (good luck with a tight deadline), so you can check who's going wild there. Also, if you are gifted with a pantone color bridge, you'll have a physical "prrof" of what the exact CMYK codes should be.If you're 100% sure it's not right, then I would raise concerns with the employer you trying to get a permanent position with. Asking for them to double check with you - in order to save their skin. Imagine you/they say "let's roll", only to have to have all the merch done again, potentially wasting $$$ along the way (not even talking about the delay there).In my experience, unless we are talking about bright greens or blues, or speciality inks (fluoro, metals etc), even if a variation is expected, it shouldn't be completely wild. So, trust your guts and raise the issue ASAP: you will know you have one the right thing, be seen as the competent, honest person who didn't hide problems under the mattress but who took the lead.
- First off the RGB vs CMYK spectrums are always going to be different. The CMYK values aren’t true to screen (these are dulled out), CMYK values have to be tested through proof checked in “print”, best to ask for a print proof depending on your print medium, printer etc (anoter topic for another day).
- Hi Dan, I'd check with the agency before because I came across TWICE to a typo in the guidelines and a CMYK value was not correct. Better be safe :). Having said that, sometimes I noticed some colours are changed slightly in CMYK (especially the one impossible to reproduce in print) as the designer thought the correct value converted from RGB was not right. As you said unfortunately the conversion is done differently even in Adobe softwares ... unless you stick to a colour book (like Pantone colour scale with given conversions)
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