Spot Color or 4-Color?

Spot colors use ink that is custom mixed. Generally, spot color is used with 1- or 2-color printing. Inks like fluorescent orange, metallic gold or Pantone colors are examples of spot color. For more color choices at a lower cost, use

CMYK color in your design. Full-color photos are always printed in CMYK.

Full-color printing, also called “4-color process,” uses Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y), and Black (K) inks in different percentage combinations to create the colors we see in print.

The swatches below are CMYK color builds, shown with their “recipes,” or C-M-Y-K percentages. Remember, your printer and monitor may preview different results.