Four Color Postcard Printing Explained
Ever sat speechless admiring the exceptional photographs in National Geographic magazine? That's four color printing for you! And you can do the same thing with four color postcard printing too.
But why go with four color printing?
Well, there's a lot of really good reasons. One being that it makes your postcards stand out!
The full color process (C-M-Y-K) is a completely different world to printing postcards on your Inkjet printer!
It gives a much more detailed and exacting reproduction of your original images, at a lower cost per postcard too.
As an example, take a good, close look at a color brochure printed on a color inkjet or color laser printer. Then compare that to a magazine cover like Time or People magazine. See what I mean?
That's four color printing for you.
People tend to use four color postcard printing when they are printing large quantities of postcards because it's the standard - plus the colors are more accurate - not to mention that most, if not all, online printers use it!
Four Color Postcard Printing Demands Attention
It's said that full color commands full attention! And I think they're right. Here's what www.CustomPostcards.com had to say on the matter:
Study after study substantiates the fact that full color printing outperforms one or two color printing in all statistically measurable areas, including number of times read, message recall and advertiser or brand recognition.
I can't help but to think if you're going to be using a great photo (especially a costly one-of-a-kind stock photo), then you better make sure it looks its best!
As they say, image-factor is critical to sales success.
You can hardly imagine any sales or promotional situation where the image doesn't play a crucial role in the prospect's decision making process.
Nothing can convey your company's professional image more than a well-designed, well-written, full color postcard campaign!
So, now you're getting a good understanding why four color postcard printing is preferred over other sorts of printing!
What is the difference between the RGB and CMYK color space and why does it matter?
RGB refers to the primary colors of light, Red, Green and Blue, that are used in monitors, television screens, digital cameras and scanners. CMYK refers to the primary colors of pigment: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. These are the inks used on the press in '4-color process printing' commonly referred to as 'full color printing.'
The combination of RGB light creates white, while the combination of CMYK inks creates black. Therefore, it is physically impossible for the printing press to exactly reproduce colors as we see them on our monitors.
Many programs have the capability to convert the layout/images from the RGB color space to the CMYK color space. We request that you convert your colors from RGB to CMYK if your tools allow you to. By doing it yourself, you have maximum control over the results. You may notice a shift in color when converting from RGB to CMYK. If you do not like the appearance in CMYK, we recommend that you make adjustments while working in CMYK (usually lightening). Generally, you should specify CMYK color builds that look a little lighter than you want, since the dots of ink 'fatten up' on press, giving you more pigment on paper than you see on your monitor. Be especially careful to keep backgrounds light if there is black or dark colored text over it, so that the text remains readable.
Quoted from: http://www.custompostcards.com/why4color.php
Is Full Color Printing Cheaper?
There seems to still be enough printing methods out there to sink a ship. Whether you're after computer-to-plate printing or just happy with whatever-they-call-it printing, your main aim I guess is to end up with powerful looking postcards.
When using four color postcard printing, you'll find the end result will be crisp and saturated colors.
And even better, when compared to traditional (local print shop pricing), you might find that full color pricing is often at or below their one or two color quotes.
Especially when you are thinking about printing high numbers of postcards!
Anyway, to summarize, ideally you want to get three or four quotes from postcard printers on the quantity of cards you want printed. A good online postcard printer will email you a 'proof' and review your files without extra costs, as part of the job.
Once you've given the go-ahead on that, you can expect your brilliant postcards arriving in the mail with a couple of days!
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