RGB and CMYK: Learning Your Color Alphabet

Working within graphics programs such as GIMP, Photoshop and even Paint Shop Pro will teach you quickly that there is a lot of important details in the colors that are chosen for aspects of your picture, as well as how you want them to look. In order to ensure that you are getting the best results possible, you need to take the time to learn your color alphabet and ensure that it is properly applied so that your pictures and images will look exactly the way you intend.

Typically, you are going to find that RGB is the most common. In simple terms, RGB simply stands for Red, Blue and Green. These are the three colors that are used to create all of the colors in the spectrum. They are also the three primary colors of light, and additionally when combined together create white. Most monitors that are connected to computers, televisions and other electronic devices use RGB colors, and the RGB color spectrum literally encompasses millions of color options. 16.7 million to be precise, because of this, attaining almost any color you desire using RBG colors is possible.

The other heavily used color scheme is CMYK, which is used almost as much, but for a wide range of other purposes that are not inclusive of monitors and web based graphics. Many off-site printing methods rely upon CMYK to produce the colors, and thus means that frequently you will need to change a document prepared as a RBG into a CMYK document in order for it to be printed. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black, which are the 4 colors that are used. These colors are directly related to the colors used in offset printing, which is quite common, but is much more limited than RBG colors. The limitation comes into effect because you only have approximately 55,000 colors using CMYK, rather than 16.7 million plus, using RBG.

Choosing the correct color mode to begin with is often very important. Consider carefully the severe shortage of colors that CMYK offers, and think about how this would compare to the number of colors to RBG. Does not seem like a huge deal right? Wrong, you would actually be quite surprised how many colors are used every day that are not represented in CMYK. Instead, when converting a document to CMYK from RBG, a close approximate match is selected for you, which may or may not be close enough to satisfy you.

If you begin creating the document in the format that it will ultimately need to be in, you not only ensure that color selection is accurate, but you are able to select colors that will remain true, rather than be altered at a later point. Remember, knowing your color alphabet will help you to select appropriate colors, ensure that you get the results that you want and allow you to really appreciate the final results instead of stress over the printed result looking nothing like the picture on your monitor.