Working on your images and graphic design using a design software can be an easy start. However, understanding how you can faithfully and ideally maintain the right resolution with pixels and image sizes can be quite tricky, especially for four color printing projects.

Remember to use these points when making your own design for your prints, whether these are small business cards tor large format poster prints. Note too on some customization that may be entailed in your printing project if you are not well versed in the identification and use of colors, necessary to fulfill your print jobs.

Four Color Printing Reminders for Beginners

1. It is cheaper to print with two colors than four is erroneous.

• If your prints are run using small presses, the prints will be printed in only two solid colors of any variety. Like black and red or blue and yellow. However, if you think the limited colors or inks use will save you money, that is an error many clients make.

• The inks used for such jobs are pre-mixed and are not composites of CMYK. Thus, it requires the same treatment such as spot colors that are custom jobs.

2. Four color printing and using spot colors

• Four color printing is the default printing set-up. It uses the process inks of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to recreate your designs and colors. By layering these inks, the printers does it best to capture the original colors of your designs.

• However, if you do not know how to distinguish spot colors from CMYK, especially when designing your own print, you might accidentally go into spot color treatment for your prints which can be expensive.

• At the same time, if you don’t know that you are using a spot color for your design, you may compromise the quality of the colors you chose if you do not want to obtain the spot color treatment.

• Spot colors, also identified as Pantone colors, are specific and special ordered colors. This is a custom order that is more expensive than the standard four color or cmyk print because the inks are ordered separately. Additional color merits additional costs, specially since these inks will be solely used for your print job.

• Also, when you print with pantone colors, the print job is treated separately. Your printing job already assumes the cost of setup and plates. The amount of colors you use contributes directly to the print job as well.

3. Remember that a rich black is different from just black.

• The former can be achieved by combining certain hues of the darkest colors of cyan, magenta and yellow so that when your design are printed out, you have a rich and deep color. Do not mistakenly just use the hue black on your color palette as that may not be enough.

• Black is used to define the shadows and give contrasts or highlights necessary to bring out the detail of your prints. Make sure to fully use the advantages presented by four color printing to give you life like images and colorful prints which have different values.

Consult with a color printing company just what your options. To what lengths are the strengths of CMYK and when you need to use Pantone colors. There are online printing companies who can give you assistance and answer your queries through the help of graphic designers. Be resourceful and make full use of the services provided by online four color printing companies.

By: Joel Owens

The more you are unique and have a striking poster design, the more your promotions will be noticed. When you make a poster online, your options are limitless that any type of complex layout and color combinations are possible, with quality prints at affordable prices.

A good and effective design is worth using for a long period of promotions, and you can get poster printing cheap through bulk production found at online websites. Give your business a chance to experiment on different and unconventional designs, print them in small quantities for a test drive, and if the mini promotion works, opt for a much larger marketing campaign and avail of discounts for an online bulk printing option.

1. Dull and Pastel-Like: Since poster prints already emit a shiny and luminous appeal, you can experiment by being the only ad with a pastel-like design. You can feel confident about going dull with your graphics as long as you build a design fit for the concept. For example, different square slices of cake, with a shot taken from the top, can work with pastel-like colors. Since the colors of the cake are in blue, pink, and other bright colors, a cake design can still look attractive, and actually, more delectable in pastel.

2. Glass Cuts: Use uneven patches as your base and with one design; fill up the spaces of the whole poster. You can have a stained glass effect with each glass cut printed in different color levels. For example, one part dull with the next glass cut rich in color. You can also mix black and white, sepia, or other colors that can seem like cellophane wraps.

3. Crumpled Paper: Imagine a blank newspaper crumpled and reopened; use this as the texture of your whole design. This effect can be done easily with the help of design experts found online. This concept can work well for more upbeat promotions that have a direct approach such as campaigns for causes.

Changing your direction in designing promotional posters can also be effective; since something different will be noticed by your targets, and eventually, get their interest.

By: Nikki Sabato