There are many places a project can go awry between the screen and the printer. Find out how to fix some of these common issues.When I worked in the print industry a common theme among most of the clients was: “I want this to look like it does on my screen.” This sometimes is easier said than done. Why is this, and what can I do to fix it?

It is important to understand the difference between the two mediums. Your monitor uses RGB to display color. RGB stands for Red, Blue and Green. Your TV and scanner both use this color interpretation. The printer you have at home, as well as many other color printers, employ a process known as CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Some printers use additional colors to hone in on even more colors.

All monitors are calibrated differently. If you have ever walked into an electronics store to buy a TV you know this to be true. It varies by brand and by the person who set the monitor up’s preference. Printers can also be adjusted by user preference, vary by brand, paper type, ink brand, speed and how many colors your printer uses. Paper itself has a variety of issues such as coating, age of paper, humidity and color.

To sidestep some of these issues you can do the following:

• Logo’s and branding – use a PMS (Pantone Matching System) Color Bridge. This book gives you colors if they were printing on different presses. Using this helps to avoid drastic color variations which happen with certain colors.
• Don’t be tied to a result. Unless the color is extremely off (may be indicative of printer or monitor failure) a print that is slightly off will still get the same message across. People’s perception is for the most part basic, ex.; blue is dark blue, blue and light blue, red can be burgundy, dark red, red or pink. Your client is not studying the brochure but gleaning content from it. If the overall feel is right that is normally what is most important.
• Your monitor may need to be calibrated or replaced. Pantone sells a device that calibrates your monitor. You may also adjust your monitor yourself to match your printer more closely.

Remember – Everyone wants their printed piece to look good. A printer wants the same thing. The closer that your print is to your monitor the easier for the printer to color match your piece. Bring a printed sample of your piece. Printers also normally charge extra for extra time spent (called pre-press), so be a precise as possible when explaining and showing what color(s) you want.