OUGD404 - RGB vs CMYK

There are two different colour spectrums that are used within printing and design – RGB and CMYK. RGB stands for red, green and blue. These three colours are used as a base to form all the others colours – this is because red green and blue are additive colours. The other colours are created by mixing together different quantities of these additive colours. RGB is the colour mode usually used for computer monitors and other displays such as LED/LCD televisions, and this is because it offers the widest selection of colours. Combining the three colours allows you to produce any colour you want with a great deal of accuracy. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (key – another name for black). Comparatively to RBG, CMYK are subtractive rather than additive colours. In CMYK colour mode, the more colours you add together, the darker the resulting colour is. Not only does CMYK work with four colours rather than the three that RGB does, the two processes are essentially opposite. CMYK works because as you add the colours together, light is removed or absorbed to create the resulting colour. It is only when you add the ‘key’ colour, that being black, that the full amount of colour is removed from the image. When an RGB design is printed using a CMYK process, the colours appear differently to how they appear on screen. When designing for digital mediums, RGB is usually the better choice as a larger variety of colours can be used, whereas if you are designing for print, it would be more appropriate to work in CMYK or convert after you have finished designing.