Hi all, I have a logo that I have created using photoshop 7 which, when I have had it printed by a professional printer company, comes out a different colour. The colour is supposed to be a dark oatmeal which when printed was a dark olive green. What can I be doing wrong? I saved it in CMYK. Any advice would be great, but what would be fantastic would be for someone to tell me the proper steps to follow to make an image ready for print. Thanks in advance. Minty.

I suspect that it's a color profile thing.

For example, you may be using FOCOLTONE to create the logo, and they may be using TRUEMATCH.

Call the printer and tell them what profile you are using.

I called one printer to ask what format they would like me to send them for some business cards, and they asked my to use Adobe Acrobat.

Remember...logo's should be done with "Vectors" rather than "Pixels" that way...the image can be resized dynamically,without losing resolution.

For example...the same logo would look good on a pen, coffee cup, T-shirt or hat, a vehicle, or billboard.

Pixels would not do well in a situation like this.

Anyway..as mentioned...I'm still learning about printing as well so I'd be interested to see what other might have to say about this.

Tom

Thanks for the advice Tom, I really appreciate your advice. Cheers. Anthony. 

Also note that display color gamut varies based upon individual monitors (even those that are the same make and model) and graphics display card...  Then heap on top of that the variation that can occur when sent to the printer... Yikes! This isn't exactly an easy task.

Best bet is to try getting some sample proofs made. Then you can adjust your CMYK levels to what seems correct. And run another proof to see if it's right. Keep in mind the lighting of where the final print is to be used, that can also shift colors. (sheesh) Repeat doing proofs until ready for print (or until the budget/printer/deadline says "enough already!") Then you can be sure that the color representation is correct (or as close as you're going to get) between the additive colors on the monitor and the subtractive or translucent colors used in print.

If you can't get proofs or are trying to make a one-off item, next best bet is to use a color-match system such as Pantone. The comparison swatches aren't exactly cheap brand-new, but some people resell old swatch cards online. There might be a little wear and tear, but as long as they're stored away from strong direct light or anything else that could damage them, they'll be up to the job. Then again this may only be useful if your printer supports the system too.

If you save it in CMYK, the intention is that it will be printed in CMYK, not with pantone inks.

Most printers nowadays prefer that you create a pdf, and that they do the conversion to CMYK. There are so many variables (how black do they go, how white,...) In case you want to use pantones, refer to their booklet with colours, not to the output of your printer.

Best advise of all: ask the printer what he prefers to get.

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to be speaking to the printers tomorrow so if I get any feedback that I think will be of help to this thread I'll post it here. Cheers again. Anthony.

Gonna sound silly, but I bet for this printer you needed to save it as RGB.

Printing press (business cards, catalogs, magazines, general publications): CMYK
Photographic printers (1hr photo labs, pro photo labs, anyone "professional" using an inkjet printer): RGB

I worked for one lab where people brought in CMYK documents all the time because "it's the professional format, right?" Printing on actual color photo paper (RA-4) is done with RGB files. The color change you described sounds like that problem - I wish I could remember the exact color outputs that were different to be absolutely certain.

Good luck-
-Lew ;-)

the  thing about converting it to cmyk is that converts using your settings not the printer's settings.

perceptual coulours on the monitor can be difficult to match printed output - i think it's near impossible - i doubt you get paper as white as your monitor - nor could you print 'black' as black as you monitor looks like turned off - monitors and printers use a diffent gammut, thus you will have to use a colour, or two, that is allready printed for your logo colour-