How to Achieve Great Color Every Time (1,549 words)

A computer monitor is an "RGB" device. It reproduces color using dots of red, green and blue. The color space of a monitor is smaller than that of the human eye.

Because printed color is reflected off the paper, it is created by either absorbing or reflecting color, not by projecting light, as the monitor does. Printing presses therefore use the complementary colors of RGB, which are cyan, magenta and yellow. The CMYK color space is even smaller than the RGB. In other words, just because you can see a color on the monitor doesn't mean you can have it on press.