By: Brad Kartel
Submitted: 2011-07-19 22:48:04 | Word Count: 611
CMYK simply stands for the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, the four colors that make up commercial printing. While most images from digital cameras come in RGB format, you will have to convert them before you submit them to the commercial printer if you need to have advertising collaterals produced.
RGB, on the other hand, stands for the colors Red, Green and Blue-the color format used in most screens like the TV, LCD monitor of the digital camera, and the computer. While these colors will be easily read by an inkjet or laser printer, these could not be properly processed for commercial printing because the machines read the four entirely different colors of CMYK. This means that if you need to use your photos for printing, you will have to convert them to CMYK mode first.
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1. You will need the program called Adobe Photoshop CS2 in order to do this. You open the file that you desire and check its mode by going to "Image" then "Mode." The program will then open a drop down menu. Most likely, "RGB" is the option that is checked. This means that your file is in RGB Mode.
2. Change this by clicking "CMYK" and you will see that the check mark will move.
3. If this is the only thing that you would like to edit in your image, then you can proceed to saving it by clicking on "Save as" and then making another filename for it so that you could retain the original file. You may want to use a descriptive filename for the edited photo, such as "Beachfront-CMYK" so that you will know that it is already the edited copy.
But if you need to alter the photo, then this is the time to do so. You can crop the photo, adjust the brightness, the colors, the sharpness, or reduce red-eye. Correct the areas that need to be edited. Then proceed to "Save as".
The process is simple. However, before proceeding to have your materials printed, you may want to ask your commercial printer to give you a colored proof so that you will know the exact shades. Sometimes there are disparities from your monitor to the actual print because most monitors are not calibrated. So as to avoid surprises, ask for a colored proof because that is the closest that you can get to the final print. The colored proof is printed from the machine that separates the CMYK colors for printing. This machine is called the image setter.
If you do not know how to convert your photos to CMYK, you can ask the printer to do so. But they will have to charge you for the service because while the process is simple, it is time consuming. If it is only a few photos, then they may give it to you for free. But if you will be using a lot of photos, like for a catalog, then that would also cost you a lot.
Before printing in huge quantities, ask your commercial printer to give you a colored proof so that you can check the colors. Your computer monitor will not give show the exact colors of your file but a color proof will. This printout is not just printed through any printer but in the same machine that does the color separation. Commercial printing processes will read the ink requirements that were determined by the image setter.
Author Resource:-
Brad Kartel is a marketing executive whose passion is helping business owners build their campaign through acquiring commercial printing services. Learn more about this commercial printer.
