{"id":4027,"date":"2019-09-21T07:20:02","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T07:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onlinelogomaker.com\/blog\/5-tips-for-designing-a-printed-graphic"},"modified":"2019-10-11T14:56:26","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T14:56:26","slug":"5-tips-for-designing-a-printed-graphic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlinelogomaker.com\/blog\/5-tips-for-designing-a-printed-graphic\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips For Designing a Printed Graphic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When converting a design concept into a properly printed graphic, several potential pitfalls could cause your work to turn out differently than you might expect or hope.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s\u00a0look at the origin of these issues, and some tips to avoid running into them altogether.<\/p>\n

A Little Bit of Color Theory<\/h2>\n

First, let\u2019s cover how creating colors works. There are two fundamental models of color \u2013 additive and subtractive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The additive color model concerns\u00a0adding<\/em> different wavelengths of light, starting from black. Think about pointing different colored lights at a wall to mix the colors \u2013 this is additive color since you\u2019re adding light together to get the desired color.<\/p>\n

Additive color works differently from what\u00a0many people are\u00a0used to since the three colors of light needed to get white light are red, green, and blue.<\/p>\n

The subtractive color model centers around\u00a0subtracting<\/em> different wavelengths of light, starting from white light. Remember, white light contains the entire spectrum of colors \u2013 this is why a prism can refract\u00a0it into a full rainbow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By subtracting different colors from white light, you can get a specific color. Think about shining a white light through a red piece of glass \u2013 by removing all the other colors, you end up with red light.<\/p>\n

How Does This Effect Making a Printed Graphic?<\/h2>\n

All things that use light to create color operate on the additive color model. That means your computer monitor, your phone, a movie projector; anything that puts out light.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, anything that doesn\u2019t put out light, or incorporates pigment, uses the subtractive color model.\u00a0Examples include things like a printed graphic t-shirt, text on a page, or a pretty rock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those who work in print and design have to work around this, which can be tricky. Most displays can show a little over 16 million colors, but most printers can only print a few thousand, and the ranges of colors for each don\u2019t necessarily overlap.<\/p>\n

So Why Does Your Design Look Weird?<\/h2>\n

There could be a lot of reasons your design looks off. The colors in your printer don\u2019t match the colors of your screen. Two colors that may be meaningfully distinct in the RGB color space (on your screen) could be identical to one another in the CMYK color space (in print).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consider converting an image to black and white \u2013 often, two completely different colors will end up the same shade of grey.\u00a0Colors overlapping, as above, can lead to a print design losing meaningful visual boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How Do You\u00a0Design A Printed Graphic That\u2019s Error-Free?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

1. Change the Color Space in Your Design Program<\/h3>\n

You can limit the color space you work in for creating your designs and match it to your materials. For instance, if your printer uses cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (also called \u2018key\u2019) ink cartridges \u2013 you would change your design program to the CMYK color space.<\/p>\n

2. Color Separations<\/h3>\n

If your target is screen printing (as on t-shirts), you\u2019ll want to look into color separations<\/a>.\u00a0Color separations are the\u00a0complex process of converting a multi-colored design into a sufficiently limited gamut to print efficiently.<\/p>\n

A talented designer can take\u00a0you through this process without losing the feeling of the original.<\/p>\n

3. Rework Your Thematic Pallete for Contrast<\/h3>\n

As mentioned above, colors that have a sharp contrast on the screen may not have that contrast in CMYK.\u00a0Print off a color card<\/a> with primary and secondary thematic colors of your design to check their visual contrast.<\/p>\n

4. Start Small, Go Big<\/h3>\n

When in doubt, start your design process with a more limited gamut. You can always adjust to having more colors to work with, but the reverse is often quite a painful process.<\/p>\n

5. Black and White<\/h3>\n

Finally, you should always check how your design will look when converted to\u00a0either pure black and white or grayscale. This tip goes double for logos, which may need to be embossed (depth doesn\u2019t have a color).<\/p>\n

Even traditional graphics should at least get a cursory glance with a grayscale filter. After all \u2013 you never know how the emphasis in your design might change when viewed in a different light.<\/p>\n

Remember, Simple Does Not Mean Bad<\/h2>\n

If you find yourself drowning in the minutiae, trying to separate a finely detailed design for your printed graphic into distinctive enough blocks to be recognizable, even though you can only use three colors, remember that you can keep it simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The human visual process loves engaging imagination; turning craters on the moon into faces, and clouds into fantastic creatures.\u00a0So in this world of ever-increasing complexity, a pocket of minimalism and simplicity can draw the eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are you looking for help with your logo? Check out our blog for practical advice you can use and try out our logo maker today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When converting a design concept into a properly printed graphic, several potential pitfalls could cause your work to turn out differently than you might expect or hope.\u00a0 Let\u2019s\u00a0look at the origin of these issues, and some tips to avoid running into them altogether. A Little Bit of Color Theory First, let\u2019s cover how creating colors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":4028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1202],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Tips For Designing a Printed Graphic • Online Logo Maker's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When converting a design concept into a properly printed graphic, several potential pitfalls could cause your work to turn out differently than you might\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onlinelogomaker.com\/blog\/5-tips-for-designing-a-printed-graphic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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