Published: September 18, 2020

What exactly are CMYK, RGB or Pantone sizes?

The common denominator for CMYK, RGB and Pantone is, simply put, that they define colors.

Color definition is a universe unto itself and it's easy to get very nerdy about it. But here's a quick introduction to the basic colors that form the basis for every imaginable color combination.

CMYK

The abbreviation stands for Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow (yellow) and Key color (black). These are typically the colors used in your printer or by your printing company. CMYK is defined as a mixture of the four colors. Different percentages of the colors can become all kinds of different color variants when mixed. For example, the codes for our logo are: C=100, M=85, Y=35, K=25 (blue) and C=0, M=85, Y=70 K=0 (red). It's easy to remember...

CMYK colors can vary slightly from print to print because they are affected by the type of paper, printing method, the light the printed matter is viewed in and so on. However, this will usually not be a problem with professional color management.

Pantone

Pantone colors are also called the PMS color system or "pure colors". The 14 basic colors are mixed according to a number system and can become 1867 different colors - including neon and metallic colors that cannot be recreated with CMYK.

Unlike CMYK, Pantone colors are printed individually on the material and are often used on packaging.

RGB

RGB is an abbreviation for Red, Green and Blue, which are the colors you see on your mobile, computer or tablet. So these are the colors you need to define when choosing the colors for your website. As with CMYK colors, it's important to be aware that colors will not appear exactly the same on all screens as they will often be set differently. And just like CMYK, RGB colors are defined by turning individual colors up or down on a scale from 0-255. In this case, the blue color in our logo is coded R=0, G=29, B=124.

An RGB color cannot be printed directly and therefore the color will always be converted to CMYK first.

Color at your fingertips

It's nice to have a basic understanding of the different color scales, but luckily, you don't need to be an expert in the field to succeed with your projects. The graphic designers at our advertising agency are filled to the brim with color knowledge. They make sure that you always get the right colors on your materials - no matter where they're used.