What's CMYK ?
Published Time:2015-08-18 Original Source:What's CMYK ?
What's CMYK ?
CMYK is the color mode for offset printing process, based on the color mixing of 3 original colors and the black color to make the full-color printing.
The 4 colors are CMYK:
C: Cyan = Cyan, also known as 'sky blue' or 'blue'
M: Magenta = Magenta, also known as 'magenta';
Y: Yellow = yellow;
K: Key Plate (blacK) = Location registering color (black).
So, what's CMYK ? CMYK is also known as printing color mode, as you can see on it's name, it's used for printing.
Comparing to the RGB mode, the biggest difference is that, RGB is a kind of luminous color mode, even you are in a dark room, you can still see the contents of the screen.
However, CMYK is a color model relies on reflecting. How can we read the contents on the newspaper? It's upon the sun light or light exposuring to the newspaper, then reflecting to our eyes, so we can see the content. It requires external light source, that's why you can not read a newspaper in a dark room.
As long as the image is displayed on the screen, it is RGB mode performance. As long as the image was seen in printing, it is CMYK mode performance. Such as journals, magazines, newspapers, posters, etc., they are printed, and it is the CMYK mode.
Please check the below butterfly showing you the CMYK colors:
