One of the most frequent questions we get.
“Why doesn’t my printed piece match what I have on my screen (my office printer, my friends iPhone, etc.)?”
Using color in print can be frustrating. Every printing device operates differently. These differences can cause the printed document to look different from one printing device to another.
To address this issue, the printing industry uses Pantone colors. “The Pantone Color Matching System is largely a standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another” (wikipedia).
But viewing these same colors on the Internet, or on your own computer screen is a whole different ballgame.
Unlike print media where you are controlling where your materials print, computer screen colors are completely dependent on the settings on each individual computer.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a Pantone color matching system when viewing on-screen/online. It is impossible to take Pantone color and include it in a web design. Even if it looks right on your screen it won’t on others.
Why?
Because everyone has different computers and monitors. There’s LCD screens and traditional tube monitors. There’s the color settings on each machine and they can be set to 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256 millions of colors. Then there’s the quality of video card, along the quality of the monitor.
There’s all the different operating systems, and last but not least, there are all the different viewing browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Flock, Chrome, Safari to name a few). Add in devices like iphones with their own operating systems and viewing screens and you have a 100 different ways to view color.
And, there’s more -
Monitors emit color as RGB (red, green, blue) light and are capable of displaying only a limited range of the visible spectrum. Monitors emit light, while inked paper absorbs, or reflects it.
We use color management systems for calibrating monitors, scanners, printers, and digital cameras so they all “talk the same color.”
When was the last time you tested your monitor colors or changed them from the factory defaults?
Having trouble seeing your website in the right colors? Call us at 707-578-1390 today and we can recommend some inexpensive color calibration tools.
Our continued success to you,
About Forward Motion Studios -
Forward Motion Studios™ is a Santa Rosa Web Design company that builds, hosts and supports custom websites for businesses. This includes simple, brochure-like web pages to highly complex, software and database-driven eCommerce websites with B2B shopping carts. You can catch their Tweets at twitter/forwardmotion.
