Why RGB Colors Need to be Converted to CMYK before printing

When a designer designs a album on a computer for printing, or wishes to print images from a digital camera, it is a common mistake to assume that the colors seen on the screen will look the same in print. As a result of this mistake, files for printing are often erroneously sent in the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) format for printing. The issue lies in the fact that the computer screen and many photo editing programs show colors in RGB mode, while images are printed on paper in Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black (CMYK) format. Sometimes the conversion from RGB to CMYK works without any problems arising, and a printout will look identical to what shows up on the computer. In other cases, there will be noticeable differences between the shades of color. The key to avoiding this potential problem is to convert all graphics to CMYK format during the layout design phase.

Difference between RGB and CMYK

• RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the typical color space used by electronic displays, monitors, pda screens, etc. In RGB, images are created by combining red, green, and blue light
• CMYK  (Cyan,Magenta,Yellow,Black) is mainly used by Digital Printers
• RGB colors are are measured in values ranging from 0 to 255.so it can produce colors that more vivid and vibrant
• CMYK color are measured in values ranging from 0 to 100
• In RGB,Red light plus Green light plus Blue light all projected together create white
• In CMYK,Superimpose Cyan ink plus Magenta ink plus Yellow ink, and you get black

Why RGB Colors Need to be Converted

The RGB scheme has a greater range of colors than CMYK and can produce colors that are more vivid and vibrant. These colors are beyond the range of CMYK to reproduce and will come out darker and more dull in print than what is seen on the monitor or display. Because the RGB color mode has the full range of colors, documents shown in CMYK mode will always show up precisely on-screen. RGB colors, however, will not necessarily appear in print as they do on-screen. To accurately print the document or image, it must be converted from its original RGB format to CMYK. It is possible to do this by using software such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator