A spot color refers to a method of specifying and printing a color in which its own ink color is specifically created. These are generally used for silvers, golds, fluorescents and other colors that are hard to create in CMYK. If you need printing done for business solutions, especially in the Los Angeles, Hollywood culture, where everything has to look slick and glamorous, you will need Spot Color printing.
In contrast, process color (aka four color printing) uses four inks (CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) to produce all other colors.
Spot color printing will be used when only 1-3 specific colors needs to be printed, or when a full color print project has certain color critical elements that need their own special color mix.
PMS stands for Pantone Matching System. This is a popular color matching system used by the printing industry to print spot colors. Here, specific colors are indicated by their Pantone name or number. Most printers have an ink formula guide to achieve the desired color.
Most design program that support color printing allow you to specify colors by indicating the Pantone name or number. This assures that you get the right color when the file is printed, even though the color may not look right when displayed on your monitor.
For more information on how to print spot colors and what can be done with them Clear Print can help. Call or come in anytime. We are located in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley, just minutes from Los Angeles, Westlake Village, Simi Valley, Valencia, Burbank and Glendale.
