Z Fold Colour Guide
Colours in Zfold Printing
When you go to order your custom printed Zcards, you’re faced with two choices: full colour or black and white? But what do they actually entail? How do they work differently and how are they achieved? Are there any other custom options available? We explain all about Zfold colour in our handy Z fold colour guide … read on for more information!
Full colour
Full colour is the standard option for your K cards, Concertina folds and Z leaflets. That’s because we feel that your folded maps, leaflets and voucher booklets will be all the more stand-out if you print in vibrant full colour. But what is ‘full colour’?
Full colour refers to the CMYK form of printing – standing for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (the K refers to key which is ‘key colour’ or black!). CMYK printing is one of the most common forms out there, and we use it for Zfold printing on both our Offset Litho and Digital presses.
CMYK is often called the ‘full ‘colour process because it uses the key four colours in various mixes to create and reproduce the full colour palette required for all print jobs.
Black and White Printing
Black and white printing is as it sounds – purely printing in black and white. Except there is no printing with white colour – the white is simply the blank spaces. This method of printing provides you with black and white Zcards, by printing only the black (or Key Colour) on to your design.
Whereas black and white printing isn’t as eye-catching or striking, it can be used to great effect for monochromatic Zcard designs.
Pantone
Pantone colour derives from the Pantone Matching System. Using this, you can create more specific colours – ideal for matching branding or a logo identically. With Pantone printing you can also make more niche colours – like fluorescents or pastels.
RGB
RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue and is exclusively used for digital screens – like televisions projectors and of course computer monitors.
As it is a digital medium, we cannot print Z folds in RGB, and would strongly recommend that any Zcard design done in RBG is converted to CMYK before print, otherwise the colour may appear different than the one in your design.
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Pantone Matching System
Red, Blue and Green
Colour Conversions
Please save your Zcard design and artwork in CMYK, not RGB. If you have any individual design elements with their own colour scheme (e.g. a photograph), please ensure this too is in CMYK format.
Any Zcards saved in RGB mode (red, green, blue; the colour mode for digital displays and web images) may show colour discrepancies after they have been printed by our CMYK printers.
How do I convert my RGB Zcard to CMYK?
Select File > Document Colour Mode > CMYK in Illustrator or Image > Mode > CMYK Colour in Photoshop and Save. If saving as a PDF, review the Save Adobe PDF dialog box and check that Colour Conversion in the Output tab is set to No Conversion.
If you’re working in InDesign, you can convert any RGB images within your design by saving as a PDF and selecting the Press Quality PDF preset in the Save Adobe PDf dialog – then in the Output tab, select Convert to Destination (Preserve Numbers) and select a CMYK profile.
If you are unsure about colour or have any questions then call us on 023 8087 8037 or email us.