

When using metallic or fluorescent colors, which can very difficult for the CMYK process to replicate.Ĥ. If your job involves fewer than four colors, it can often be more affordable to have it printed using spot colors.ģ. When your job is very color critical, such as brand-standard colors used on a logo.Ģ. According to Pantone®, about 55% of Pantone® spot colors can be matched using basic process printing, although that percentage grows significantly when an Extended Gamut process is used (more on that in a moment).ġ. When colors can accurately be reproduced using the four-color CMYK printing process (we discuss this in more detail in an upcoming post).

For jobs with many colors, spot colors can become very expensive.ģ. In spot color printing, because colors are not mixed, each Pantone®-designated color requires its own printing tower or color station. If jobs are not color critical, involve more than three colors, and keeping costs down is a priority. Whenever your printed piece involves full-color imagery or photography.Ģ. What are the pros and cons of both process and spot colors, and when should one be used over the other? Let’s discuss.ġ. With spot printing, the result is a uniform and consistent color – always the same, from job to job and printer to printer. Meanwhile, that same shade of green can be achieved with spot colors through a precisely pre-mixed recipe. However, differences in printers, inks and calibration settings could lead to very different results. As an example, a specific shade of green may be achieved through process printing by mixing certain combinations of yellow and cyan inks. Instead, colors come as pre-mixed recipes. Spot (sometimes referred to as solid) colors differ in that there is no mixing of colors in the printing process. This may be what you’re looking for if you want to use “pastel colors” in your painting.To understand what spot colors are, you must first understand what they are not.ĬMYK (also known as process or four-color) printing involves tiny halftone dots of color (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) being laid onto a substrate in combinations and formations that fools the human eye into perceiving continuous color. In general, adding white to colors will give them a “chalky” appearance. It’s the transparent colors that give watercolor painting their vibrancy.Īnother option is to add white to make a light purple, although it will look less saturated.
#2 COLOR PROJECT MAGENTA CHANNEL SPOT COLOR HOW TO#
As I describe in my post How to Make Acrylics More Vibrant, working in transparent glazes is one way to achieve vibrant colors in your paintings. Apply it in thin layers to create a vibrant purple. Since both Phthalo Blue and Quinacridone Magenta are transparent, the purple will also be transparent. You can see this in the right side of the photo at the top of the post. If you apply it in thick layers it will look very dark. The resulting purple is a dark and transparent color. Continue adding Quinacridone Magenta until it turns the shade of purple that you prefer. At first, it will become a dark blue that’s a close approximation of Ultramarine Blue. If you’re interested in using a limited palette, you’ll want to read my post The 7 Color You Need to Start Painting in Acrylics.īegin with a pile of Phthalo Blue and gradually start mixing in small amounts of Quinacridone Magenta. It creates a vivid purple from the colors that I already have on my palette. This is my favorite recipe for mixing purple. The swatches in the middle are mixtures of both colors.

Pure Phthalo Blue is on the left and Quinacridone Magenta is on the right. Click the “back” button in your browser to return to the table of contents. You can use the table of contents to jump to specific sections.

I also answer a number of related questions, including how to mix lavender, how to mix Dioxazine Purple, and more. In this post, I provide 6 recipes for mixing purple. Other blues, such as Ultramarine Blue, will also work. You can mix purple from Quinacridone Magenta and Phthalo Blue. So how do you mix purple? The key to mixing a brilliant purple is using magenta instead of red. For reasons explained in this post, mixing red and blue creates brown. If you’re having trouble mixing purple, it’s probably because you’re mixing red with blue. Is It Worth Buying Prism Violet and Medium Magenta? Why You Can’t Mix Purple From Red and Blue 2 Ultramarine Blue and Quinacridone Magenta
