RGB or CMYK?

Many artists design artworks in RGB color mode, or their drawing software defaults to RGB. However, we use CMYK color mode for printing.

If you send us files in RGB format, the printed colors will usually turn out darker than expected.

First, let’s take a look at the RGB and CMYK color modes respectively.

 

RGB

 

RGB and additive mixing (vistaprint, 2025)

RGB stands for the three primary colors of light: red, green and blue. It follows the additive color model — simply put, mixing these three colors together produces white, as shown in the image above.

RGB is a light-emitting color mode, commonly used for display screens of electronic devices such as televisions, computers and tablets. This is why most drawing software defaults to the RGB color format.

 

CMYK

 

CMYK and subtractive mixing (vistaprint, 2025)

CMYK represents the three primary printing colors: Cyan (C), Magenta (M), and Yellow (Y). It adopts the subtractive color model. When these three colors are combined, they produce a tone close to black, which is referred to as K (Key), as shown in the image above.These four colors correspond to the four standard printing values of CMYK.
CMYK is a printing color mode that displays colors by reflecting light. It is commonly used for printing materials such as magazines, newspapers, and all of our products.

Converting digital artwork in RGB to printed finished products in CMYK essentially involves a color mode conversion. To minimize color discrepancy, we recommend designing your artwork directly in the CMYK color mode from the start, which is also one of the most effective ways to reduce color deviation.

 

If you have already finished your artwork in RGB format, you can follow these steps to convert the color mode:

1. Open the image you wish to convert in Photoshop.

2. Navigate to the Image menu.

3. Select Mode, then click CMYK Color.

4. Since RGB and CMYK have different gamut ranges, you may need to adjust the colors after conversion. Use Hue/Saturation or Curves to fine-tune the colors to match your expected printing effect.

5. Save the image.

If you are not the original creator of the image, don’t know how to convert it to CMYK mode, or are unfamiliar with adjusting colors in Photoshop, or if you want to use photos for custom products -- there is no need to worry.

You can simply increase the brightness of your design by 10% to 20%. While the printed colors won’t be as precise as those professionally adjusted, this method can prevent the final print from turning too dark and losing fine details.