What You Need to Know About True Black CMYK

Since computers were invented, people have realized the importance of printers. Personally, I use a printer every single day of my life to put my thoughts into hard copy, and also capture memories in photography and my own designs. Printing is something that is so very integral to society today, and something that you need to do your research on as it is a financial investment.

For years, people have been asking whether they should buy a printer themselves or whether they should just use printing services for everything. I always respond with another question, “What will you be using it for?” This is what you need to figure out before you can know which is more financially smart for you. But in order to understanding printing, you must understand the basics, which is why you need to know about “true black CMYK” and what it all means.

What exactly is true black CMYK?…

Well, this is also known as rich black, and it is a way to get the darkest black tone possible when printing. Did you know that if you use black ink alone, without having any CMYK in the mixing process, you are not getting a predominantly dark tone? Black, on its own, is just not dark enough for some people, and that is why many have turned to start using rich black in printing.

Source: cherlandra.com

So, what is CMYK and why should you know it? CMYK actually stands for the four primary inks used in most colour printing. The C stands for cyan, the M stands for magenta, the Y stands for Yellow, and the K stands for key (also known as black). Even though this colour printing style may vary depending on where you are at, this is essentially what is applied when printing in colour. When these four dominant colours are combined fully together they can create secondary mixtures such as red, green, and blue. This is why CMYK is used for colour printing, as the options are endless and it leaves you with a really rich vibrant colour print.

To achieve true black CMYK, the printing company mixes the typical solid black ink over one or more of the CMYK colours. This makes a far darker tone and a richer black to print. Typically to achieve a true black, they will mix 100% of the normal black ink with 50% of each of the other inks of CMYK. To know exactly which colour out of CMYK is being used, it varies by what type of black you are printing. There is cool black, warm black, registration black, and rich black. To know more about true black CMYK, talk to your local printing provider for all the mixture information.