Should sticker artwork be CMYK or RGB?

The short version

Screens make color with light (RGB), presses make it with ink (CMYK). Converting between the two always loses some saturation, which is why a neon green on your monitor can print muddy at a 4-color shop.

What makes our output different

Our Epson SureColor presses carry 11 inks: cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, orange, green, violet, black, light black and light light black. The added orange, green and violet extend the printable gamut well past standard CMYK, and the light inks smooth gradients and skin tones that would otherwise band.

Practically, that means:

• Brand oranges and greens land close to their Pantone reference
• Purple and violet do not shift toward blue
• Photographic stickers keep believable skin tones
• Gradients fade smoothly instead of stair-stepping

Pantone matching

Tell us the Pantone number in the order notes and we match it as closely as the ink set allows, then show it in the proof. A physical press proof mailed to you is available on request for brand-critical work.

Practical advice

• If your brand guide specifies CMYK values, build the file in CMYK.
• If you are working from a web logo, leave it in sRGB rather than doing a naive conversion.
• Rich black should be C60 M40 Y40 K100, never K100 alone, which prints as a washed dark grey on vinyl.
• Very fine white text over dark backgrounds should be at least 6 pt to stay clean.