One of the most common mistakes that causes a great deal of headaches are color separation issues. Many designers and printers run into images that haven't been converted from RGB to CMYK. Computer monitors emit RGB colors to create all of the images that you see on a monitor, while printing uses CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) which act as a filter for light that is absorbed or reflected creating all of the colors that we see.

Submitted by Printing America Staff on Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Color Separations are artwork and photographs that are split into their component colors so that each component color can be imaged onto its own printing plates. Each of these plates contains one of the four following colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). As the paper is run through a printing press these component colors are reassembled into a reproduction of the intended image. By mixing these colors, printers are able to create almost every color imaginable.

Submitted by Printing America Staff on Thursday, January 27th, 2011