C MY K C O L O R G U I D E

F O R MU L A S F O RG E T T I N G T H E O P T I MA L R E S U L T S O NC O L O RR E P R O D U C T I O N

CMYK Color Guide

Reading these color charts
This guide contains a series of colors that are known to be able to be reliably reproduced using CMYK oset printing. While no color matching can be guaranteed, including on the colors shown here, without ordering a spot or Pantone color, the colors and color values shown here are good choices to ensure accurate color reproduction. The color charts are organized starting with the dark base color in the top left and decreasing color values gradually while progressing around the color wheel. The other color wheels on the page increase the values of secondary colors, for example magenta and yellow, while creating blues. Please note that, depending on your monitor settings, the colors may appear differently on your screen than they print on an oset press. Colors will also vary if this guide is printed on an ink jet or laser printer.

Base wheel
C: 70 M: 100 Y: 0 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 5 M: 10 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 0 K: 0 C: 25 M: 35 Y: 0 K: 0

Variants
C: 75 M: 100 Y: 20 K: 0 C: 50 M: 70 Y: 15 K: 0 C: 75 M: 100 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 35 K: 0

C: 75 M: 100 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 3 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 10 K: 0 C: 25 M: 35 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 25 K: 0 C: 25 M: 35 Y: 15 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 40 K: 0 C: 20 M: 30 Y: 20 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Make black
Blacks are created in printing by the presence of color; the black (K) color creates shades of gray based on its density, or the value between 1100. Rich black blends all 4 colors (CMYK) to create a darker, richer black. Avoid over-saturating the paper, its not a good idea to concoct your own rich black by setting all colors to the max: 100-100-100-100. Instead, try some of the values shown below. Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

Black

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 100
> BASE COLOR

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 70

C: 30 M: 30 Y: 30 K: 100

C: 25 M: 25 Y: 25 K: 70

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 10

just black

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 50 C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 30

C: 5 M: 5 Y: 5 K: 10

rich black

C: 20 M: 20 Y: 20 K: 50 C: 15 M: 15 Y: 15 K: 30

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Bold & daring, yet romantic
Red quickly turns orange or rust colored in printing. Keep the levels of magenta and yellow in balance: too much magenta turns the red to pink and too much yellow makes the blend orange. Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

Reds

C: 0 M: 100 Y: 100 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 0 M: 70 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 20 M: 100 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 15 M: 70 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 0 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 0 M: 50 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 0 M: 30 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 2 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 10 M: 50 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 5 M: 30 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 50 M: 100 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 35 M: 70 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 70 M: 100 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 5 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 25 M: 50 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 15 M: 30 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 35 M: 50 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 20 M: 30 Y: 30 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Rustic & automnal
Making a statement with a ashy orange requires 1 part magenta and 2 parts yellow, with 0-50-100-0 being one of the best combinations. Imbalanced colors result in mossy greens or rich rust and earthy brown.

Oranges & Browns

Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

C: 0 M: 70 Y: 100 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 0 M: 50 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 20 M: 70 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 15 M: 50 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 0 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 0 M: 35 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 0 M: 20 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 2 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 10 M: 30 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 5 M: 20 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 35 M: 50 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 70 M: 70 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 50 M: 50 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 5 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 25 M: 35 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 15 M: 20 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 35 M: 35 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 20 M: 20 Y: 30 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Oranges & Browns

C: 0 M: 50 Y: 100 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 0 M: 30 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 20 M: 50 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 15 M: 35 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 0 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 0 M: 20 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 0 M: 15 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 2 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 10 M: 25 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 5 M: 15 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 50 M: 50 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 35 M: 35 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 70 M: 50 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 50 M: 35 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 5 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 25 M: 25 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 15 M: 15 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 7 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 35 M: 25 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 20 M: 15 Y: 30 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Young & vibrant
Greens are constructed with cyan and yellow. Equal, dense levels of cyan and yellow are the building blocks of vibrant greens. Yellow is hard to darken without transforming it into a sage or mustard color, or in more dense mixtures becomes orange and green. Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

Yellows & Greens

C: 0 M: 30 Y: 100 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 0 M: 20 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 20 M: 30 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 15 M: 20 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 0 M: 2 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 0 M: 15 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 0 M: 10 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 2 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 10 M: 15 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 5 M: 10 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 50 M: 30 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 35 M: 20 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 70 M: 70 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 50 M: 20 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 5 M: 3 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 25 M: 15 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 15 M: 20 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 35 M: 15 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 20 M: 10 Y: 30 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Yellows & Greens

C: 0 M: 10 Y: 100 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 0 M: 5 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 20 M: 10 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 15 M: 5 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 0 M: 5 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 0 M: 3 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 2 M: 0 Y: 15 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 5 M: 3 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 50 M: 10 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 35 M: 5 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 70 M: 10 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 50 M: 5 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 5 M: 0 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 25 M: 7 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 15 M: 3 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 7 M: 0 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 35 M: 5 Y: 50 K: 0 C: 20 M: 3 Y: 30 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Yellows & Greens

C: 80 M: 0 Y: 80 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 55 M: 0 Y: 55 K: 0

C: 80 M: 20 Y: 80 K: 0

C: 55 M: 15 Y: 55 K: 0

C: 10 M: 0 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 40 M: 0 Y: 40 K: 0 C: 25 M: 0 Y: 25 K: 0

C: 10 M: 2 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 40 M: 10 Y: 40 K: 0 C: 25 M: 5 Y: 25 K: 0

C: 80 M: 50 Y: 80 K: 0

C: 55 M: 35 Y: 55 K: 0

C: 80 M: 70 Y: 80 K: 0

C: 55 M: 50 Y: 55 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 40 M: 25 Y: 40 K: 0 C: 25 M: 15 Y: 25 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 40 M: 35 Y: 40 K: 0 C: 25 M: 20 Y: 25 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Clean & fresh
Blue is one of the hardest colors to accurately reproduce with CMYK printing. The purest blues are even, balanced color mixtures such as 100-50-0-0. Imbalanced blends produce purple and green colors.

Blues

Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

C: 100 M: 0 Y: 30 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 70 M: 0 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 100 M: 20 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 70 M: 15 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 10 M: 0 Y: 3 K: 0

C: 50 M: 0 Y: 15 K: 0 C: 30 M: 0 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 10 M: 2 Y: 3 K: 0

C: 50 M: 10 Y: 15 K: 0 C: 30 M: 5 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 100 M: 50 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 70 M: 35 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 100 M: 70 Y: 30 K: 0

C: 70 M: 50 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 3 K: 0

C: 50 M: 25 Y: 15 K: 0 C: 30 M: 15 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 3 K: 0

C: 50 M: 35 Y: 15 K: 0 C: 30 M: 20 Y: 10 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Blues

C: 100 M: 50 Y: 0 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 70 M: 35 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 100 M: 50 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 70 M: 35 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 50 M: 25 Y: 0 K: 0 C: 30 M: 15 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 2 K: 0

C: 50 M: 25 Y: 10 K: 0 C: 30 M: 15 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 100 M: 50 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 70 M: 35 Y: 35 K: 0

C: 100 M: 50 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 70 M: 35 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 50 M: 25 Y: 25 K: 0 C: 30 M: 15 Y: 15 K: 0

C: 10 M: 5 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 50 M: 25 Y: 35 K: 0 C: 30 M: 15 Y: 20 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Royal & elegant
Despite a regal heritage and easy CMYK reproduction, purple is typically limited in use in modern design. Remember that blue tones quickly appear purple when too much magenta is added. Bold purples use a 3-to-2 ratio between Magenta and Cyan, such as 70-100-0-0

Purples

Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

C: 70 M: 100 Y: 0 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 75 M: 100 Y: 20 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 15 K: 0

C: 5 M: 10 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 0 K: 0 C: 25 M: 35 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 3 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 10 K: 0 C: 25 M: 35 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 75 M: 100 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 35 K: 0

C: 75 M: 100 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 50 M: 70 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 25 K: 0 C: 25 M: 35 Y: 15 K: 0

C: 10 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 40 M: 50 Y: 40 K: 0 C: 20 M: 30 Y: 20 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Just plain esty
Ah, pink. The best pink tones have an extraordinarily high level of magenta and relatively low levels of yellow, cyan, and black. Too much yellow deviates to red hues while too much blue makes a purple mix.

Pinks

Be careful when using black to darken colors, it quickly looks muddy.

C: 10 M: 100 Y: 0 K: 0
> BASE COLOR

C: 10 M: 70 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 10 M: 100 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 15 M: 20 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 0 M: 10 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 5 M: 50 Y: 0 K: 0 C: 3 M: 30 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 0 M: 10 Y: 2 K: 0

C: 5 M: 50 Y: 10 K: 0 C: 3 M: 30 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 10 M: 100 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 7 M: 100 Y: 35 K: 0

C: 10 M: 100 Y: 70 K: 0

C: 7 M: 70 Y: 50 K: 0

C: 0 M: 10 Y: 5 K: 0

C: 5 M: 50 Y: 25 K: 0 C: 3 M: 30 Y: 15 K: 0

C: 0 M: 10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 5 M: 50 Y: 35 K: 0 C: 3 M: 30 Y: 20 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

CMYK Color Guide

Getting vibrant colors
You want your designs to pop of the page? While CMYKs color range isnt uorescant bright, these color mixtures will produce outstanding, bright results in oset printing.

Pop!

C: 0 M: 100 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 0 M: 60 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 100 M: 0 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 100 M: 15 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 5 M: 100 Y: 0 K: 0

warmer tones

C: 0 M: 30 Y: 100 K: 0 C: 0 M: 5 Y: 100 K: 0

C: 0 M: 30 Y: 0 K: 0

cooler tones

C: 100 M: 70 Y: 0 K: 0 C: 60 M: 100 Y: 0 K: 0

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.