Great Lakes Media Technology Blog

Disc Design Tips: When to add a Spot Color

Here in the GLMT prepress department, one of the most common questions we are asked is when to design in spot colors versus process color. So, I thought I would take a moment to explain the difference and how to apply them in your CD and DVD designs.

When you print something on your desktop inkjet printer at home, you are printing in process colors (CMYK). The printer is taking 4 different ink colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), and spraying little dots of each in various patterns that when viewed by the human eye appears to be all the colors of the rainbow. Our screen and offset presses run on the same principle. An image can be split up into these 4 different colors and each is laid onto the disc one at a time, resulting in the appearance of a nearly infinite amount of colors. Process colors work fantastic for photographic images. They are able to capture all the subtle differences in tones, shadows, and highlights.

Unlike your inkjet printer at home, we have the option of using spot colors in our printing process. I like to compare using spot colors to picking out wall paint colors at a hardware store. There are swatch libraries of hundreds of colors that look exactly the same in the sample book as when printed on the final product. Instead of using little dots of 4 different colors to simulate a color, the ink is pre-mixed to the desired color before being put into the press. Here at GLMT, we use the Pantone Solid Coated Library, which is an industry standard throughout the world.

There are a few different guidelines for when to incorporate spot colors into a design. First, is there something very specific that you want to match? Many corporations depend on specific colors for their identity. Spot colors print consistently across the board. If a customer asks for a "deep blue" it's hard to know what their definition of deep blue is, but if they say "Pantone 286", I know exactly what they mean and can deliver what they expect.

Another time to use spot colors is if the design includes large areas of a single solid color. While 4 color process can produce a huge range of colors, it is very difficult to get these colors to print consistently, especially in the screen printing process. Microscopic variables such as wear on a screen, pressure on a squeegee, surface fluctuations on a disc, and even humidity levels can change how the little dots of color interact with one another. When printing with a spot color, only one screen and one ink is used for each color, reducing any potential variations.

Hopefully this short lesson has cleared up some of the confusion out there about the differences between these printing methods. Please remember that we are always here to answer any questions you may have so we can get you the best looking disc possible.