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c/cmyk-mistakesgrant.kevingrant.kevin12d agoProlific Poster

That batch of business cards at Kinkos taught me a hard lesson about rich black

Dropped off a file for 500 cards last Wednesday and the guy at the counter asked if I wanted rich black. Said nah just use the default. Picked them up Friday and the blacks looked all washed out and gray. Called a buddy who does prepress and he said you gotta use 60/40/40/100 for rich black or it prints like crap on a digital press. Now I double check every black swatch before sending anything.
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amy302
amy30212d ago
Ugh that's the worst. Rich black is a real pain to figure out the first time.
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val_taylor
val_taylor11d ago
For sure @amy302 The thing that got me was everyone online says to use C 30 M 20 Y 20 K 100 but that turned my shadows into a gross muddy green mess. I finally figured out you have to dial back the cyan a LOT depending on the paper you are using. Different paper stocks soak up the ink differently and will change the final color completely. Do yourself a favor and print out a test strip with a few different rich black formulas before committing to the final print. It saves SO much headache and wasted paper in the long run.
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