Color Rule: Know the Color Modes and Color Systems

Color is complex and would require a lenghty scientific discussion about wavelengths and prisms and reflective light to really grasp how it works. But truthfully, for the average information designer, knowing the complex science of color and how the brain perceives it isn’t all that critical, even if it is fascinating. For most day-to-day business and design projects, what you really need to know is that color works differently for screens and for print projects and there are a few models and systems that industries use to streamline the creation and accuracy of color development. Because every monitor, printer, and press mixes and displays colors slighly different, keeping colors consistent requires calibration and systemization.

If you’re creating an ad to be displayed on a website or screen, you will use a the RGB color model, whereas if you are creating something to be printed, like a brochure,, you’ll use CMYK. If you end up using the wrong color model for a particular project, your colors will more than likely look different than you hoped and they may be inconsistent and affect your brand. Refer to these seven modes and systems to make sure you’re using the right one for the right project.

RGB COLOR MODE

RGB, based on red, green, and blue light and is an additive color model used for digital designs. If you are creating anything to be viewed on a screen—such as television, computer monitor, cell phone, projector, and so forth—design using the RGB mode.

CMYK COLOR MODE

CYMK, based on cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black) ink is a subtractive color model used for most print designs. Printing presses mix these four colors to create the millions of colors we eventually perceive on printed materials like brochures, posters, billboards, cereal boxes, and so forth.

GRAYSCALE COLOR MODE

Grayscale color modes represent the absence of perceived color and only work with intensity of light, or shades and tints of gray. The weakest intensity will appear black, whereas the strongest intensity will appear white.

LAB COLOR MODE

The “Lab” color mode is a color system created by the International Commission on Illumination designed to match color to human perception, rather than to additive light or subtractive materials. Colors can be identified by using a formula and assigned numeric values for all colors the human brain can see, which makes it possible to accurately match colors for any device and can be more universally applied.

BITMAP COLOR MODE

Bitmap color modes only allow for two colors (typically black and white) and define which color a pixel on a screen will use. While not used often, sometimes you will design in bitmap when you create images for monochrome LCD displays (like single-color digital marquees).

PANTONE COLOR MATCHING SYSTEM

The Pantone Color Matching System (known as PMS) is a proprietary color system created by Pantone LLC. Because it can be hard to accurately calibrate RGB and CMYK colors across devices and printing presses, the Pantone system standardizes colors so that companies across a variety of industries can easily and accurately match colors for printing, paint, fabric, and plastics.

HEXIDECIMAL COLOR SYSTEM

The hexadecimal color system converts RGB colors into a six-digit code that scripting languages like HTML and CSS can use to define colors for the web. If you are designing a website, use the hexadecimal system to assign colors to things like text, background colors, hyperlinks, lines, and other visual objects.