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Four Colour Process Printing (Full Colour Printing) is a printing technique widely used today. The system uses four base colours; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. By using combinations of these four base colours in various tints, it is possible to produce virtually every colour of the rainbow.
The process involves separating files to be printed in to four colour components: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK - the 'K' stands for 'key'). The colour separation is known as colour screening, and is generally a digital process. A separate print plate is made for each colour. Each plate is created as a halftone, meaning that the colour is separated into a series of tiny dots. In areas where there is very little colour, the dots will be small and spaced well apart. In areas of strong, solid colour, the dots will be larger and may have no space between them.
Each plate is printed separately and overlays the previously printed ink. When all four plates have been printed, the result is a full colour image. The small dots on each individual plate will group together to create a complete colour image, although they can still be seen with the aid of a magnifying glass. If the plates are not correctly aligned during the printing process, the results will be blurry and out of focus.
The majority of the print we supply is printed using the full colour (also known as four colour) print process.
Full colour printing allows photographs, coloured backgrounds and text to be printed together on the same sheet. We are able to supply full colour printing at low prices because of the economies of volume achieved.
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