“But — it looked great on my monitor!”

These are words that every printer dreads hearing. Usually, it means a disappointed customer. If that disappointed customer has ever been you, with a little understanding of the differences between images on print and on screen, you can be a happy customer instead!

There are two major differences between images seen on a computer monitor, and images seen on a printed page. The first is resolution. The second is color. This time we’re going to talk about resolution.

Resolution is essentially a measure of how much information about the image is present. Continue Reading

“But — it looked great on my monitor!” : the sequel

Last time, we talked about resolution as it relates to print vs. web image reproduction. This time, we’re going to talk about color world.

Your computer monitor creates color using light, like a television screen, using the RGB or red, green and blue model.

The print world creates color using pigment. Full color images are commonly rendered using the CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow and black model, but some high-end print shops use the Pantone Hexachrome model which adds orange and green to the color mix. Items might also be printed using … Continue Reading