What IS all the difference between prices...?

So you've been searching for the best quote you can find (naughty naughty, you shouldn't be doing this... read here why!). You've got all these prices in from different printers and wondered why they're so varied...!

Colour me Good!

Colours are extremely important when you're thinking of designing your printed items. Here we'll look at a few colours.. what they mean and help you choose what's best for you.

Full Colour Printing (CMYK)

You may be surprised to find out that when any photos or pictures are printed they're printed out of 4 inks. CMYK. 


C for Cyan
M for Magenta
Y for Yellow
K for Key or Black

CMYK is the standard print terms for professional print, most of the time it's referred to just as four colour process.By overlaying each of these colours you can create a wide range of colours

If you really want to get into the science of it, feel free to click here.

Pantone Numbers - How they can help your brand

Last month we talked about the Pantone System, a standardised colour reproduction system used by almost every printer to help create specific colours. When you think of large brands, brands that incorporate colour into their identity - it's more than likely they'll use a specific set of number to represent those colours. Take for example Ladbrokes - they have a specific ink mixed for their Red, this means - wherever they choose to get their items printed, the Ladbrokes brand is the same. There are still a few limitations with digital print - but even this is becoming rare with the advancement in colour matching systems.

So you can see the power of having a 'brand colour' attached to your business. It can also help with costs. Lets say you have a Green in your logo. Without a Pantone colour for this Green - everytime you get this printed - the printer is recreating this from the 4 colours (CMYK) by using a pantone colour you've reduced this to 1 colour. So again you can see the benefit in using a Pantone colour in your branding - of course it can work the other way also - if you're printing an item with a photograph in or something with extra colours, having a Pantone colour in there would mean adding another ink and bringing the inks to 5 (CMYK+Pantone). So it really depends on what you're print requirements are and what you're having printed.

I hope this has been of interest, if you're thinking of replacing a colour in your brand with a Pantone and would like some help - I'll be more than happy to talk through any queries you have to help make this as easy as possible. Just send me an email. richard@bluestarprintsolutions.co.uk or give me a call on 0844 272 9109.

Pantone Numbers

The Pantone Matching System is a standardised colour reproduction system. By Standardising the colours, different ink manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone System to make sure the colours match without direct contact with one another. One such use is standardising colours in the CMYK process. The CMYK process is a method of printing color by using four inks - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). A majority of the world's printed material is produced using the CMYK process, and there is a special subset of Pantone colours that can be reproduced using CMYK.

Those that are possible to simulate through the CMYK process are labelled as such within the company's guides.

However, most of the Pantone system's 1,114 Spot Colours cannot be simulated with CMYK but with 13 base pigments (15 including white and black) mixed in specified amounts.

The Pantone system also allows for many 'special' colours to be produced such as metallics and fluorescents. While most of the Pantone system colours are beyond the printed CMYK gamut, it was only in 2001 that Pantone began providing translations of their existing system with screen-based colours. (Screen-based colours use the RGB—red, green, blue—system to create various colours.)

Pantone colours are described by their allocated number (typically referred to as, for example, 'PMS 130'). PMS colors are almost always used in branding and have even found their way into government legislation (to describe the colors of flags).

Customer Spotlight

In the coming months we're launching a Customer Spotlight area of our website. This great new page will have some great stories from our customers. It will also give you a more in depth look into what they do... how they do it and who they are. It will have some great pictures and what they've had produced by us for use in their business.
If you would like to send usdetails on your businessand experience with us - feel free to fill out the information contained here and we'll get you up on the page aswell.


I genuinly am looking forward to reading each and every one of these as they come in. It not only makes sure that where possible we are addressing any issues - it also takes time out of business for a moment and focuses on who people are - which is so much overlooked nowadays.

Pantone Colours

The Pantone system also allows for many 'special' colours to be produced such as metallics and fluorescents. While most of the Pantone system colours are beyond the printed CMYK gamut, it was only in 2001 that Pantone began providing translations of their existing system with screen-based colours. (Screen-based colours use the RGB—red, green, blue—system to create various colours.)
Pantone colours are described by their allocated number (typically referred to as, for example, 'PMS 130'). PMS colors are almost always used in branding and have even found their way into government legislation (to describe the colors of flags).


Next Month - we'll be telling you how using Pantone numbers can help your business...

Pantone Colour of the year 2012

The Official Pantone colour of 2012 has been announced.

The 2011 color of the year, PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle, encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

Over the past several years, orange has grown in popularity and acceptance among designers and consumers alike. A provocative attention-getter, Tangerine Tango is especially appealing in men’s and women’s fashion. Fashion designers featured in the PANTONE Fashion Color Report Spring 2012, including Tommy Hilfiger, Nanette Lepore, Cynthia Steffe by Shaun Kearney, Elie Tahari and Adrienne Vittadini, are incorporating this attractive orange into their spring collections. A fun, lively take on a traditional autumnal hue, Tangerine Tango will surely carry through to fall fashion as well.

Source: pantone.com