Why do the colors on my labels look different than the digital proof?

The reason for a difference in color is due to the switch between viewing your artwork on a screen versus on your printed product. This difference comes from a change in color mode from RGB to CMYK.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the color mode used on all digital devices, meaning that your computer, phone, or tablet screen is displaying your proof using the RGB color mode. When your label is printed, the color mode is switched to CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black). CMYK is used for any type of printed artwork. While CMYK can produce many of the same colors as RGB, there are a few differences. The main difference is that RGB can produce brighter colors that CMYK cannot such as vibrant blues and pinks or any neon colors. CMYK will convert these colors into more muted tones that the printer is able to produce.

To ensure the colors on your label print accurately, we recommend designing your artwork using CMYK mode. This can be done using design software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign. If you are using an app to design your artwork, we recommend checking the settings to see if a CMYK color mode is available. Another way to ensure your colors print accurately is to take advantage of our color matching services. As long as your artwork file is editable (not a flat image like a JPEG or PNG), we are able to color match to any Pantone code you provide.

Please note that colors may also differ between labels printed by you at home and labels printed by us at our facility. No two printers are exactly alike and each may produce colors differently. Due to this, we cannot guarantee that the colors on your label printed at home will be an exact match to the ones printed by us.