Yes, I just talked to another friend who is a designer.

He said that basically the PMS color is "out of gamut" (the ! in the software) and the software does as good a job as it can to color match it.

That is why it is different, and it technically correct, or as correct as it can be.

The hex values are also apparently "web safe" colors. Not sure why they picked those, as I don't think it is applicable anymore, but what the heck.

Man ... learned a lot of graphics today!

@Pete-S said in Color Question:

Why do you need CMYK values? If you want to communicate to someone what the color should be, say PMS 287. If the print shop have questions get the graphics designer to answer them.

We are including them in a style guide.

Also, since they are all slightly off, I want to be sure the RGB colors we use (in things like websites and e-mail signatures) is as close to accurate as possible.

It comes down to what the designer is telling me, and also what i read some places online, that you can't really convert RGB to CMYK. You just use Adobe software and trust it knows what it is doing.

I am just trying to figure out if that is accurate or not. That there is no conversion. Or if it's just a line of BS.

@Pete-S said in Color Question:

You guys have a serious omission in your conversions. RGB values depend on the color space. While we often use sRGB color space for the web, that's not often the case when the file comes from somewhere else.

CMYK is used in printing because that's the color used in a 4-color offset printing press: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.

Logos or other things that need exact color reproduction are often printed in 5 or more colors where the logo has it's own premixed color, not made up by CMYK colors. These exact premixed colors are Pantone colors and there are sets of pantone color swatches so everyone can see what every color looks like. Every company that has a logo from a graphic designer have the pantone numbers for their logo. That is the original colors so to speak.

There is not an exact conversion between RGB and CMYK unless you make a lot of assumptions and this varies between software and settings. Just as an example assume that you make a print using CMYK colors and one paper have a slightly yellowish tone while the other is ultra white. Will the logo look the same on both of these prints made with exactly the same CMYK colors? No, it wont.

When dealing with print shops it's often best to send the original file to them and let them handle the RGB to CMYK conversion. A TIFF file with embedded color profile is the standard here.

And if you are printing something that needs to be an exact color, like a logo, you should give them the Pantone number for that color. If you don't have it, it's probably not that important.

Thanks for this explanation. This is along the lines I am looking for.

I understand that CMYK will look different of different colors of paper. It can even look vastly different on the SAME color of paper.

Is it even worthwhile having that CMYK value?

Those colors are based off a Pantone color. Here is the actual breakdown. Keep in mind, I do not think 287 is a color ... don't they usually have U or C after them? And even though the other 3 colors are U, I do think this 287 is a C.

If I use the CMYK to RGB converter, I do NOT get those values.

So, what am I doing wrong again?

@DustinB3403 said in Color Question:

So you want to go from CMYK to RGB?

No, I want to go from RGB to CMYK.

Yes. You keep giving me a hex value for a CMYK value.

I want to create a CMYK value from a RGB value.

So, if I got to this page, and enter in the RGB value, are you saying the CMYK value it gives me is not correct?

https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/color/rgb-to-cmyk.html

But I don't want to go that way.

I am saying if I ONLY know the RGB color, and then want to get, say, a tshirt printed with that color, and the printer needs the CMYK value how do I find it out?

@DustinB3403 said in Color Question:

@BRRABill said in Color Question:

OK, so let's say I have the RGB value of (0,56,147) ... I want to convert that to a CMYK value to give to someone. How do I do that, and what would it be?

You're trying to convert a color for digital only to physical print so it won't be exact.

I know it won't be exactly eact, but it should be close.

So, what would that value be?

OK, so let's say I have the RGB value of (0,56,147) ... I want to convert that to a CMYK value to give to someone. How do I do that, and what would it be?