CMYK or RGB - what's the difference?

Many people think it would be so easy: create a graphic on the PC and simply print it out. But this is exactly where two different color spaces play a very important role: RGB and CMYK.
Both are designations for the mixture of colors.

While the RGB color model purely for digital work on the web or directly on the PC, the CMYK model is used for print products products. The colors differ massively. There is a reason for this:

RGB colors are so-called "light colors" and are created on the screen, while CMYK colors consist of real colors.

RGB - red, green, blue.
This is an additive color model, which means that the more colors are mixed together, the brighter the hue becomes. If you mix all three colors together - at the highest value (100%) - you get a pure white.
The colors result from the mixing of light. This is why RGB is also called Light colors.

Usage

• Web & app design: icons, buttons, graphics

• Branding: Online logos and advertisements

• Social media: Images for posts, cover images, etc.

• Visual content such as videos, digital graphics, photos for websites

CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key.
The "Key" in CMYK stands for Key Color (black). This is the color space for professionally printed media.
Normally, printing is done on a white background. The more color is applied here, the darker the result. This is why CMYK, unlike RGB, is a subtractive color space.

However, if you mix cyan, magenta and yellow to 100% each, you do not get a true black, which is why the "key color", i.e. black, was included here.

In the printing process, each individual color is printed on the paper one after the other. Depending on the ratio, colors can be obtained in a wide variety of shades.
On screen, these nuances are even more extensive, whereas in print, far fewer colors can be produced. This is why the CMYK color space is smaller than that of RGB.

Uses

• Branding: business cards, stationery, etc.

• Advertising materials: flyers, posters, brochures, etc.

• Editorial: books, magazines, newspapers

But what happens if you choose the wrong color space?

Printers can only use CMYK. Therefore, all designs, images and graphics that are to be printed should be created in CMYK. RGB data must therefore first be converted for printing purposes. Since not all colors can be transferred one-to-one from RGB to CMYK (as the CMYK color space is smaller), color shifts may occur.