What do you mean by CMYK and 4-color process?
There are three types of printing modes everyone should consider before beginning to think about your designs:

- Full process colour designs*
- Grayscale designs
- Going Vector

Full process-colour designs
If you look carefully at a printed color photograph in any magazine or book, you’ll see that it’s made up of rows of tiny dots called a halftone screen. The dots work together, at different angles, to fool your eye into seeing a full spectrum of colors. Full Process colour designs consist of a 4-plate printing job. This type of printing mode would be best for designs which include colour images, or designs which carry more than 3 individual colors. The process consists of using four basic inks. If you are not already familiar, CMYK is the term used on many instances to describe this particular task.

These four inks are where the term originates.
C-Cyan ink
M-Magenta ink
Y-Yellow ink
K-Black ink
Together, these four inks create millions of colors to be applied to your full-colour designs.

So, why do we refer to these four ink colors as CMYK and not CMYB?
Well, quite simply, it’s so that no one will be confused into thinking that the last color is Blue rather than Black. Such as the 'B' in RGB (meaning Red, Green and Blue)

* What’s important to remember is if your designs carry a photograph, and you would like to have it in color, you automatically would opt for this choice.

Grayscale designs
Grayscale designs are black & white only. They provide the basics in information, and could accommodate an image if needed.

The four-color printing process is the most costly of the three types of printing modes. (Spot color is modest in price. Grayscale designs are less in price). When asking for a quote from the printing establishment of your choice, it is recommended to ask for all three prices, then compare with your needs.

Going Vector
Vector images, because they are created using PostScript principles, are resolution independent. Which means, their files are mathematical in nature and therefore, can be enlarged with ease. A big plus for creating logos. This way, your logo will be of excellent quality in any size you choose.

What about those pesky dots called resolution?

Resolution is one of the most important things to know about electronic graphic design. This one subject can mean the difference between a photograph printing correctly and printing as a blurry mess. Resolution refers to how an image is “resolved.” The smoother or more clear that an image appears, the more resolved it is to our eyes. Therefore, the higher an image’s resolution, the better it will appear.

Resolution is measured by something called PPI (pixels per inch). Printed image resolution is measured by something called DPI (dots per inch). DPI is the more common term and is often used interchangeably with PPI when referring to on-screen images. As with halftone screens, the more information that’s packed into an image, the smoother its appearance.

An image that has 72dpi contains less information than one that is 300dpi. Printing resolution refers to how clearly an image will print in professional printing uses. I frequently hear people tell me that they can’t understand what’s wrong with their printer. Their images are printing so poorly and they look just fine on-screen. Something must be wrong with the printer. Well, the answer is: probably not. There’s very likely nothing wrong with the printer. The problem is they haven’t realized one very important factor about resolution. What you see on-screen is not necessarily what you’ll see on the printed page. For example, Imagesetters (used to output film for professional printing) require more information than is available in a 72dpi file to produce a smooth and clear image. How much more depends on the bit depth of the image, however, an 8”X10” at 300 dpi is normally a good start to building your specific design. A color magazine would require an image be 300dpi for best reproduction. Anything less will cause an image to deteriorate and pixelate. The amount of the deterioration depends on how much lower the resolution is than what it should be. Monitor and Web resolution (72 dpi) is a far cry from printing resolution. Don’t even consider using that. One can find out the linescreen or dots per inch that the project will need, by calling the person or company who will be printing the project.

If you are supplying digital photos for Greenlight Design, color and/or grayscale images must be supplied at 200 to 300 dpi. If this is not possible, a crisp clear hardcopy photograph may be supplied for scanning.

Pixels
A pixel, named after a pix (like “pic” from picture) element, is the smallest unit on a display screen or monitor. Pictures are displayed on monitors by dividing the monitor up into rows and columns of pixels. The more pixels that are squeezed into a monitor’s surface, the smoother an image on the screen will appear.

The world of fonts
The letters, numbers, and symbols used to build your design are commonly called typefaces or fonts. Designers use a multitude of fonts and font families in order to create the best possible representation for your design. It's best to stick to 3 main fonts per design. This will avoid confusion to the visuals.

Playing with the words
Sometimes we want to say it all. But sometimes less is more when it comes to getting your message out to the world. For example, if you are building an ad, try cutting back on the secondary information, and stick to the basic elements:

Who are you?
What do you do?
Where are you?
How can you be contacted?
Then, depending on what will be the dimensions of your final product, the frills can be added afterwards.

Just as there are individual colour preferences, there are also strong associations with each of the basic colours shared by almost everyone.

Red, for example, is viewed as an exciting, dramatic and rich colour. (Think of the associations with the words "red carpet treatment.") Red is also passionate, and tends to stimulate the appetite, making it a popular colour in many restaurants. The darker shades of red, such as burgundy and maroon have a rich and stately feeling about them. A front door painted burgundy is dramatic and inviting.

Here are some of the other colors and their associations:

Orange gives off a cheerful aura. It is bold and exciting, friendly and informal. The dark, muted version if orange is rust. Rust colours in the living room or family room are inviting and give a feeling of casualness.

Yellow is the most visible colour, which is why you see so many street signs in yellow. Pastel yellows are happy without being overpowering and make for a nice, cheerful backdrop when the room's walls are painted in this hue. Gold tones create an atmosphere of richness or can be construed as antique, such as in Colonial days where every room had a touch of gold.

Blue is a favourite colour of many. It has a universal appeal because it reminds us of blue skies and deep blue oceans. There's a feeling of serenity and openness with blue. There is also a feeling of power with blue (think of a navy suit on an executive). Blue works well in bedrooms and on the exterior of a house and comes across crisp and clean if trimmed with white.

Green is nature's favourite colour, and is very soothing to many people. Hunter green is associated with country life. Jade greens remind us of jewels and precious stones. Green works well in a dining room and can actually be used in any room in the house. It is easy on the eyes. Green has also been associated with people of superior intelligence.

Violet reminds us of royalty and wealth. Purple and violets are luxurious colours. Many young females are attracted to this color and love to have their bedrooms decorated in a violet motif. Too much purple can be overwhelming, but accents of this colour do much to punch up a room.

Brown also is a colour associated with nature. It is relaxing and easy to live with. Red-browns are more formal and work well in great rooms or living rooms. The lighter hues such as tan and beige work well with most colour schemes to bring about a base that unifies.