Every day we are inundated with media, mail, and advertising from every kind of business imaginable. But when is the last time you recall picking up a flyer, newsletter, or another type of communication that was printed in basic black and white?
While some businesses do still present their materials without the use of color, the overwhelming majority instead now utilize full color printing in just about every one of their projects. With the advances in printing that allow a reasonable cost of using full color printing on everything from brochures to flyers to business cards, full color printing is now a necessity and not a luxury choice.
What Is Full Color Printing?
Businesses and individuals that need a project to be printed have the option to choose between black and white or full color printing. The difference between black and white printing and full color printing is the number of inks used in the printing process.
Black and white printing only utilizes one color, while full color printing engages four colors in the printing process. The four colors in a full-color print are often abbreviated as CMYK, representing the primary colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These four colors are combined and used in different strengths to create every color of the rainbow in a fully-colored printing job.
Using CMYK or full color printing can produce vivid, true colors on just about any surface, making its use desirable by businesses and individuals looking for printing that looks great and will represent the photographs, graphics, and typography on their printing projects.
Why Full Color Printing Is the Best Option
Anyone that has a printing project has a choice to use black and white or full color printing when producing their work. So why is using full color printing the best route to go?
Printing in full color has some distinct advantages over the use of black and white on different types of printing jobs. Let’s take a look at the reasons why using full color printing is not only the best option for you or your business, it’s necessary as well.
1 It leaves a great impression. Any kind of product that is going to land in the hands of a consumer, potential customer, or client should create the best possible perception of you or your business. Printing your projects with bright, crisp colors will let them know you value your product and that high-quality impression is carried over into how they will feel about you or your business as a result.
Flyers, brochures, or other products that are printed in black and white do not leave a top-notch impression, while those with full color printing exude quality and give the feeling that you and your business are successful.
2 People notice products printed in full color. It’s just human nature to notice things in bright, full color printing over something printed in basic black on white. Businesses or individuals with projects printed in black and white will not be noticed as easily or as quickly as something printed with brilliant color.
Bright, unusual, or contrasting colors are simply easier to see and more eye-catching overall. Beating out a competitor to a customer with a similar advertisement, flyer, or business card simply by adding color printing is an easy way to ensure that customers or clients notice your products right away.
3 It makes your product look amazing. Anyone with a printing project has put time and effort into making the design and content look good. Whether it has involved creating extensive content, coming up with a great design, adding photography or graphic elements, or even configuring appealing typography for the project, full color printing shows off all of the details in the finished product.
Pictures appear crisp and realistic without relying on the grayscale of black and white printing to imply the color variations present in the original picture. Depth and dimension are easier to visualize with color printing that utilizes every color in the spectrum. And graphic elements, fonts, and lengthy content all are enhanced when pops of color are placed in just the right location on your product for the customer, client, or user to experience.
If a product has been developed using a full-color design, printing it using matching hues will ensure that it looks just as good to your audience as it did during its creation.
4 Logos and branding are easier to distinguish with full color printing. Businesses spend a lot of time and money coming up with a distinct logo or branding for their product. Just about every brand incorporates color into the branding that identifies the company, its purpose, and the way they present the company, concept, or product to consumers or users.
Using full color to present that brand, as it was designed, is the best way to continue consistent branding for the company without diminishing the image or feel of the brand. Sometimes the design of a brand is highly recognizable, like the scripted writing that makes up the signature branding for Coca-Cola, but it is the bright red color that makes the wording pop.
While most companies may not ever reach the worldwide, instant recognition of massive brands like Coca-Cola, making sure your branding or logo is always presented in its true colors is crucial to keep the look and feel of the brand consistent with the simple use of full color in all printing projects.
5 Using color is not much more expensive than black and white printing. In the past, using full color to print projects was significantly more expensive than using black and white only printing processes.
But modern digital printing has made using four colors of ink only slightly more expensive than printing in black and white. Creating a printing project can be expensive when large quantities or expensive materials are required, but the small upgrade to full color is not nearly as big a budget hurdle today as it used to be.
6 Lower-cost black and white printing can make your business seem low-budget. In some situations, a potential customer’s possible negative impression of a business is not critical so businesses may choose to use black and white printing for their project. But for many companies, being perceived as a business that has to cut costs with their printing projects can be a negative in the eyes of their customers.
Now that the costs for printing in full color are similar to black and white printing, consumers are likely to worry about a company that has to pinch a few pennies in their printing budget to present their advertising, marketing, or other materials in black and white instead of with a reasonably priced and much better looking full color print.
This potential negative perception is likely the most important reason why using full color on printing projects is necessary today for just about any business or individual.
Full Color Is Necessary for Today’s Printing Projects
Consumer impressions count, so using color printing is the easiest way to make your project look great, show off your branding and leave a positive lasting impression about your project or business.
Consumers expect full-color print when they pick up a flyer, brochure, marketing materials, or just about any kind of printing project, because it makes pictures and graphic elements stand out and it provides excellent visual contrast as well. Choosing full color for printing just makes sense and is a necessary choice for just about all printing projects.
Creating Your Full Color Printing Project
Digital printer Dazzle Printing can help you bring your printing projects to life in full, beautiful color that will wow your customers and make your business and brand look great. If you’d like to review the difference in pricing for color versus black and white printing, check out our pricing calculators.
